Pop Culture Happy Hour - The Jennifer Hudson Show Spirit Tunnel

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

If you're a celeb visiting The Jennifer Hudson Show, it's almost guaranteed you're going to make your way down the Spirit Tunnel – and possibly go viral. In just a few seconds, these videos can reveal a lot about a celeb's personality and persona: Do they have rhythm? Are they any good at improv? And how famous are they, really? The answers are (sometimes) really surprising!See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

If you're a celeb visiting the Jennifer Hudson show, it's almost guaranteed you're going to make your way down the spirit tunnel and possibly go viral. The spirit tunnel's a vibe. In just a few seconds, these videos can reveal a lot about a celebrity and persona, like, do they have rhythm? Are they any good at improv? And how famous are they really? The answers are sometimes really surprising.

I'm Aisha Harris, host of MP. PR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. And today we're talking about the Jennifer Hudson show's Spirit Tunnel. In the spirit of this episode, I feel like I need to give you the proper introduction here, Shamira. Okay. It's Shamira, Ibrahim, she's a culture writer, critic, she's a dream. Let me see you do it. Hey!

Let me see you do it. Hey! Hey, Shamira. Aisha, I hope you know that I'm saving that. as my ringtone for eternity. Look, I got to live up to this episode here. Right, right. Happy to be here, as always, are you sure?

It's great to have you, Shamira. Well, yes, I'm excited for this episode. This is going to be fun. For sure. Yeah. So Jennifer Hudson is a former American Idol contestant, an Egot winner, and now a daytime talk show host, and her show's gone viral for its video showcasing what has become a behind. the scene's ritual, the spirit tunnel.

Basically, as guests make their way to and or from the interview couch, staff members line up and down the hall and sing a song they crafted specifically for them. Now, according to the lore, it started out as a way to hype up Hudson herself before the tapings, and then eventually it morphed into a way to hype up the guests. People magazine reports that Angela Bassett was the first to get the treatment. They're very spirited there. I have to confess that I have probably watched all of maybe a minute or two of the actual Jennifer Hudson show. No shade to her whatsoever.

But I've watched maybe over an hour of these videos. And they're very short videos. I am obsessed with this. But what is it that makes you so fascinated by the Spirit Duttle? I'm the same way, by the way. The longest interview I think I've watched on the Jennifer Hudson show, no disrespect to Jennifer Hudson is when she had common on to talk about their relationship. And they did a lot of, so we're in a relationship, huh? And I was like, oh, never mind.

I find it so fascinating because it's kind of like excerpts from a teen movie brought to life. You know what I mean? Like it's that opening, you know, segment from Bring It On, like brought to life for a talk show. And like the different pieces that are required to bring it together all indicate different things, right? Like it's unofficially celebrity popularity contest slash it's an indicator. of what the celebrity is most famous for because they have to kind of figure out how to quickly make a song,

make it sound charming, make it look like the entire crew is interested in you being there while they're busy running production for a show, right? And you can tell which celebrities are like worth the effort or which celebrities are just a little too early in their celebrity status to merit like expansive songs. Yes, yes, absolutely.

It does feel sort of like a barometer to some extent of like how beloved or how like invested are, you know, the people who are creating these songs, but also we as a culture in who these people are. The first thing we heard at the top of this show was Aaron Pierre. He, of course, as they said, he was Mufasa in Mufasa, the movie. That was sort of like the prequel to the Lion King. He was the voice of Mufasa. But he also, he's been in other things.

And it was interesting to see because if I recall correctly, there were people there. but it looked a little sparse. Like sometimes there's more crew involved in this than other ones. It kind of went viral in part because, like, people were saying, well, it didn't feel like they didn't put their all into it in the same way that they have with others. But, like, what are your thoughts on that kind of situation? Yeah, it's funny because I think that me went viral for two reasons. One, because Aaron Pierre is, like, a strikingly handsome man with very piercing eyes.

Very. The second is, like when you pointed out, right, you know, when you have to hammer it on what is the thing that makes them socially relevant as well as for the press moment they're here for. And because, hey, that's Mufasa. Because, like, that's the biggest thing that we know for it. I mean, he had a Netflix film that actually garnered him a fair amount of attention. And I do think the Green Lantern announcement happened around that time.

