Amber Riley and Jennifer Hudson sing the house down to 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going'
What's better than one Effie singing? Well, two of course.
Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar playing Effie White in the 2006 film adaptation of Dreamgirls, while Amber Riley won an Olivier Award in 2017 for her performance as the belter on London's West End, and the two came together on Monday's episode of Hudson's eponymous daytime talk show.
There the powerhouse performers went toe to toe, run to run, "and you" to "and you," and it's a surprise the set was still standing when they were through.
Riley just won season 8 of The Masked Singer and, rather ironically, the judges persistently thought the vociferous Harp was Hudson beneath the mask. Stopping by The Jennifer Hudson Show, Riley told the recent EGOT that she identified with her characters on Glee and in Dreamgirls, two big-voiced gals just trying to claim their deserved place in the sun.
"I started out on Glee as Mercedes Jones and her character was always fighting for the spotlight, and then I did Effie in Dreamgirls," Riley said. "Having her story being this gift and not being able to be out in the front. And I felt that. And so I feel like doing things like Masked Singer, doing things like Dancing With the Stars, I get to be the winner for those stories. It's just full-circle for me."
And you know we couldn't have two award-winning Effie Whites on the same stage without a barn-burning rendition of the showstopper "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."
Hudson began with some kind of attempt at a game involving Christmas trees in which she and Riley stood behind the pines and started singing, and it was up to the audience to figure out who started first. It was very The Voice, except minus the swiveling chairs and, spoiler alert, it was pretty obvious J-Hud would take the lead.
What followed, however, was so much beautifully chaotic over-singing that it's a shock Jennifer Holliday didn't descend from the rafters, half-swallowed microphone in hand. Hopefully all wigs in the studio audience were secured, as they otherwise surely would've gone flying by the final towering notes of "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-UH!"
Watch Riley and Hudson's duet above.
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