Amber Riley, Jennifer Hudson Team Up for a Powerhouse ‘Dreamgirls’ Duet
Photo by: Chris Millard/Warner Bros Reading Time: 2 minutes
Amber Riley was recently named the winner of The Masked Singer Season 8 after performing as Harp. This week, the former Glee star stopped by The Jennifer Hudson Show, where she performed a powerhouse duet of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” with the host.
Amber Riley, Jennifer Hudson Deliver Dreamgirls Duet
Both Hudson and Riley have played the character of Effie White in the musical Dreamgirls. Hudson famously took on the role in the 2006 movie adaptation, winning an Academy Award for her performance.
Meanwhile, Riley played Effie in 2016 and 2017 in a production of Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre on the West End in London. So obviously they had to team up on Hudson’s talk show to perform “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”
The singers even turned it into a game at first, as they hid behind the Christmas trees on Hudson’s set and asked the audience to guess which one of them was singing. It wasn’t long before they both emerged to belt out the iconic song together.
SEE ALSO: AMBER RILEY BECOMES FIRST EVER ‘DWTS’ MIRRORBALL CHAMPION TO WIN ‘THE MASKED SINGER’
Riley Was Flattered to Be Compared to Hudson
Riley also sat down with Hudson to talk about her experience on The Masked Singer. She explained that doing the show was on her bucket list after watching with friends and family during the pandemic. Riley said it was “an immediate yes” when she was asked to participate.
Hudson brought up the fact that panelist Ken Jeong had guessed that she was Harp throughout the season. As Riley said it was “so validating” and “flattering” that her voice was compared to Hudson’s. She said she was “beaming underneath that mask.”
The singer also shared that she wasn’t allowed to receive her Golden Mask trophy until after the finale aired so as not to spoil who won. Hudson then surprised Riley by presenting her with the trophy. Riley remarked on how heavy it was.
