Jennifer Hudson �can�t wait to perform� in slim body

�Dreamgirls� star Jennifer Hudson said yesterday she can�t wait to perform again, now that she has a slim new look.

Hudson, 29, has dropped five dress sizes since joining a Weight Watchers programme last year � and having her first baby.

�I can�t wait to perform again � with my new body,� Hudson told Reuters at a New York school, where she helped launch Weight Watchers �Lose For Good� campaign to help fight obesity and hunger in young people.

Hudson, who is a Weight Watchers spokeswoman, said her new svelte frame would enhance her stamina when she hits the road to support her second album, expected in early 2011.

But the struggle to stay fit will be a lifelong challenge.

�It�s a lifestyle. It�s not an on and off switch,� she said.

Hudson dropped five sizes after signing up with Weight Watchers last year



Hudson, a former �American Idol� contestant, won a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in the 2006 musical �Dreamgirls�. Her 2008 debut album �Jennifer Hudson� yielded a Grammy and has sold more than one million copies.

Hudson recently finished shooting her role as Winnie Mandela in a movie about the life of the controversial ex-wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela.

The singer said she was in the early stage of working on her new album but said she wanted the music to be �more flexible, more diverse�.

�I definitely want it to be more personal than the first album, and just more me � whatever that is, I don�t know yet but I�m going to find out,� Hudson said.

Actress Jennifer Hudson says family murders �surreal�

Singer Jennifer Hudson arrives at the Pre-Grammy Gala presented by the Recording Academy and Clive Davis in Beverly Hills, California, January 30, 2010.

LOS ANGELES, June 30 � Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson broke down as she spoke for the first time publicly about the murders of her mother, brother and nephew.

The one-time �American Idol� contestant, who went on to win an Academy Award three years ago for a supporting role in her feature debut �Dreamgirls,� said the 2008 triple-slaying was �surreal.�

�It�s all a blur. It was surreal,� she said during an episode of US cable channel VH1�s documentary series �Behind the Music� broadcast two days ago. �It was like I was outside of myself.�



The bodies of Hudson�s 57-year-old mother Darnell Donerson and 29-year-old brother Jason Hudson were discovered inside the home where Hudson grew up in Chicago. Her 7-year-old nephew Julian King was later found dead in a vehicle.

All three had been shot. William Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson�s sister Julia, has been charged with the murders.

Hudson, now 28, disappeared from the spotlight for a few months after the murders, recalling that for two weeks she basically stayed in one room with family and friends.

�I prayed when I�d get up in the morning and prayed before I laid down at night,� she said.

Not long after the murder, Hudson got engaged to David Otunga which whom she had a son last August. Her debut self-titled album went on to win a Grammy award.

She said she knew she needed to get her life back on track.

�In so many ways I channel (my mother) because she was such a great mom,� said said adding that her son �makes me feel like the most special person on earth. I want him to get the same love and the same upbringing my mother gave us.