Fantasia Barrino Brings NAACP Image Awards Crowd To Their Feet With 1 Electric Song
Fantasia Barrino broke into song to celebrate winning Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture at the 55th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday.
“Before I leave, I want to say ‘To God be the glory, to God be the glory, to God be the glory for the things that he has done!’” sang the “American Idol” winner, who used her voice to bring the crowd to their feet.
Barrino, who played the character Celie in the musical film “The Color Purple,” looked shocked over the win and admitted that she didn’t have an acceptance speech prepared for the moment.
“I didn’t think I was gonna win,” said Barrino, as she held back tears.
“I was afraid to play Celie, but I’m glad I did, because I kept saying, ’If I don’t win an award, the awards that I will win is the people who will watch [‘The] Color Purple’ and the women that will relate to her and will feel like Oscars when they walk out.”
Barrino’s portrayal of Celie was passed over for a nomination by the Academy Awards, though she was nominated for a Golden Globe.
In her speech, the actor thanked her late grandmother as well as her mother, who she referred to as the “first queen” she saw who carried herself with “elegance and class.”
″[She] showed me any room I walked in, I didn’t have to compete with no one,” Barrino said.
“My mother was a woman that went through a lot of things, but I saw her, after everything she went through, walk out as a queen. With a smile on her face, she always kept God first, and I will continue to do the same.”
