MUSIC

Reliant Park presents Robin Thicke and Jennifer Hudson in concert .

THIS SHOW, which was originally set for 8 p.m. Friday May 8 at Reliant Arena, has been postponed by Jennifer Hudson's vocal-chord strain that has forced Hudson to rest. The show has been moved to May 17.

All tickets purchased for Friday’s show will be honored, and there are still some available for the new date. Tickets are $49.50-$65; 713-629-3700 or ticketmaster.com.

Grammy-winning R&B artists Jennifer Hudson and Robin Thicke embark on their co-headlining tour.The road trip marks the first official tour for Hudson, who recently won a Grammy for her self-titled debut and just took home three NAACP Image Awards. Thicke is supporting his third album, "Something Else," which also surfaced in September and made it into the Top 3 on the US album chart. That set has scored R&B/hip-hop hits with "Magic" and "The Sweetest Love."

Every decade or so, a new voice emerges that is transcendent, timeless. In the ‘60s, Aretha was royalty; the ‘70s were under Chaka’s control; Whitney owned the ‘80s and Mariah lead the ‘90s. For this new decade, it could be very well be all about Jennifer Hudson. With her high-powered soulful style, the 26-year old Chicago native had already achieved feats that are reserved for most young singers’ dreams. The former American Idol contestant nabbed a much-deserved Academy Award for her unforgettable role as “Effie” in the 2006 movie adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls along with Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Broadcast Film Critic’s Association Awards.

An NAACP Image Award and Soul Train “Entertainer of the Year” Award winner, Jennifer’s now ready to make the same kind of impact on the world of music she’d made on the silver screen with the much-anticipated release of her sizzling Arista Records debut album. “I know people have high expectations because of Dreamgirls. I didn’t have a particular concept in mind when I started working on the album. I wanted it to show flexibility and versatility. My voice has different characters and I looked at each song as having different stories, since I’m an actress too,” says Jennifer, who starred in the 2008 summer box office hit Sex in the City. “They’re all different - sassy, vulnerable, loud and obnoxious, dramatic, romantic, spiritual – and they’re all a part of me.”

Indeed, rather than being an extension vocally of her Dreamgirls role, Jennifer’s first CD reveals that she is more than capable of making music suited to her age! “It’s tricky because I played a character in her 30s in the movie so the audiences heard me with more of an ‘adult’ voice. But I’m just 26 and I have a lot of other sides to show.” And while her Arista debut shows that ‘adult’ side, it’s also filled with slammin’ cuts that show Jennifer can deliver on tracks produced by the likes of 21st century-hitmakers Timbaland, Tank, The Underdogs and Stargate.

The infectious first single, “Spotlight” – produced by Stargate and written and co-produced by Ne-Yo – showcases what Jennifer calls “the sarcastic voice,” a story of insecurities within a relationship. Jennifer expresses her skill as a powerful storyteller with the Tank-produced “We Gon’ Fight.” “In the song, everyone’s telling me to pretty much throw the towel in on a relationship but this is a love that’s worth fighting for, an ‘us against the world’ kind of thing.” The funky “Pocketbook” (which features rapper Ludacris), written and produced by Timbaland is “very sassy, very much me. I spoke with each of the writers and they created a feel for me, for who I am. This song represents one side of my personality! This is something I would say – it has attitude yet it’s playful.”

To her first auspicious debut – with contributions from Robin Thicke, Diane Warren, and others slated – Jennifer Hudson brings a deep love for singing that started during her formative years in Chicago. “My first influence was my grandmother (Julia Kate Hudson) and my earliest memory of singing publicly was at seven when I sang my first solo in church,” Jennifer recalls. “Then, four years later I sang at my great-grandmother’s 90th birthday and the members of my family were like, ‘she doesn’t sound like a little girl!’ I didn’t realize what I could do. Before that I used to walk around the house imitating Brandy and groups like Xscape and Jade. But Whitney was always there from when I was a child. I used to create my own little duets with her on ‘I Will Always Love You,’ Jennifer recalls.”

Inevitably, Jennifer found herself in local talent contests and she became known as the “school singer” during her teens. Her innate ability to feel a song was further enhanced by listening to singers like Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle and she notes, “Especially Gladys Knight. I realized that a song has to be something I can feel for me to be able to sing it rather than sing at it. How am I gonna move you if I’m not moved by the song I’m singing?”

Jennifer’s first professional role came with a local production of the musical Big River when she was nineteen. In 2002, she landed a job with the Disney Wonder cruise ship, showcasing her four-octave vocal range before thousands of vacationers. But it was her exposure during the third season of TV’s American Idol in 2004 that introduced Jennifer Hudson to a nation duly impressed with her potent soulfulness. It took a couple of songs for Jennifer to make it in the pre-show auditions: “I flew to Atlanta, slept in the big Georgia Dome and the first time I had to sing while others were auditioning too. They wanted an original song but I didn’t have one so I did this kinda obscure song, “This Empty Place” that I first heard performed by Cissy Houston. Then, the judges wanted to hear something they knew so I did Celine Dion’s “Power of Love” and then “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child.”

