Fantasia: Pal Jennifer Hudson "Sounds Good, Looks Good"

Fantasia Barrino has nothing but love for her former American Idol castmates, especially her Season 3 competition, Jennifer Hudson , and judge Simon Cowell .

"She's my baby," Fantasia tells Usmagazine.com of Hudson. "She sounds good, she looks good, and it's just a blessing, you know, after everything she's been through."

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Fantasia adds: "She's still a strong woman, and she hasn't fulfilled her destiny yet. And she has a long way to go."

And although she had her fair share of squabbles with Cowell before winning the 2004 Idol competition, she enjoys going back to the show for visits.

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"When you go back, you get lots of hugs and kisses," she said at the Grammy Style Studio event on Wednesday night. "[You also get] criticism and they say, 'Hey, what's going on?' But I love all of them."

Even Cowell?

"Of course," she says, adding that she'd be the perfect date for the sardonic judge.

"I would be a good girl for him," Fantasia jokes to Us. "Simon is a really tough guy, but he is very handsome and very sweet. Whoever gets him will get something very special."

Fantasia -- who has recently faced foreclosure on her Charlotte, North Carolina, home -- is hoping the upcoming release of her third album will be a better start to the new year.

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"2008 was a trying year for me," Fantasia tells Us. "I've been through a lot of things, so this album will be personal.

"What I'm aiming for is a timeless record. A record that you can pop and in two or three years from now, you'll say you remember that song. 'That song is still the bomb.' So, it's very personal to me," the singer says.

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