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      *You know what they say ... Golden Globe nominations are good indications as to who will receive Oscar nominations several weeks down the road. If so, we may be in store for the most African American Academy Award wins since the 2002 double dose of Denzel and Halle.

      Forest Whitaker, Will Smith and Chiwetel Ejiofor received well-deserved recognition in the acting categories, but it was the film “Dreamgirls” that stole the show with a total of five nominations: Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, Best Actress for Beyonce Knowles, Best Original Song for “Listen,” and Best Supporting Actor and Actress for Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson, respectively.

      “I’m just trying to breathe right now, I’m so excited,” Hudson told EUR’s Lee Bailey via phone after the nominations were announced Thursday morning in Beverly Hills.

Jennifer Hudson performing yesterday on the 'Today Show'

      Hudson – who beat 782 other hopefuls to earn the coveted role of Effie White and has wowed critics with her performance of the character’s signature song, “And I’m Telling You, I’m Not Going” – was in the dressing room of NBC’s “Today Show” early Thursday morning watching the Golden Globe announcements live when she heard her name called.

      “All they said was ‘Jen’ and we were screaming and crying and just jumping around excited,” Hudson said. “Then I had to run out there on stage and do my interview and hop on stage and sing, and I didn’t even know what I was doing or what was happening because it was so overwhelming. I’ve never experienced that many emotions in one minute…a second…a moment.”

      Hudson said her head is hurting from trying to grasp the enormity of what has happened to her since auditioning for the 2004 season of “American Idol.”

      “I’m just grateful that I’m here, because out of all the ‘Idols,’ over 70,000 people that auditioned, three, four or five different seasons of ‘American Idol,’ 782 Effies, what were the odds of me being here right now and to receive such an honor as to be a Golden Globe nominee? Even if I don’t get it, just to be able to consider that is enough for me, really.”

      The Chicago-native was also happy for the Golden Globe love given to her co-stars Beyonce and Murphy.

      “I’m so proud and so happy for them because they deserved it so much,” she said. “It’s a tribute to the ensemble and the director who put this together. It just goes to show how great of a job he did as well. I can’t wait to call them and tell them congratulations.”

      For the Chicago folk who plan to see “Dreamgirls” in a local theater, don’t be surprised if you look up and see Hudson in the next row.

      “I want to be in a theater– near anybody, watching it with the people,” she says of her plans on opening day. “Hopefully it will be in Chicago, I don’t know about what theater or where. I don’t even know if it’ll be the day it opens – because it is Christmas, and I want to be home with my family on Christmas. But the 26th or 27th, I’ll be in the theater near somebody watching the movie with everybody else.”

      Meanwhile, Forest Whitaker continues to be recognized for his role as Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland.” The critics’ favorite was nominated for a Golden Globe alongside “The Pursuit of Happyness” star Will Smith in the Best Actor category. Chewitel Ojiofor was given a Best Supporting Actor nod for his role in the independent film “Kinky Boots.” 

      The Golden Globe awards are given out each year by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but Hudson said the annual Hollywood spectacle is lost on her family back in the Windy City.

      “I talked to my mom, of course she’s the first person I called,” Hudson told EUR. “And she was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so happy! I’m so excited!’ Then she said, ‘Okay, baby, what exactly is the Golden Globes?’”  

 ***See Jennifer Hudson perform on the 'Today Show' HERE.    

***Hear Lee Bailey's interview with Jennifer Hudson HERE.

***Read the entire list of 2007 Golden Globe nominees at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Web site: http://www.hfpa.org/news/id/42.   

*** Golden Globe winners will be announced in a ceremony in Beverly Hills on January 15.

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