Jennifer Hudson to Sing for Obama

Update

"American Idol" alum and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson will perform for President Obama when he appears at the Democratic National Committee's fund-raiser at the Beverly Hilton next Wednesday, according to a Democratic source. Also on the bill will be Earth, Wind & Fire. (A tip of the hat to LAObserved, which reported the entertainment on Tuesday.)

The event will be Obama's first fund-raising swing through Hollywood since taking office.

Hudson and Earth, Wind and Fire will appear at a $1,000-per-person reception ($2,500-per-person VIP seating), taking place before separate from a $30,400-per-couple dinner with the president.

The fund-raiser is expected to bring in more than $3 million, by some estimates, but it is taking place in a much different environment, what with the economy and donor fatigue. (The event is one of many fund raisers next week during the congressional recess). It's hard not to notice the empty restaurants and tony shops on Robertson Boulevard and Montana Avenue, not to mention the after effects of the merger of William Morris with Endeavor, in which more than a 100 employees were let go earlier this week.

"We will meet our goal," says political consultant Andy Spahn, one of the event's organizers. "It is a tiugh economy, but there is tremendous excitement about Barack Obama's first appearance here as president of the United States."

"It is a tough economy, but again it is tempered by the tremendous enthusiasm for the president and his accomplishments in the first hundred days, which are quite remarkable."

My sense is donors trimming back are concentrating on the bigger names. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was in L.A. on April 16 to raise money, and returns on June 7 for an event in Malibu hosted by Haim Saban.

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