2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Diva

And the nominees are...

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette in Marie Antoinette

In this environment of scrumptous food, fabulous gowns and to-die-for shoes, there's no doubt that Marie Antoinette would have been a major diva bitch and Kiki Dunst fits that mold perfectly.

Jennifer Hudson as Effie White in Dreamgirls

My girl Effie is a diva after my own heart (before she's even famous, she turns down a paying gig becuase she "don't do 'oohs' and 'aahs'.") and that MLK line will never get old.

Frances McDormand as Jane in Friends With Money

McDormand's Jane feels like a lot of the divas I personally know (my mother, my friend Christi's mother and grammy) when she grumbles about the awful service in that restaurant.

Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada

She scares to shit out of everyone and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. I wanted to sign up for the "Miranda Priestly School of Bitchiness" the minute she first evily glared at Anne Hathaway's Andy.

Mark Wahlberg as Sgt. Dignam in The Departed

He steals scenes better than anyone I've ever seen and the way he is such an asshole to everyone (love that "Don't you know any fucking Shakespeare?" line to DiCaprio in the beginning) is a lesson for every diva in training.

Runners Up: Annette Bening brought her whole diva aura to Running With Scissors and made it a much better film than it should have...Fiona Shaw was so over-the-top in The Black Dahlia and, consequently, so hilarious, that she almost made Faye Dunaway's Joan Crawford seem subtle...Julianne Moore made a real diva entrance like the true pro that she is in Children of Men.

BRONZE
Mark Wahlberg
SILVER
Jennifer Hudson
GOLD
Meryl Streep

I Know This is Practically Common Knowledge But J. Hud is Amazing

Ever since I saw "Dreamgirls" on December 30th, I've been enamored and practically dumbstruck by the talents of one Miss Jennifer Hudson. I'm almost embarrassed that we, as a nation, let her go so early on "American Idol" that fateful 3rd season. This girl has got talent spewing out of her ass. And I'm not just talking about her triumphant version of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" that tore the theatres up. The only time I've ever seen an audience clap during the middle of a movie is when J. Hud sang this song...and they did it multiple times. Behind me, a couple of girls kept saying to each other throughout the number "Damn, that girl can sing!" and started cheering loudly.

While that hair-raising, goosebump-inducing performance was movie magic at it's best, J. Hud also has her other shining moments. Her performance of the new song written for the movie "Love You I Do" is two minutes and 50 seconds of pure exaltation, elevating what could have been a cheesy, upbeat love song into the perfect expression of love. During "I Am Changing", we sincerely believe that she intends on changing her ways for the better. And it's during "One Night Only" that we see her finally able to hone her craft and make a single displaying all of her talents.

Even when she is not singing, J. Hud nails the character of Effie White. Lord knows I know and love my divas, and thanks to J. Hud, Effie is now one of my favorites. Whether it's telling Curtis and Jimmy that she don't do "ooohs and aaahs" or purposely singing over Deena during "Heavy, Heavy" in the studio and then walking out during the middle of the session, J. Hud knows how to throw a diva fit. And my favorite moment of hers is when she has the audacity to complain to Curtis about Martin Luther King, Jr. getting an album before she does. You can't get any more diva-riffic then that.

I sincerely hope that my girl J. Hud will win her deserved Oscar on February 25th and I can't wait to see what she does (musically and acting-wise) after all this hoopla.