Iyanla Vanzant Talks New Season Of 'Fix My Life'

Iyanla Vanzant

By Darlene Donloe

Iyanla Vanzant is looking fabulous in her chic, red, form-fitting dress, gold jewelry and creamy pumps.

She laughs easily and exudes a vast amount of self-confidence.

She’s in a good mood – and why not? She’s ready to talk about the all new season of OWN’s award-winning self-help series Iyanla: Fix My Life.

Iyanla Vanzant works with Pastor Mitchell on Iyanla: Fix My Life 

(Photo courtesy of OWN)

This season is set to be shocking, controversial and emotionally charged. It begins with a three-part, multi-week episode focusing on the coming out stories of two gay pastors. With her help the men take bold steps towards confessing their truth after years of keeping their sexuality a secret from those closest to them.

That is just one story.  The rest of the reason is just as intense. The new season features a model who sacrificed everything for beauty by injecting herself excessively with dangerous industrial-grade silicone butt injections. It also highlights Vanzant’s work with former Olympian Debi Thomas.

The eight new one-hour episodes of Fix My Life continue to showcase Vanzant and her patented brand of self-help.   Her qualifications to hand out advice include being a mother, survivor, spiritual life coach, empowerment orator, minister, two-time NAACP Image® Award-winner and five-time New York Times best-selling author.

I recently caught up with Vanzant to ask her about her show and her life.

The Brooklyn native starts off the conversation by saying, “I am gorgeous and I want to be gorgeous in my spirit and mind.”

Q: What do you know for sure?

IV: That who I am, just as I am, is OK because this is what God created. I don’t need to know anything else.

Q: You’re looking good. How do you stay healthy? 

IV: The Holy Spirit does it. I just show up and look pretty.

Q: How do you avoid taking on the energy of some of the people you counsel?

IV:  I don’t have a personal stake in their outcome. I can’t be invested in anyone else’s healing. I can’t fix your life. I provide you with the info. This is what it is, boo.  I’m invested in serving God.

Q: In the premiere you deal with two gay pastors.

IV: I deal with them because they were living a lie not because they were gay. You have to stand in the truth of your being publically. They just happened to be gay.

Q:  Is what you do considered a spiritual calling?

IV: Yes. I spent $54,000 to go to law school. I was practicing criminal law in Philly. All of my clients were in jail. I was a defense attorney. The Holy Spirit said leave. I did. I didn’t know what I was going to do. Prayer and supplication. I didn’t start off doing this.

Q:  How did you come out OK from an abusive relationship? How did you find confidence and realize you were beautiful?

IV: I was never ugly. I was a little confused. There is a process you have to go through. Most of us who are broken don’t know we’re broken. Your life will never shift until you get OK with the fact that you’re crazy as hell.  As long as you try to act like you’re not crazy or broken, your life will never work. You’ll keep seeking validation somewhere else.

Q: How rewarding is it for you when lives are changed as a result of your counsel?

IV: It’s not about me. I’m not attached to it that way. I know what forgiveness did for me. I know how forgiveness works.

Q: In this world it seems as though there are tons of people doing wrong, but being rewarded for it.

IV:  We live in a society where the lowest common denominator gets the most attention.

Q: What kind of advice would you give someone regarding getting over something really painful?

IV:  When it hurts bad enough, you’ll stop.  Breathe, pray and forgive. It won’t hurt you.

Iyanla: Fix My Life premieres Saturday, Sept. 19, 9 p.m. ET/PT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

It is produced by Harpo Studios with executive producers Jill Van Lokeren, Jon Sinclair and Iyanla Vanzant.

Bob James and Nathan East Are 'The New Cool'

The pair’s first duo album is released boding to top the national charts fueled by robust sales, enthusiastic critical buzz and abundant airplay.

Nashville, Tennessee (18 September 2015): There’s much to sink your teeth into when taking a bite into “The New Cool,” the debut duets collection released Friday by contemporary jazz keyboard legend Bob James and master bassist Nathan East from Yamaha Entertainment Group. The scrumptious session produced by the duo and Yamaha Entertainment Group vice president/founder Chris Gero celebrates over 25 years of musical collaboration and friendship while rediscovering the Grammy-winning musicians’ roots on the straight-ahead side of jazz with a surprising set of original intimate acoustic jazz compositions and a few handpicked classics. It’s an immaculately-crafted outing destined to merit serious consideration come awards season while strong pre-sales figures point towards a chart-topper. 

JazzTimes magazine premiered “The New Cool” on Monday by streaming the entire album on their website for free. This week, SiriusXM’s Real Jazz channel added three cuts – the lush orchestral “All Will Be Revealed,” the shuffling Brazilian jazzer “Canto Y La Danza” and the thundering “Turbulence” – to their playlist and will record an exclusive live performance by James and East early next month in their New York City studios. The duo adorns the cover of the September/October issue of Jazz Inside Magazine, which provides eight pages of comprehensive coverage of what bodes to be the “jazz event record of the year.” Additional press is slated to hit shortly in M Music & Musicians, DownBeat, Jazziz and other national magazines, newspapers and websites just as the national radio campaign kicks into high gear. 

