When I look at myself, I'd like not to have hair on the top of the ceiling.

I felt like I got more comfortable on "Idol" when I just started being myself and not trying to be what I thought I had to be.

I can make the argument that people who don't have the biggest ranges but have very unique voices, even if they may be pitchy at times... with the right record that's really unique and distinct, they can have big hits.

I wanted a child, and there was no way I could get pregnant under the stress of 18-hour work days and live TV. When you're somebody who's used to making a decision about what they want to do and getting it and achieving it, when your body fails you, it's a whole other experience.

Good new songs are the backbone of the music industry. There isn't an artist out there who could survive without hit songs.

I'm a native New Yorker, so I'm edgier; I kind of tell it like it is.

I don't think people really understood what I did. And you know, in my book, 'A Helluva High Note' deals with my back story, that I was a songwriter, that I spent years trying to hone my craft and being rejected and then finally becoming a successful songwriter, record executive and publisher.