Celebrity Mound

Jennifer Hudson showed off her growing baby bump as she performed onstage during Michael Jackson’s memorial service today.

The mom-to-be delivered a powerful performance of Jackson’s 1993 hit, “Will You Be There,” alongside a choir at the Los Angeles event.

The Grammy-winning singer and Oscar-winning actress, who is about eight months along in her first pregnancy, is engaged to former reality TV star David Otunga.

Hudson, 27, who became engaged to the aspiring pro-wrestling in September, has remained mum on her upcoming wedding.

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A weekend baby shower in downtown Chicago confirmed what has long been rumored: Jennifer Hudson is pregnant.

“It was a baby shower, a quiet gathering of friends and mostly family,” singer/actress Felicia Fields, a longtime Hudson friend, said of Saturday’s get-together in a relative’s home. “They’re really trying to keep it kind of quiet.”

South Side native Hudson, the 27-year-old singing star who won the 2006 best supporting actress Oscar for “Dreamgirls,” is engaged to former reality TV star David Otunga, who’s currently pursuing a pro wrestling career. Hudson has said she no longer would live in Chicago after her mother, Darnell Donerson, brother Jason and nephew Julian King were found murdered in October, with William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer’s sister Julia, charged with the crimes.

Hudson recently finished a co-headlining concert tour with singer Robin Thicke, with an April 25 show at the Arie Crown Theatre. Her manager and publicist previously denied that she is pregnant.

“It was a nice time that we had,” Fields said of the shower. She didn’t want to get into when the baby is due, but speculation is that Hudson is many months along—an impression bolstered by her appearance of late.

As for whether Hudson received blue or pink gifts, Fields said, “They don’t know [the gender]. More yellow.”

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Jennifer Hudson Performs On NBC’s “Today”

According to two confirmed sources in Essence, Jennifer Hudson is pregnant.

The 27-year-old singer and actress, pictured above just a few days ago, is engaged to David Otunga, a Harvard Law graduate and former contestant on reality TV show I Love New York 2. Jennifer is currently touring with Robin Thicke.

Tragedy struck the former American Idol contestant last October when her mother, brother and nephew were murdered. Hudson returned to the spotlight on February 1 when she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl. Just one week later, she went on to win her first Grammy Award for best R&B album.

Jennifer’s manager and publicist have denied these pregnancy rumors. Time will tell if she is expecting her first child.

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JENNIFER Hudson’s fiancé, David Otunga – also known as “Punk” from “I Love New York” – has figured out how to keep his beloved in the style to which she’s accustomed. The Harvard-schooled ex-lawyer is, a pal says, “training to become a WWE Superstar wrestler, and is now working at . . . WWE’s developmental territory in Tampa.”

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Jennifer Hudson’s estranged brother-in-law William Balfour, who was arrested this week in the October murders of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew, “did not commit these crimes,” the man’s lawyer tells PEOPLE.

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

Balfour was formally charged Tuesday with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion, says Cook County Attorney’s Office spokesman Andy Conklin. Balfour is scheduled to appear Wednesday at a bond hearing.

He was transferred Monday from an Illinois state prison – where he has been held on suspicion of a parole violation – back into Chicago police custody.

Balfour, 27, who is separated from Hudson’s sister, Julia, was arrested in the first-degree murders of Hudson’s mother Darnell Donerson, 57, brother Jason Hudson, 29, and his own stepson, Julian King, 7.

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Police arrested the estranged brother-in-law of Jennifer Hudson on Monday in the deaths of the entertainer’s mother, brother and young nephew, taking him from a prison where he had been held on a suspected parole violation.

William Balfour was arrested at Stateville Correctional Center and released to detectives as he awaited formal charges in the shooting deaths of the singer and Oscar-winning actress’ relatives, said Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond.

Until Monday, police had identified Balfour, 27, only as a “person of interest” in the investigation. He had not been charged by late Monday afternoon, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

The bodies of Jennifer Hudson’s mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were discovered Oct. 24 at the family’s home on the South Side of Chicago. The body of 7-year-old Julian King was found three days later in a sport utility vehicle on the West Side. All three had been shot.

Police took Balfour into custody the same day the bodies of Donerson and Hudson were discovered. After 48 hours — the longest Chicago police can hold a person without charges — Balfour was taken by the Illinois Department of Corrections on the suspected parole violation.

Balfour — Julian’s stepfather and the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s older sister, Julia Hudson — served seven years for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction.

His mother, Michelle Balfour of Chicago, has denied that her son had anything to do with the deaths. Telephone numbers for Balfour’s mother and sister were disconnected Monday.

Balfour had refused to take a lie-detector test and stopped cooperating with detectives in the case, a police official, who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, has said.

Police have confirmed they found the gun used in the killings. The .45-caliber gun was discovered Oct. 29 in a vacant lot in the West Side neighborhood where the King’s body was found a few days earlier.

Bond declined to discuss any evidence Monday. But after a hearing at the prison, the chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board said a woman had told authorities that a gun used in the slayings was “identical” to the gun that was recovered.

At the time, board Chairman Jorge Montes said the evidence was key to a decision finding probable cause that Balfour violated his parole and should remain locked up pending a Dec. 3 hearing before a review board panel.

Balfour did not have an attorney at the November hearing, and the Cook County public defender’s office said at the time that nobody from the office had been assigned because he was not formally charged with a crime.

No one in the public defender’s office was assigned to Balfour’s case late Monday, and it’ was not clear whether he had other representation.

Donald Trump doesn’t just have the golden touch for business – he also has a heart of gold.

The real-estate mogul has been housing Jennifer Hudson and some of her relatives at the Trump International Hotel & Tower free of charge.

“She’s a great girl. And we’re protecting them well,” Trump told PEOPLE at a benefit honoring Australia director Baz Luhrman at the Museum of Modern Art Monday night. “They are very safe.”

Hudson has been seeking refuge at the Trump holding since her mother, brother and nephew were murdered in Chicago on Oct. 24.

Trump’s largesse was first reported by E! Online.

The man police have called a suspect in the murder of actress Jennifer Hudson’s family finds out Monday whether he’ll remain in prison for violating his parole or go free while investigators continue to investigate the triple slaying.

William Balfour, 27, was on parole for a 1999 attempted murder conviction when linked to the Oct. 24 murders of his estranged wife’s brother, mother and 7-year-old son. He has not been charged in the case, but his parole was revoked and he was returned to prison after 48 hours of questioning by Chicago detectives.

Balfour, who is married to the Oscar-winning actress’ sister, Julia Hudson, has been held at Stateville Correctional Center on the outskirts of Joliet since Oct. 26.

Monday at 9 a.m. he will have a hearing at Stateville before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, which will determine whether evidence in the case constitutes a violation of Balfour’s parole for the 1999 conviction, state officials said.

A state investigator will present evidence to the board at the preliminary hearing, which Balfour will have a chance to rebut before a decision is made, said Kenneth Tupy, attorney for the review board. If the board finds probable cause to believe Balfour has committed a crime, or violated his parole in some other manner, he’ll be held for further hearings.

If the board finds that Balfour has not violated his parole, he could be set free Monday.

Balfour acknowledged being at the Hudson’s Englewood home on the morning that the actress’ mother, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson, were gunned down inside the house, law enforcement sources said. Julia Hudson’s son, Julian, was abducted from the home and his body discovered three days later, shot twice in the head and slumped in the back of Jason Hudson’s Chevy Suburban on a West Side street.

Balfour’s current girlfriend also told police that he told her he had been involved in the killings of Donerson and Hudson, sources said.

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