American Idol transcends age, gender, ethnicity, everything.

At first, it was hard to sit down and read the things that people were saying. A lot of people would've worked their way up to this position and would've gotten a thick skin over a few years' time. For me, though, all this happened in a few months.

There's a lot of things that are said on the American Idol message board. I quit reading them because most of the people are very mean.

The more boys I meet the more I love my dog.

I feel like I am a celebrity for no reason, like people are resentful I didn't have to play bars for 10 years to get a record deal.

I've grown up a lot. I've become more independent. I can talk to my parents more like friends. When I was going to college, I was still only an hour away from them.Now, after Idol and touring all over the place, I feel like I have become a lot more independent.

And he don't know...that I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seats. I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all 4 tires...Maybe, next time he'll think before he cheats.