'Listen' works because it's the culmination of Deena's character. The whole movie built up to that song, so when it finally hits it's not just another Big Ol' ShowStopper like Jennifer Hudson's was. I feel that song much more than any of the other songs; we've been in her shoes to understand her and Curtis's relationship, the way he did keep her on a leash, how he stripped more and more of who she really was away & denied her own voice time and time again, where she doubts her instincts and continues to go along with it. Even musically it works toward that kind of character progression because before then, she intentionally had less depth in her voice based on the reasons Curtis laid out right before the song, so it strikes you as that much bigger a deal when she finally unleashes all those buried emotions into the song.
Jennifer Hudson's a talented singer, no question, but not only is the writing up to her character's moment much worse, but she's basically at the same wavelength the whole time. Not that she HAD to be at different planes, but 'Listen' just struck me as the more interesting ballad because of how Deena sang before that song vs. now at that song.

Jennifer was the best hands down!

I preferred, Love You I Do

Listen was da song dat stood out in da film yes dis is true,, Listen was also the song dat OUTLIVED evry other song,, its still widely covered on every show lyk x factor,, da voice and da lyk. Beyonce wrote and sung a classic thurr
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It was fantastic, definitely stood out for me
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I completely disagree. Listen was added to the lineup, and Beyonce's performance of it was wayyy over the top. Nobody in the theater cared about her song. No one clapped. It was all about J. Hud as it should have been.

I respectfully disagree.

I thought it was a good song but felt out of place with the other songsi.e. like it didn't belong. I checked and it was added to the movie; it's not in the broadway musical. To me, it distracted from the movie being about Effie. Still, a good, powerful song; but can't hold a candle to Effie's ballad at the end of Act 1.

i think it depends on what age group or what you are going through ex:my mom thought that jennifer hudsons song was the best while i thought listen was good i couldnt really grasp all the emotion that went into a song like and i am telling you (as i was never in a place like that)while listen was very easy for me to grasp my mom saw the original performance of jennifer holliday so maybe it was easy for her

I always thought "Listen" was the movie's version of Diana Ross' "It's My Turn".

Agreed, Beyonce did an amazing job.
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