EXCERPT FROM LOS ANGELES TIMES -- Jennifer Hudson and Robin Thicke shared a few things Saturday night at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live: a band, a semiformal approach to fashion and, of course, an audience. Bringing their national tour to the city where Thicke grew up the son of entertainers and Hudson became an "American Idol" finalist and movie star, the pair proved complementary though the less ostentatiously talented Thicke threatened to outshine his young queen of a co-headliner, offering a stronger show if not as many out-of-the-park high notes.With this tour, Hudson's first and the most prominent for Thicke, both rising stars hope to establish themselves as mainstays of hot adult R&B. That's the realm of royalty like Patti LaBelle, Lionel Richie and the late Luther Vandross, musicians whose fans still prefer albums to ringtones and are willing to pay the baby-sitter to go to concerts with their spouses. Thicke and Hudson, both of whom have a knack for old-fashioned showbiz, fit in well there.Saturday night's concert was an event. Long lines for cocktails were populated by women in curve-hugging finery like the sequined miniskirt ensemble Hudson wore onstage and men looking casually fine in get-ups like Thicke's Members Only style jacket and designer jeans. This crowd was here not to admire hot dance moves while tolerating vocals sung to a backing track but to have a powerful and singular experience.Hudson sought to fulfill this mandate with giant ballads, a few sassy moments that played on her youth and earthy sense of humor, and fancy guest stars, including Chaka Khan, Philip Bailey and Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire and Raphael Saadiq. (Khan joined Hudson in a rendition of her own "Sweet Thing"; the gentlemen callers stood by while Hudson sang "Happy Birthday" to her manager and gave him a cake.) Hudson didn't quite attain her goal; her set was too short and strangely disjointed, as if she were checking items off a to-do list rather than building an emotional arc. But there were enough high points to please her growing flock. Hudson has the kind of voice that pop fans treat like a national monument, wondering at its size and pristine beauty. Her show began with that voice, unencumbered by visuals. Behind a curtain, Hudson began "One Night Only," a song that helped her win an Academy Award as Effie in the feature film adaptation of the musical "Dreamgirls." It was an entrance Streisand would have admired and Hudson's former castmate, Beyoncé, would have envied. From there, though, Hudson got a little lost. "You Pulled Me Through," the Diane Warren-penned blockbuster that could become Hudson's signature song -- given how well it describes the singer's healing process after her mother and two other relatives were slain last year -- came too soon and lost drama because of that. The hits medley that featured Khan was rather abrupt, like an "Idol" segment. And inexplicably, Hudson chose Mac Davis' "I Believe in Music" for a feel-good sing-along, causing an interactive moment that felt more like a soda commercial than a morning in church. CONTINUE READING...