Right. But I'm not sure if it's before or after. Nor do I think Ere Pierre, that's Green Lantern, is really much more significant than than Eric Pierre, that's Mufasa, right? Yeah. So it's just. funny for them to have to figure out how to pick a song, make it lyrical enough, and not overdo it because they just don't have enough biographical details.

And it had to be like Mufasa from South London. Like what else do you say at this point in his celebrity? Right. Yeah, yeah. I loved it because like he seemed so happy to be there. Oh, absolutely. He's giving high fives. The crew also, like despite the fact that it felt like it was kind of a high bar for

them to try and clear in terms of trying to make it. relevant. Like, they seemed very into it and they were giving it their all. There's little adlips. They're having fun. But it is kind of a challenge. I have to say another example that felt even stranger to me was Alfonso Ribero. Did you watch this one? Have you seen this one? I did see this one. And what blew me away was that he did not do Tom Joe. Well, that was the thing. You would have thought that they would have done something to it's not unusual because. It is a pattern. Oftentimes they will take a song that already exists and they will change the lyrics. They did that for Shamar Moore. They did like Destiny Shout Survivor for his song. Christopher Fetty from Abbott Elementary.

They did Black and Yellow. Like Bellamy Young from Scandal, like they did Forever Young. Bella Mia. We want to be Bella Mia. They will do that. But then Alfonso doesn't get something to the tune of it's not unusual. And he also just seemed like not that happy to be there. I don't know.

I feel like there have to be two options of that. Yeah. One is, Aisha, I fear that we may be washed. And the classic Fresh Prince Tom Jones reference is too dated for the youth, which I fear is not the case. I don't think that's it. Or the second is that Alfonso explicitly told them I'm not doing the dance. That's true. I feel like it has to be one of the two.

Yeah. I feel like it's probably the latter because Fresh Prince, that is kind of. Even despite, you know, it being 30-plus years old now, like, that's what he's known for. If you know him for anything, it's not unusual. Dan, so I think the second suggestion seems most likely, especially because he ends it kind of aggressive. He's like, okay, and cut. The vibes are off. It really only works if the celebrity is willing to ham it up, right?

Yes, yes. And, I mean, let's talk about that because I feel like there are two parts to this, right? It's like what the staff and crew put into it beforehand. but it's also like you got to give something. This is kind of like a twist on the Soul Train line, right? It's like you are at this point expected to walk, not just walk down, but like really get into it and interact with the others. I feel like the ones where the synergies all together, where you have both the crew, they're putting they're all into the lyrics or they're into the performance and then you have the people giving it back. I feel like that synergy often comes when you've got an actual like songwriter musician coming into the mix.

Like money long. Right. First of all, she gets a whole song with like a full verse and a chorus. Can we actually hear a little bit of that? Nobody loves money like we do can't even deny it. Other shows may try it when she gets a joke. Right? And like she's a songwriter.

She's written for like Rihanna, Fifth Harmony. She's a singer as well. She gets a lot. And even at one point one crew member gets in a little soulful ad lib and it's fun. You also see that with like. like Kelly Rowland, for hers, they incorporated motivation, one of her biggest songs. That synergy seems to me, that's like sort of one of the patterns I've noticed, is if you got like an actual musician, it feels like they might feel as though they have to up their game, you know? Right. I definitely see that. I also see that it gets into like very traditional camp counselor sing-along vibes where there's like a handful in every single lineup that are like all in on the lyrics.

It's like, you can tell they're the ones that wrote it, right? You know? Yes. And then the others who are like, oh, I've got this line here, so I'm going to sing up right now, right? And then I'm going to fade into the background. So you get a little bit of that. I think those are the opportunities where they flex, like, their inner musical theater capabilities.

Yes, yes. And it gives them that opportunity to do that. And we should note, like, since this has become such a viral sensation, the Jennifer Hudson show has really leaned into this. And, you know, they've talked about how it came to be. And, you know, of course, it was black people in the, in the steps. who came up with this idea as a way to just like make it fun. It kind of has morphed into, depending on the guest, of course, but like it's morphed into more extensive, not just stopping and clapping, but like actual, sometimes even harmonizing, which is cool. Right.

