Simon Cowell has blamed song choice as the reason for Jennifer Hudson’s exit from American Idol.
The singer/actress rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on the third season of the singing competition show, eventually placing seventh.
Reflecting on Jennifer’s elimination from the programme during an interview for the debut episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show, which aired in the U.S. on Monday, Simon noted that he wished she hadn’t performed Weekend in New England by Barry Manilow.
“I was thinking, ‘Who chose stupid Barry Manilow week?’ he recalled. “It wasn’t me. I remember thinking, ‘This is not a great song.’ It was not your fault. And then of course, what happened, happened.”
Simon then asked Jennifer whether she would have changed the song if she had the opportunity.
The star admitted that she wouldn’t have, as the track led to her landing the role of Effie White in 2006 musical drama Dreamgirls, for which she won an Oscar.
“No, but it’s other songs before that that I would’ve changed. Because that song, little do you know, it led me to getting Dreamgirls honey!” she smiled. “Because it was structured – Barry Manilow structured that song as if it was And I Am Telling You (I’m Not Going), and a lot of people thought that’s what I was singing.”