I don’t know why terrible things happen to us sometimes. But I have to believe that something good is going to come of this.

I'm fighting a losing battle here: I'm trying to lose some weight. I love chocolate; that's one of my biggest downfalls. I haven't gotten a whole lot of chocolate, thank goodness, because I'd probably be about 300 pounds.

As far as talent goes, we had pretty much everything, and I think that's why this year was so successful.

It's sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life, starts with goodbye.

So many people always try to help me carry my luggage and help me do things I can do myself. If I can do it myself, I'm going to do it myself. I'm not going to let other people do it for me, and I think that's a big part of where I came from. I'm not a real prissy girl.

I was terrified of graduating college and not knowing what I was going to do. I saw the auditions for Idol and thought, Why not? I always liked to sing. You know when they asked, "Are you the next American Idol?" I said yes, but I didn't mean it.

Singing is just a feeling set to music.