Purchase Fantasia's sophomore album, the self-titled "Fantasia," featuring the hit songs "Hood Boy" and "When I See U."

Copy and paste this URL into your browser to download the album on iTunes: http /click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=5Vuze*7m1yU&offerid=78
 941&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_P
 ARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fphobos.app
 le.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.
 woa%252Fwa%252FviewAlbum%253Fi%253
 D207871513%2526id%253D207871485%25
 26s%253D143441%2526partnerId%253D3
 0&u1=arista

Click here to order a physical album: http://www.sonymusicstore.com/store/...

May 11, 2007
By Andrew Gans

I have a confession: Fantasia Barrino is the one "American Idol" contestant I actually voted for in the five years I've been watching the high-rated singing competition on FOX. There was just something different about this young singer from High Point, NC. There have been many great voices on the series since its debut, but Fantasia connected with her material emotionally in a way no one else has. In fact, I can still remember her beautiful rendition of Porgy and Bess' "Summertime" and the tears that ran down her face as she concluded the Gershwin standard.

"I had actually never heard ['Summertime'] before," Fantasia told me May 1. "I couldn't find a song to sing for that week [of 'American Idol']. I think that week was Movie Week, and you had to pick songs from the soundtracks of movies, and I could not find a song. I was like, 'Oh God, it's getting closer and closer, and I have to find a song!' We had vocal coaches that would sit down and rehearse the songs with us and take us into the studio. They were going through the [songs] that they had, and I was like, 'Nah, go to the next song,' . . . and then comes this beautiful song, and I was like, 'Ooh, go back, go back!' and [the vocal coach] was like, 'Ooh, girl, that's an old song! That's a song from 'Porgy and Bess.'

"I like to sing songs that I can relate to. . . . [and 'Summertime' is] such a beautiful song, and it connected [with me] and did exactly what I wanted it to do. At that time, I just had so many people looking at my past. They were saying that I was a young mom and that I wasn't married, and I just wanted to humble myself. I went out with no shoes on. I said, 'I don't want a lot of makeup, I don't want a lot of nothin'.' I just want to go out and sit on the stage and connect with the people through this song, and hopefully they'll see that yeah, I am a mom and I'm not married, and I had dropped out of school and did some things that I did not want to do, but I wanted them to see what I was trying to do with myself now to better myself. People would come up to me and say, 'I just want to be honest. I wasn't voting for you at first, but after you sang 'Summertime'…"

Ironically, it was actually her difficult past that most likely led Color Purple producers to ask the talented performer to step into the role of Celie, the abused and abandoned young woman who learns how to love others, but more importantly herself, during her long journey to find peace and happiness. "I have my book out, and I talk about so many things that I went through," Fantasia explains. "I think that's probably why they came to me to play the part because they watched my movie [Lifetime's 'The Fantasia Barrino Story'] and read my book ['Life Is Not a Fairy Tale' from Simon & Schuster] — and they did a little studying on me — and they see that I went through similar things [Celie] went through. Of course, back in the day, back in her time, it was much, much harder on her. But I guess that's why they came to me because I've been through so many things."

Fantasia says she identifies with Celie's plight on many levels. "I'm a mother [and] I had a child at a young age," the 22-year-old says. "Going through the abuse with my baby's father — but we were young, we were kids, so we really didn't know. But just going through physical and mental abuse, being out on my own at a young age. I dropped out of school in the ninth grade . . . [and] not really thinking I was good enough, not really thinking I was beautiful."

The Grammy-nominated singer was actually on tour with Jamie Foxx when she received the call about joining the cast of The Color Purple, the award-winning musical at the Broadway Theatre that is produced by Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders, Roy Furman and Quincy Jones, among others. "We left the tour and came to New York, came to see the show," Fantasia explains, "and we went out to eat after that with Scott Sanders and [director] Gary [Griffi

You've heard the song on the radio and TV, now get the ringtone for your phone! Text SEE to 71717 to purchase the "When I See U" ringtone! Additional ringtone purchase information is below! *Standard text messaging rates apply*

"When I See U" SEE 71717
"Hood Boy" FAN1 71717
"Baby Making Hips" FAN2 71717
"I Nominate U" FAN3 71717