Jennifer Hudson and Dionne Warwick Sing ‘All The Time’ in a Full Circle Moment

[Motown Eddie]

RolllingStone.com-
SINGER AND TALK show host Jennifer Hudson fulfilled a childhood dream on Friday by singing a duet with the legendary Dionne Warwick on the Jennifer Hudson Show. The little-known song, “All the Time,” was released in 1979. Warwick, who has had 56 of her singles make the Billboard Hot 100 over her decades long career, told the audience, that the last time she sang the song was when she recorded it. “Why she chose this song I’ll never know,” Warwick teased Hudson.

Hudson laughed and explained that Warwick’s “This Empty Place” was her original audition song when she was a contestant on American Idol. She also shared that growing up she was a super fan and would dig up “every single record under the sun.”

In a full-circle moment, Hudson took the opportunity to ask her fellow Grammy-winner to perform “All The Time” and handed her the mic. “I cannot have you here and not sing with you. Can we sing a bit?” she said. “Oh my God. I’ve been wanting to do this.”

[daviddesper]

Dionne looks great in this clip and it is always nice to see her in the spotlight. But I could not help but feel that Jennifer wanted to make that moment much more about herself than Dionne. That does not sound like proper talk show manners to me.

[PeaceNHarmony]

Jennifer is a bit clumsy as a host but I wish her well. Dionne is incorrect in stating that "I have not sung this song since I recorded it". In fact, at her Carnegie Hall show in the fall of '78, when the Arista 'Dionne' lp had been recorded but not yet released, Dionne introduced the song as a new favorite and performed it not once but twice. After the first performance Dionne made a statement of the sort that the song fit her place-and-time perfectly so she sang it again! A great, great show. BTW, it's not a remotely 'little known song', having appeared on a platinum lp and having been written by one Barry Manilow [[who receives not near sufficient credit for Dionne's commercial return, having produced the lp).

[daviddesper]

For me the entire Dionne album was an absolute masterpiece. There is not a weak cut on it and depending on my mood there are four songs that I consider my favorite track. But guess what? Neither of the two big singles are among those four! Instead my faves are All The Time, Feeling Old Feelings, After You, and My Everlasting Love.

[reese]

[reese]

Gladys Knight and the Pips did a great version as well, the year before Dionne.

[daviddesper]

Nice treatment of the song but I will still take the studio version any time. When she hits that final "HAAAADDDD" it is just incredible. But I guess this video proves that she told Jennifer a little white lie, doesn't it?

[Spreadinglove21]

Nice treatment of the song but I will still take the studio version any time. When she hits that final "HAAAADDDD" it is just incredible. But I guess this video proves that she told Jennifer a little white lie, doesn't it?

More like she doesn't remember the song. Artists have a different relationship to their song recording catalog than fans do. If you were working in the late 70s and early 80s, do you remember a project that you worked on from time to time from that long ago?

[reese]

Nice treatment of the song but I will still take the studio version any time. When she hits that final "HAAAADDDD" it is just incredible. But I guess this video proves that she told Jennifer a little white lie, doesn't it?

Dionne also sang it during her HBO Park West special. The HBO version is my favorite as she hits some notes near the end that seem to take her to another place.

I don't know if I'd call it a little white lie. That to me is something done on purpose. It is most likely true that Dionne hadn't performed it since 1981. Given that has been almost been 40 years, I can see her forgetting about it.

[carlo]

Dionne looks great in this clip and it is always nice to see her in the spotlight. But I could not help but feel that Jennifer wanted to make that moment much more about herself than Dionne. That does not sound like proper talk show manners to me.

I agree with you, David. I watched this clip yesterday and felt the same. It started nicely but then Jennifer went all-in with the killer, over the top vocals. She sounded great, but I felt like she was showing-up Dionne, regardless of whether she didn't intend to show her up.

Jennifer Hudson is immensely talented and I've never understood why she has yet to put out a solid studio album. She's put out three of them, in the last 15 years. The first two had a few shining moments for me, and the last one was a dud. I feel that she's yet to have found the right producer for her voice, to come out with a break-through type of album, that will showcase her talent.

[reese]

I agree with you, David. I watched this clip yesterday and felt the same. It started nicely but then Jennifer went all-in with the killer, over the top vocals. She sounded great, but I felt like she was showing-up Dionne, regardless of whether she didn't intend to show her up.

Jennifer Hudson is immensely talented and I've never understood why she has yet to put out a solid studio album. She's put out three of them, in the last 15 years. The first two had a few shining moments for me, and the last one was a dud. I feel that she's yet to have found the right producer for her voice, to come out with a break-through type of album, that will showcase her talent.

I think Jennifer is talented but I find many of her vocals to be rather shrill. To me, she often seems to be showing off her range instead of trying to establish a connection with the song. That said, I have enjoyed her vocals when she tones it down.

[carlo]

That's a good observation, Reese.