I mean, look at the one for Michelle Obama. Like, I would hate to be the guest who had to be interviewed after Michelle Obama. Like, are you kidding me? We got Michelle Obama. At the happy place, we got Michelle. The entire staffing crew came out and did a cover of Stevie Wonders, I wish. Yeah. It's so interesting to see the way that works.

Like, I thought it was really interesting that, like, Regina Hall, they went kind of all out. Regina's here. Walk in the tunnel at the happy place. So shout. They, like, shouted out the scary movie franchise, the best man. They shouted out, like, her specific movies. And you notice, like, a lot of these actors, they're not getting that specific treatment. But, like, she was special.

I love that video in part because, like, she looks a little bit embarrassed. Like, she's like, oh, which is, like, again, it goes back to, like, there's the performance that the crew is giving and the performance that everyone else is giving. Right. I also noticed, like, I don't know if you've noticed this either, but there's certain people of a certain age, certain black men of a certain age where I'm looking at them and I'm like, oh, this is how you dance at the weddings. This is how you get down. Johnny Gill. Do you remember the Johnny Gill one? I don't remember it off the top of my head.

I can already imagine it. So yeah, Johnny Gill is basically dressed like an ESPN sportscaster and like this very bright suit. And then he's grooving down the hall. And he's got to dance like a cat, Daddy. I'm not going to lie. I was just like, oh, okay, Johnny Gill, look at you. It's funny how different celebs become their own version of a showman. You know what I mean?

Yes, absolutely. I think there's a little bit of a, depending on the celebrity, There's a script, right? It's like some of them will be like, oh, I'm surprised if this is happening. Like the initial moment of like shock, like, oh, what is this? And then like, oh, I'm going to get into it. But then other times it's like you know you can tell that there are some people who like this is the most embarrassing moment of their lives. It's like who's game and who's not. Right. I do have some boots on the ground reporting. Oh, I may share.

Yes. Oh, please. I do know of someone who was a guest on the Jennifer Hudson show. And I'll protect their anonymity. But what they told me is that you're not necessarily communicated when the spirit tunnel is about to happen. So you're just like getting ready in the green room, right? Yeah. So I think for some of them, they think, oh, I'm going to be the odd one out because I just have all this like lingering time. And that's why we see the genuinely shocked reactions from people where they're like, oh, wait, no, it is happening. Oh, that's so funny.

Okay. Because I thought that was maybe a little to perform. Like, because if you're going to, like at this point, wouldn't you know that if you're Exactly. I would think you would expect it, right? But I do think some of them have so much downtime that I think in their heads they're like, oh, it must just not be for me. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's very true. I guess like my other question for you is just like, why do you think that like of the show, like why this is the thing that has like struck a chord, generally speaking? Because I don't know, this, I guess this is kind of like J-Hud's carpool karaoke or one of the, like,

this is the thing. But like, why? Why? Why is this the thing? It's so fascinating that you make the parallel to carpool karaoke. Because one thing I will say about carpool karaoke is that ostensibly, it's supposed to indicate something about the interest of the guest, right? Because usually they end up lip syncing or doing karaoke to a song we would not expect from them. And it indicates their taste. With this, it's like weird magnifying glass of like the current performative loves of celebrities, right? We have them do gimmicks, right?

We have them eat hot wings while they talk about their life stories. And it's like this weird encapsulation of like the ways we can algorithmically add a hierarchy to celebrity because it like a 10 second clip we can see how many people are showing up how quickly, you know, they have however many cultural references that we would add, how they participate in celebrity as a celebrity themselves, whether they're going to be really game for it, whether they'll be reluctant, whether they're turned off by the experience. And like it's just like a really great 15 second way to artificially rank people. You know, as well as get a sense of people's sense of musicality, right? Like, for all the leftover glee lovers, it's like, oh, how quickly can we make a song in 30 seconds or less? Like, in my head, there's an S&L sketch of, like, some poor intern who was just trapped in a closet, writing melody after melody day after day, begging to be free. You know what I? Well, that was going to be my follow-up question is, like, is this something that you would find enjoyable to be able to do at your job?

Because, like, look, they put together, like, a whole thing where they have the people who started this and some of the people who are involved on the staff who are creating these ideas. They seem very into it. But, like, I can't imagine that every single person is that excited to do it all the time. I don't know. I'll put it like this. Yeah. You know, in college, I was a college tour guide for extra money. One of several jobs I took on, right?