The rest is history. After Idol, Jennifer auditioned for the part of Effie in Dreamgirls, beat out thousands of contenders for the coveted role and went on to win an Oscar. “Sure, it was overwhelming but in a good way,” she reveals. “I knew all along I was going to sing for a living, that I was being prepared for something. So far, my career has been full of surprises and blessings, back to back,” she smiles. Now comes her all-important first album - “I’m so fortunate to have an audience from Idol and from Dreamgirls – all ages, kids, grandmothers, gay, straight, and all races. People may think they know what to expect from me but I want to show them I’m more than just a one-trick pony when it comes to music!” As her Arista Records album demonstrates, she’s artist who evokes a timeless voice for this decade.

The award-winning multiplatinum superstar Robin Thicke returns to center stage with Something Else, a joyful and modern tribute to the ‘70s soul and pop records that have inspired an extraordinary career.

Something Else is aptly titled. “It’s time for hope and change,” Thicke says. “It’s in the air. And I’m speaking on the times around me.” Thicke echoes the change with mesmerizing Superfly-era vocals, Gamble and Huff-inspired horn arrangements (“Hard on My Love”), unabashed lyrical optimism and an irresistible invitation to the dance floor (“Side Step”). “I don’t want to be a preacher, but I do think at the core of every great existence is an abundance of love and joy, and the only way to create that is to give it,” he adds.

Born in Los Angeles, Thicke grew up with an ear trained squarely at R&B and hip-hop. “I was listening to Kurtis Blow at 8, NWA at 12, Jodeci and Mary J. at 14 and Boyz II Men and Babyface soon after,” Thicke says. “I didn’t even listen to rock and roll music until I was 17. And I find myself thinking that’s more normal than it is.” André Harrell (then president of Bad Boy Entertainment and mentor to Mary J. Blige, Puff Daddy and Thicke) heard the lanky white kid and was dumbstruck. “I heard what Martin Luther King, Jr. described in his dream of a new America: a place where a white man in the San Fernando Valley can feel Detroit, Harlem and the blues,” he says.

The spirit of Michael Jackson looms large throughout the new release. “Michael is the epitome of celebration, and the core of this album has that: It’s celebratory, healing, loving music,” Thicke says. To deepen that connection, Thicke employed the same horn section used on Jackson’s “You Wanna Be Starting Something,” from the 1979 classic, Off the Wall. “André Harrell told me, ‘When God is singing loud, that’s the sound of horns,’” he says. Gary Grant and the Jackson horn section contributed to the album’s trans-generational appeal. “I kept the kids on some songs and the adults on others, so it’s the sound of young and old coming together.”

Something Else also benefits from writing sessions that took place in different cities, a tactic employed by several of Thicke’s idols, including Marvin Gaye. “New York is the center of information, so I took a few trips there and set up a big studio,” Thicke says. Songs like “Sidestep” and “Something Else” with their heavy, insistent grooves, were the result. “Paris is the center of romance,” he says, “and I went there, and found ‘Sweetest Love,’ ‘You’re My Baby’ and ‘Miss Harmony.’”

The first single, “Magic,” draws all of Something Else’s influences together into one blast of disco-infused dance pop. Robert Hales, director of Gnarles Barkley’s “Crazy” video, was tapped to add visual balance between downtown dance couture, references to Fred Astaire’s Mr. Universe and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of Thicke’s all-time favorite films.

Melding the retro and the modern across 12 tracks, Robin Thicke leads his international fanbase into inspired, sexy and refreshing new territory.

Robin Thicke’s first album, A Beautiful World, released in 2003, yielded the hit song, “When I Get You Alone,” and paved the way for his breakthrough second release, 2006’s The Evolution Of Robin Thicke. Now on the way to double platinum status, Evolution’s mega hit “Lost Without U” became the #1 most played song in Urban Adult Contemporary BDS and topped four Billboard charts simultaneously: #1 R&B /Hip Hop album, #1 Hot R&B / Hip Hop song, #1 Hot R&B Hip Hop Airplay, and #1 Hot Adult R&B Airplay. TV appearances included the unprecedented distinction of two appearances on Oprah Winfrey – within two weeks.

The year 2007 concluded with the VH1 Soul/ Vibe award for “Best Breakthrough Artist” and nominations from BET (“Best Male R&B” and “Viewer’s Choice”), Soul Train (“Best R&B Soul Album, Male”), MTV VMA (“Male Artist of the Year”), MOBO (Best Song, “Lost Without U”), the American Music Awards (“Favorite Breakthrough Artist”) and “Lost Without You” was named ASCAP’s (“Song Of The Year”). Robin will begin a run of dates with his longtime friend and fellow musician, Mary J. Blige beginning 9/19.