00:00What's up Essence? This is 7 Things We're Talking About. I'm Dana Blair and I certainly
00:10missed you. I hope you had an amazing holiday, a fabulous New Year's, and you know, a few weeks to
00:16rest up because we are about to jump right into red carpet season. So let's get to it. Jumping
00:21into number one, our girl Ava DuVernay is coming to a television set near you. The Selma director
00:26is teaming right back up with Oprah Winfrey to bring Natalie Bazille's novel Queen Sugar
00:30to life on OWN. The project follows a fabulous woman in LA and her teenage daughter, who all
00:36of a sudden inherit a sugar cane farm from her father way down in Louisiana. Now, as a Louisiana
00:42girl myself, I know that is not an easy transition. Plus, Winfrey will make her debut on OWN as
00:48an actress, making a few cameos in a few episodes. So we'll definitely keep our eyes on this one
00:53and filming is set to begin later this year. On a much more serious note, Bobbi Kristina
00:58Brown, daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobbi Brown, was found in the bathtub in her home
01:03in Georgia unconscious. She, of course, was rushed to the hospital and since then has been
01:07placed in a medically induced coma due to swelling of the brain. There is much speculation since
01:12Bobbi Kris went into the hospital as to whether she is making progress, whether she is stable,
01:16etc. However, the Houston Brown family has asked that we respect their privacy and keep
01:21her in our prayers. Bobbi Kristina, you are certainly in the Essence family's prayers and
01:24we will, of course, keep you abreast as to what's happening right here on Essence.com.
01:28Okay, ladies, I know many of you are watching the Super Bowl, some of you against your will.
01:34However, I really want to talk about New England Patriots breakout star Malcolm Butler. Now, you're
01:39probably saying, Dana, why should I care about this guy? He has a really interesting backstory
01:43and you know me, I love a good backstory. So here's the tea. He's from West Alabama. He wasn't
01:48even originally signed. He was a walk on back in May and he used to put himself through school
01:53while working at Popeyes and even left football for a very brief period of time. But of course,
01:58he followed his heart, followed his dreams and look at him now. He had the game winning
02:02interception the last 20 seconds of the Super Bowl that helped the New England Patriots take
02:06it on home. Congrats, Malcolm. Now, on a much jazzier note, I know I mentioned everything about
02:12red carpet season and as you can tell, I'm in some new digs. That's because we are right here on the
02:16West Coast in LA, getting ready for Grammys week and Essence has black women in music.
02:21This year, we are honoring Jill Scott with performances by MC Light, Brandy, Leanne
02:26LaHavas and of course, the one, the only Chaka Khan. Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan. I absolutely cannot
02:32wait for that night. I will be covering the carpet live as we launch our new show, Essence Live.
02:37That's going to give you all the good celebrity juice, fashion, beauty, entertainment, interviews,
02:42and maybe I could sneak you a few behind the scenes looks at the fabulous event. I can't wait. So of
02:47course, keep it locked right here on Essence.com. And next up, a big congratulations to our girl,
02:53Serena Williams, who took home her 19th. That's one nine grand slam at the Australian Open. That puts
02:59her only three behind Steffi Graf and four behind Margaret Court's overall record title holding existing
03:06fabulousness in tennis. Congratulations, Serena. Keep doing your thing. Okay. So back to this little game,
03:11they call it the Super Bowl. Let's be completely honest. Our girl, Missy Elliott, stole the show.
03:16She put her thing down. She flipped it. Then she reversed it. Everybody had their eyes on the camera
03:21and were singing. And it took us way back to the time when music was music. And it was all about
03:25dancing and sweating your hair out and having a really good time. This also brought Missy Elliott
03:29back to the forefront. And she has a few singles that are now topping the charts on iTunes. I have my
03:33fingers crossed that maybe this means there's a return for her back in the game because we most certainly need
03:39her. Plus, Missy took to her Twitter and thanked all of her fans for all of the love and support.
03:43She said she didn't know she was missed so much. I really hope that we see you back in the studio very
03:48soon. And last, but certainly not least, one of my particular favorites, my girl, Wendy Williams,
03:54celebrated her 1000th episode. You know, that is no small feat from the Essence family to yours.
03:59We wish you a thousand more episodes. And how you doing? Well, there you have it. That's seven things we're
04:05talking about. I am Dana Blair, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Keep it locked right here on Essence.com.
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