And I think the first two weeks of being a college tour guide where I can enthrall parents with, like, random fun facts of my school. campus, right? It was fun to be able to hit the same beats, get the same magical reaction every time. By like month two, I was like, here's this random trivia fact that I'm sure you know or don't know. Oh, you don't know how great. Let's move on to the next thing. Like, I have a feeling that like the novelty has kind of like lost a little bit of its shine after like being the most on-demand thing from their program. Like they're also running the production of a show, right? So I'm sure they have other things to do. Look, I'm a former theater kid nerd and I also went through a phase throughout middle school and high school where I would do this exact thing. I would make up songs

to like the lyrics of popular songs. Like, ask me off offline about a song I made up to the tune of Maya's Case of the X. Like that's what I did. So like would I enjoy this probably? And I also like, I can imagine that for a certain type of person, the demands of putting on a show, this is kind of like a way to let loose of it. If you've watched enough of them, you see the same people, you notice them on the sidelines. And then you see like the ones who are like really, really into it. You see the ones who like, they're clearly into it. But they might not be quite on the beat.

But that's okay. They're there. It's happy. And I really like, I just, I do hope that like everyone who does appear on screen feels as though like they're not feeling like they have to do it. You know? It seems fun. And I've also seen people commenting like, oh, my God, I would hate for this to be a part of my job. And I'm like, well, you know.

I don't want to be presumptive. Like I said, for me, I definitely would probably my mother to be over it. But like, like you said, I can see a specific personality that really loves it. What I selfishly, selfishly would love to see is someone somehow like pierced through it in a way. Like I can see like a Nathan Fielder type, right? Going on Jeffon and like doing an elaborate bit, right? And they just like collapse on the ground and everybody stops singing out of fear. You know? Like how far can we take the bit of the celebrity being fully in persona for the actual spirit tunnel? You know what I'm saying? Like let's get really meta with it.

Yeah, I mean, I would love to do that as opposed to the people who just kind of run down the hall and are just like, I hate this. And of course, Noah Wiley, perhaps most famously so far, he actually decided not to do it ahead of time. He's like, I don't want to do this, which I, you know what, I respect that. If you feel as though this is not your thing or you don't want to be embarrassed, but just like, I don't know, sometimes people, that is their worst nightmare is like having attention in that way. And the fact that he was like, I don't want to do this. I wonder how often that happens, actually. Personally, me, myself, if I were to watch Usher Raymond roller skate down a spirit tunnel,

I would be like, no, thank you. I actually, I don't even sign up for this competition. please send me through the side entrance. So I can respect it. Yeah. Usher in them roller skates. Like if he's not wearing roller skates, is he even usher these days? Exactly.

Well, do you have any last thoughts on this spirit tunnel and any dream spirit tunnel celebrities that you would love to see? I mean, there's so many. I want them to get into, I'm not even thinking about celebrities. I'm thinking about complex rhyme schemes. Like, I want them to do a bold thugs and a harmony song. Like, I don't know how that happens, but I need to do. see it happen. Like, I want the most absurd, like, Sierra comes on. Let's do the chorus

like you, make it happen, right? Yes, yes. So that's my ambition. My hope is that they get even more and more out there with their song choices. Oh, my goodness. Yes. I think that's the only natural progression is for it to get just weird as hell. I would love to see it. So that is our challenge to you, oh, great staff of the J-Hed show. Please get weirder. I'm sure we would all love it. love to see that. Yes. Well, we want to know what is your favorite spirit tunnel video.

There are so many. We didn't even get close. There's so many. Not even close. Yeah. But you can find us at Facebook.com slash PCHH. That brings us to the end of our show, Shamira Ibrahim. Thanks so much for being here.

And yes, please do make me your ring down. Yes. Looking forward to it. Thanks as always, Ayesha. This episode was produced by Mike Katzif and edited by Jessica Reedy. Audio engineering was performed by Jimmy Keely, Robert Rodriguez, and Quasi Lee. And Hello, Come In, provides our theme music. Thanks so much for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR.

I'm Aisha Harris, and we'll see you all next time.