A couple of years ago, my friend Sharon and I got together a couple times per week to practice music for this little duo we had goin'.

We'd often practice on Wednesday nights, which during the spring presents a conflict. Idol is on.

That I would go ahead and practice music with my friend indicated just how much I enjoy playing and working with her. However, we'd always eat dinner before practicing, which means I'd always catch her up on what was happening with Idol.

"How's your girl doing?" Sharon would ask.

Although the 2004 season -- Season 3 -- was the year of the three divas, there was only one "your girl." Sharon was referring to Jennifer Hudson, a Chicago native, who was picked by Randy Jackson to be part of the Final 12 in a wildcard show.

Without Jackson's selection, she never would have been in that final group. While Hudson really caught fire by the week of the Final 9, when she blew the house down with a rendition of "Circle of Life," from The Lion King, that momentum really blew up the next week.

"Hudson takes on Houston and wins," director and guest judge Quentin Tarantino said of Hudson's performance of Whitney's "I Have Nothing."

Simon that week noted that there were probably two other women backstage pricking voodoo dolls of Jennifer. Cowell was referring to LaToya London and eventual winner, Fantasia Barrino.

The voodoo worked because Hudson was eliminated the very next week, amid some controversy regarding phone systems down in the Midwest due to severe thunderstorms. In my opinion, that week, Hudson did what no Idol performance had ever done: She covered a song better than the original.

Hudson took Barry Manilow's "Weekend In New England," and gave it soul, power and balls. Barry knew it and acknowledged it; heck, he helped arrange it.

The Bottom 3 that night were Barrino, London and Hudson, and in very much a serendipitous turn, Hudson got the boot.

You'll never hear me claim that a show like Idol actually produces fair results in terms of the product that gets released in the marketplace. Heck, Kat McPhee's album is actually better than Taylor Hicks', and while I didn't expect much from Hicks, I really didn't expect much commercially from McPhee.

And, heck, Chris Daughtry has 'em both whipped at this point with an album that could end up being the biggest CD of 2007.

However, Jennifer Hudson gets the biggest possible last laugh, if she wants it. She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Dreamgirls," and while Hudson has talked about her Idol experience, it's not like she thanked them onstage.

There is absolutely no reason for her to feel that obligation.

One wonders how people are changed when good fortune comes their way. We might wonder just how much bitterness Hudson might hold toward the reality show that made her famous considering the lack of support they gave her compared to other singers. However, if you expect J-Hud, as Idol nerds nicknamed her, to become a real-life diva, you shouldn't hold your breath.

"Look at what God can do," she said upon grabbing the golden statuette on Sunday.

A couple months ago, while other stars were at parties after the Golden Globes, Hudson chose to celebrate her success with the people truly at the foundation of her success -- her church.

It's really easy for celebrities to deviate from who they really are when fame hits. It's ultra-impressive when they stay true to themselves.

I can't tell you how personally impressed I am with her, not only in terms of talent but in terms of character. While it would be really easy to say, "Hey, look at that Idol machine producing another star," really, it was whoever cast her in the role of Effie who should be given the credit.

To a certain extent, Idol and Simon Cowell in particular deserve a bit of scolding for how they treated Jennifer in 2004, if only in their failure to recognize just how talented she is. That the judges didn't get behind Hudson to win Season 3 of America's most popular contest, to me, is the show's only genuine talent misjudgment in six seasons (so far).

Of course, I'm biased because I think the world not only of Hudson but of her talent. I'm not terribly excited about seeing "Dreamgirls," if only because musicals on-screen don't do much for me. However, I'll definitely give it a look and a listen.

What the future holds for Hudson, in terms of movies or music, is anybody's guess. I know she's got the big record deal with Clive Davis now, and I suspect that album could be pretty good, particularly as some of these Idol CDs continue to get better and better.

While I couldn't say for sure that it'll ever get any better for Hudson than it was Sunday night when she won an award so few ever will, I'll be stunned beyond belief if she's ever caught up in anything the likes of Lindsay, Britney, Paris, etc.

We like to think that good things happen to good people, and -- frankly -- Jennifer Hudson is living proof that they do.