"American Idol" has done a lot for me. It's a stepping stone in my life.

I'm planning to be the youngest contestant in the Top 32, and I'm planning to be the youngest person in the Top 10.

If you see me, I'm always wearing black and pink. If I don't have it on, I at least have something that's black and pink. For instance, like, a bracelet or something.

My mom did a good job exposing me to different types of music.

I've been doing this sort of thing my entire life. It's my love, it's my passion, it's what I do day in and day out. I eat, sleep, and breathe music and singing.

She's very active. My mom is my manager and handles day-to-day business to keep the DeGarmo machine up and running! She's a huge, huge part of my career and my life.

I think one of my highpoints was definitely well, everything started turning around on Barry Manilow week. I had so much fun on disco week, love disco music. I think I picked some songs that really worked for me and people really enjoyed them. I loved doing the Donna Summers song and she was the guest judge, and she was the guest judge and I felt honored. She said she loved the song and said I made it my own.