I knew I had to make a sacrifice to do what I've always wanted to do.

I was just so honored to play the role of Cinderella and to just be the first African-American princess, that's just historic for me, that's such a mark in my life and my career and then the bonus of just working with my favorite person in the whole world, Whitney [Houston], like her voice just did something to my spirit.

All I could think about was, 'I just wanna blow him away. I wanna make him proud, because I really wanna sign with Timbaland and spend the rest of my career making music with Tim.'

I certainly didn't want to date. I was through with guys.

The '90s period I just miss because it was such a great time and the music was just so electric. Everybody just had to bring their A-game back then because everybody that was, you know, a big influence...they were on the charts. I bring that era with me everywhere I go. I care about every word I sing. I care about every move I make on stage. I care about the fans. I bring that with me to the present time. And then, when you're timeless, you can work in any time.

The extra opinions and the extra praise is just a bonus, it's not the main thing. The main thing is how I feel about myself. And I feel really good about myself.

Mom would kill me if I showed my navel.