The 51st annual Grammy Awards went down last night in Hollywood, despite all of the hoopla surrounding the whole Chris Brown and Rihanna situation, and dozens and dozens of the biggest names in celebrity entertainment showed up on the red carpet to pose for photos: Jay-Z, T.I., Keyshia Cole, Jennifer Hudson, T-Pain, Diddy, Robin Thicke and more! Continue reading for the rest of the photos.

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Jennifer Hudson is slowly coming back to the scene after suffering a major blow to her personal life back in fall 2008. It’s definitely good to see her back on the scene. She recently shot the video for “If This Isn’t Love,” the second single from her self-titled debut album, in addition to performing the National Anthem at Sunday night’s Super Bowl XL III. She’s also set to perform next Sunday at the Grammys, where she’s up for four awards. Check out some photos from the music video shoot above and continue reading to peep photos of her amazing performance at the Super Bowl [ VIDEO LINK ].

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Jennifer Hudson performed the Star Spangled banner, our country’s national anthem, at the 2009 Super Bowl aka Super Bowl XL III. Saying that she did great would be a definite understatement because judging from what I heard through my own two years, I believe she tore the frikkin roof off! Metaphorically, of course. But anyway, peep the video above.

Singer/actress Jennifer Hudson will make her first live appearance since the tragic shooting deaths of her mother, brother and nephew. She’s set to kick-off Super Bowl XL III with her own rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson is set to make her first public appearance since the killings of her mother, brother and nephew. She’ll deliver the national anthem at the Super Bowl in Tampa on Feb. 1, according to the NFL. Hudson hasn’t performed publicly since her mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, brother Jason Hudson and 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, were slain in Chicago in October. Her estranged brother-in-law, William Balfour, 27, has been charged in the killings. Hudson, who released her self-titled debut album in September, is also scheduled to sing at the Grammys’ MusiCares event in Los Angeles a few days after Super Bowl XL III. She is nominated for four awards at the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards.

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Better luck next time Beyonce!  Sources are reporting that Jennifer Hudson is being courted to perform at the swearing in of  President-elect Barack Obama which will take place on January 20th, 2009.  If in fact she does choose to perform during the ceremony this will be her first appearance since the brutal murders of her mother, brother, and nephew back in October of last year.

“Organizers want Jennifer to sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at the Inauguration on Jan. 20,” a source told Page Six. “They are talking to Jennifer about it. It would be the first time she performed since the murders. She is from Chicago and a huge Obama supporter.”

Jennifer also sang the National Anthem at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.

I hope Jennifer does decide to do the honors at the inauguration. Who would want to miss the chance to become a part of such an historical event?!

AKON SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ABOUT HIS CRIMINAL PAST » Hip-hop star Akon (real name: Aliaune Thiam) cleared up allegations of him fabricating his criminal past to create this “gangster image” we all know him for. Just earlier this year (April 2008 to be exact), The Smoking Gun, a website famous for letting people know what’s really up with these celebrities, published reports of Akon’s true criminal past, making it known that the founder of Konvict Musik wasn’t in jail for 3 years, as he had claimed in numerous media interviews and in the lyrics of his music. But in an interview with Access Atlanta, Akon said that the “three years” he had previously mentioned didn’t represent one long sentence. Instead, they represented an accumulation of all of his run-ins with the law.

“I got caught up in cars and this and that. Kept going in and out of jail. Three months here, six months there, two weeks here,” Akon said. “And it was to a point where I was like, ‘This really doesn’t make any sense. What am I doing?’ And the last stretch I did was six months in Dekalb County (Georgia) after I was pulled over in a stolen car. So I guess when I was being interviewed, and I would say, ‘Yeah I did about three years,’ I wasn’t saying I did a three year stretch, I was calculating the time from when I started to get in trouble to the time when I said, ‘Enough is enough.’ And I think that was mistranslated in the Smoking Gun article and other stories.”

Yeah … usually when you say “I did 3 years in prison,” it usually means you did three years in prison! Not 3 months here, 6 months there, a week here, 12 hours there, 72 minutes there. He knew what he was doing to get those album sales, SMH…

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“It’s been a childhood dream of mine to release an album, so to receive four Grammy nominations is truly a blessing. I’m extremely honored and humbled by the nominations,” Hudson said in a statement released by Arista Records.

27-year-old William Balfour was officially arrested this past Monday and charged with the murders of Darnell Donerson, Jason Hudson, and Julian King; Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother, and young nephew, respectively. But now his lawyer is saying the only reason he’s being charged is because he’s the only suspect the police have at this point

“The delay between the crimes and his actual arrest show weaknesses in the case,” attorney Joshua Kutnick tells People.com. “This case is not a strong case against William. He is a convenient suspect.”

Well, even if he is innocent, the fact that he’s not really cooperating with the police, and hasn’t throughout the case’s investigation, doesn’t make him seem so. But we reallly think he did it. And so does everyone else.

The man, who was a suspect and “person of interest” in the murders of Jennifer Hudson’s mom, nephew, and brother, was formally charged and subsequently arrested on Monday, according to recent reports. 27-year-old William Balfour was being held in prison for violating his parole right after the October 24th Chicago murders, and now, he has been charged in the shooting deaths of Darnell Donerson, Julian King, and Jason Hudson. He is now being questioned by detectives in the Wentworth area of Chicago, IL.

Since being taken in as a potential suspect in the Hudson family murders, Balfour has maintained a tense relationship with authorities as he refused to take a lie detector test and cooperate with detectives assigned to the case. Balfour’s mother, Michelle Balfour, has stood by her son throughout the investigation while denying that he had anything to do with the deaths. During a hearing in November, Balfour’s girlfriend told authorities that a gun used in the slayings was “identical” to the gun that was recovered. As a result, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board board opted to keep Balfour in custody pending a review board panel hearing on Wednesday (December 3).

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PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Dreamgirl Jennifer Hudson paid her final respects to her mother, her brother, and her nephew yesterday at a private funeral service in Chicago. But she wasn’t there alone. According to the Chicago Tribune, the singer had the support of over 2,500 mourners, including fellow celebrities Fantasia Barrino, Oprah Winfrey, Usher, Missy Elliot, and more.

The day began with the estimated 2,500 mourners filing past the open caskets of her mother, Darnell Donerson; her brother, Jason; and her nephew, Julian King. Shortly before the funeral service commenced at Apostolic Church of God on the South Side, Hudson rose from her second-row pew and spent a few moments with each family member, attendees said. She went first to Julian, 7, who was dressed in white to match his casket.

She then moved to her mother, the matriarch who encouraged her to try out for “American Idol” and wouldn’t leave her Englewood home despite her younger daughter’s fame. The actress lingered at her mother’s light pink casket and gently touched Donerson before leaning down to kiss her goodbye.

Hudson paused at her brother’s blue casket before returning to her seat, where she joined her fiance, reality-TV star David “Punk” Otunga, and her sister, Julia. Hudson’s composure amid the heartbreaking goodbye became the day’s defining moment for many mourners.

“Jennifer is the pillar,” family friend Glover Lewis said as he left the Woodlawn church. “It’s obvious she’s holding the family together.”

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