FANTASIA COMING TO VH1 IN DIRECT-TO-SERIES PROJECT PRODUCED BY WORLD OF WONDER

Meteoric Star of "American Idol" and Broadway's "The Color Purple" Continues Cinderella Tale on VH1

NEW YORK, April 16, 2009 -- VH1 will partner with World Of Wonder Productions in a direct-to-series project starring Fantasia, the 9-time Grammy-nominated R&B singer and star of stage, television and Broadway.

VH1 will follow Fantasia along her life's journey -- a journey full of both ups and downs -- and will share how she deals with life and the seismic aftershocks of fame. The show will reveal Fantasia's "reality" -- her life as a blossoming recording artist and a young single mother who has achieved great success, but not without her share of hardship along the way. Nevertheless, Fantasia continues to persevere with the courage to live life with an openness and sincerity that her fans have come to love her for. The series is slated for an early 2010 premiere.

Hailing from High Point, North Carolina, Fantasia rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the television series "American Idol" in 2004. Since then, Fantasia's life has been nothing short of a whirlwind. Her young recording career has already earned her 9 Grammy nominations. She also told her story in her New York Times best-selling autobiography "Life Is Not a Fairy Tale," which led to the production of a film by Lifetime Television film by the same name in which she played herself. In 2007, Fantasia played the role of Celie in the Broadway adaptation of "The Color Purple" to rave reviews. Presently, Fantasia is back in the studio working on her third album preparing to wow the world with the gift that first brought introduced her to the world stage-- her voice.

"Fantasia has one of the most fascinating stories in show business, from her tough upbringing to her meteoric rise on the national scene thanks to �American Idol.' Her challenges from fame and her unwillingness to fail have combined to create a larger-than-life talent who appeals to music lovers around the world," said Jeff Olde, Executive Vice President, Original Programming & Production, VH1. "So many people wanted to work with her on this, but Fantasia is now part of the VH1 family, and we're so happy to have her."

"Fantasia's life has been an open book. But at 24 years old, her story has just begun," said Executive Producer, Randy Barbato. "We look forward to smashing expectations and revealing the fresh, funny and unexpected side of this one-of-a-kind country girl/superstar."

The series is executive produced by Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato and Tom Campbell for World of Wonder. Executive producers for VH1 are Jill Holmes, Kristen Kelly and Jeff Olde.

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 95 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, VH1Games and extensive broadband video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

ABOUT WORLD OF WONDER

World of Wonder (WOW) was founded by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey in 1990. Since then the company has amassed a library of branded properties across all platforms, including such well known films as Party Monster, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Inside Deep Throat, and television shows Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood, Heli-Loggers, Million Dollar Listing, and entertainment blog The WOW Report (www.worldofwonder.net).