Life Is Not a Fairy Tale

In her autobiography Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, a New York Times bestseller, Fantasia tells of her rise from high-school dropout to music star.

As an American Idol contestant, she captured the hearts of millions with her extraordinary voice and sassy style, with those qualities she won the talent contest and became a nationally prominent singer. But her life began much more humbly. At the age of seventeen, despite her remarkable talent, Fantasia was an uneducated, unmarried teenage mother living in poverty. She was faced with many tough battles growing up in the city of High Point, North Carolina, which is mainly famous for its furniture Market. She shows respect and admiration to the strong women who raised her, her mother and grandmother, both preachers who instilled in her a strong faith in God. Both women struggled with the same issues as Fantasia at a young age which made Fantasia realize that she would only be headed down the same dead end path if she didn't make a change for the better.

In this Lifetime original movie, director Debbie Allen gives viewers a first hand look at the struggles Fantasia faced before/during her rise to fame. The movie begins with Fantasia's humble beginnings, growing up in a close knit God-fearing family that faced its own personal demons of struggling with their dreams. Fantasia faces problems with her self-esteem, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy and her faith as she fights to overcome her mistakes at a young age. This movie depicted from her best-selling biopic of the same name, provides an emotional example of what you can achieve when believing in yourself.

The movie premiered on Saturday, August 19, 2006 at 9:00 PM EST. It was Lifetime's second most watched movie in its 22-year history, with more than nineteen million viewers tuning in during the August 19–20 weekend. The movie was ranked the number one basic cable movie premiere in 2006 among women ages 18–49. Weekend online traffic to Lifetimetv.com rose by more than seventy percent during that weekend.

In 2007, the movie and its actors including Fantasia, Loretta Devine and Kadeem Hardison were nominated for 4 NAACP Image Awards. Kadeem Hardison won his award. It was also nominated for a 2007 Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Movie.

1. "Chain of Fools" — Fantasia
2. "Respect Yourself" — Viola Davis
3. "Wade in the Water" — Viola Davis
4. "The Lord is Blessing Me" — Viola Davis & Jamia Simone Nash
5. "ABC" — Jamia Simone Nash, Paul Amadi, & Terrance Thomas
6. "Almighty God" — Viola Davis
7. "Pass Me Not" — Fantasia, Viola Davis, and Loretta Davis
8. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours — Fantasia
9. "Proud Mary — Fantasia
10. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" — Fantasia
11. "Almighty God" — Viola Davis & Loretta Davis
12. "Summertime — Fantasia
13. "God Bless the Child" — Fantasia
14. "I Wanna Hear You Say (Do You Love Me)" — Fantasia

• Excerpt: Life is Not a Fairy Tale, by Fantasia