Feb 26, 2007News: Melissa Etheridge's song "I Need to Wake Up'' in "An Inconvenient Truth'' wins an Oscar
By vanrozenheim
(Los Angeles, USA) - "An Inconvenient Truth'' won original song for Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up.'' The openly gay Etheridge kissed her partner Tammy Lynn Michaels on the lips when her name was announced and onstage referred to Michaels as her wife. The couple held a commitment ceremony in 2003 and are the parents of twins.
"Maybe someone at home is going, 'Did she say wife?''' Etheridge said backstage. "I was kissing her because that's what you do, you kiss your loved one when you win an Oscar, that's what I grew up believing.''
Hudson won supporting actress for her first movie, playing a powerhouse vocalist who falls on hard times after she is booted from a 1960s girl group in "Dreamgirls.'' The role came barely two years after she shot to celebrity as an "American Idol'' finalist.
Hudson said she was inspired by her grandmother, a singer in the family's church choir who chose not to become a professional performer.
"She really wanted to sing for the Lord,'' Hudson said. "It was my goal and my dream to do this for her. She had a voice that should have been heard around the world.''