At age 75, James has been there and done that, winning two Grammys and penning the theme song to a hit television series (“Taxi”). His vintage catalogue dating back to the 1970s is amongst the most frequently sampled in hip hop. For the past quarter century, he’s captained the super group Fourplay, to which East also belongs. However, it’s been several decades since the famed keyboardist has had the opportunity and the creative license to fully orchestrate tracks until Gero encouraged James to go big on “The New Cool,” which sparked excitement and a gusher of creative fount. Having the Nashville Recording Orchestra at his command, James conjured up imaginative arrangements that perfectly underscored the scholarly piano and bass rhythms and poignant melodies, and dramatically illuminated the more grandiose productions, such as a lavish take on Willie Nelson’s “Crazy” featuring a sublime lead vocal from country phenom Vince Gill, a single that has generated voracious interest at iTunes ahead of the album release. 

Hot off of a Grammy nomination for his first solo record, 2014’s “Nathan East,” and a Grammy Record of the Year win for playing on Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” East was invigorated by being able to put down his trusty Yamaha electric bass in favor of recording primarily with an upright acoustic bass on this disc with James that plays like a masters class on performance, production, songwriting and arranging. Set to be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bass Player magazine this November, East has built an unparalleled career by playing with pop music royalty ever since he was 16 years-old boasting a long list of collaborators such as Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, George Harrison, Stevie Wonder and Beyoncé.       

The visuals in support of “The New Cool” are equally captivating as Yamaha Entertainment Group captured and preserved the behind-the-scenes magic, which are being shared weekly in a ten-part series of video vignettes on www.TheNewCoolAlbum.com and on the company’s and the artists’ social media. This fall, a full-length documentary film about the making of the album will arrive following in the award-winning footsteps of last year’s “Nathan East: For The Record.” Get a taste of what’s to come in this trailer: http://4wrd.it/TNC-YT.  

Key Voices A Character In 'Hotel Transylvania 2'

Keegan Michael Key

Key and Peele may have ended their popular show. However, Key will still be front and center. He's making his debut as Murray the Mummy in the latest Sony Pictures Animation film HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 opening in theaters September 25th. 

Taking over from Cee-Lo Green, Keegan voices Murray the Mummy, a member of the infamous Drac Pack who make their home Hotel Transylvania. In the photo above Keegan is in action alongside his animated friend.

Clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_lgu-gskSg&index=3&list=PLYeOyMz9C9kYPadUh5YMLVO36YsDaHpCQ 

Terence Trent D'Arby Changes Name to Sananda Maitreya, New CD Drops October 3

Terence Trent D'Arby, who sang the hits songs Wishing Well and Sign Your Name, has a new CD coming out October 9. It's called, The Rise Of The Zugebrian Time Lords. By the way, his new name is Sananda Maitreya. He no longer goes by Terence Trent D'Arby.  The first single is Blanket on the Ground.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 In Theaters November 20

 THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 2

In Theaters November 20

The blockbuster Hunger Games franchise has taken audiences by storm around the world, grossing more than $2.2 billion at the global box office. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 now brings the franchise to its powerful final chapter in which Katniss Everdeen [Jennifer Lawrence] realizes the stakes are no longer just for survival – they are for the future.

With the nation of Panem in a full scale war, Katniss confronts President Snow [Donald Sutherland] in the final showdown. Teamed with a group of her closest friends – including Gale [Liam Hemsworth], Finnick [Sam Claflin] and Peeta [Josh Hutcherson] – Katniss goes off on a mission with the unit from District 13 as they risk their lives to liberate the citizens of Panem, and stage an assassination attempt on President Snow who has become increasingly obsessed with destroying her.  The mortal traps, enemies, and moral choices that await Katniss will challenge her more than any arena she faced in The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong and features an acclaimed cast including Academy Award®-winner Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Academy Award®-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone with Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland reprising their original roles from The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The impressive lineup is joined by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 co-stars Academy Award®-winner Julianne Moore, Mahershala Ali, Natalie Dormer, Wes Chatham, Elden Henson and Evan Ross.

Lionsgate presents a Color Force / Lionsgate production.

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Natalie Dormer, with Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland

Directed by: Francis Lawrence  

Produced By: Nina Jacobson, Jon Kilik

Release Date: November 20, 2015

'Creed' Opens Nov. 25, Stars Michael B. Jordan

Michael B. Jordan

ABOUT CREED:

Drama. Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan)never knew his famous father, world heavy weight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born. Still, there’s no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed’s legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa. Once in the City of Brotherly Love, Adonis tracks Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) down and asks him to be his trainer. Despite his insistence that he is out of the fight game for good, Rocky sees in Adonis the strength and determination he had known in Apollo—the fierce rival who became his closest friend. Agreeing to take him on, Rocky trains the young fighter, even as the former champ is battling an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring. With Rocky in his corner, it isn’t long before Adonis gets his own shot at the title…but can he develop not only the drive but also the heart of a true fighter, in time to get into the ring?

CREED stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad.  

The film opens nationwide November 25th !!

YOUTUBE

https://youtu.be/JQ9OhBYjTds

David Oyelowo Stars In Drama 'Captive'

In Theaters Nationwide September 18 

CAPTIVE, based on a miraculous true story that drew the attention of the entire nation, is the dramatic, thrilling, and spiritual journey of Ashley Smith and Brian Nichols.  After being taken hostage by Brian in her own apartment, Ashley turns to Rick Warren’s inspirational book, The Purpose Driven Life, for guidance.  In reading from the book, Ashley not only finds purpose in her own life, but helps Brian find a more peaceful resolution to a harrowing situation.