I'm not crazy about how sort of homogenized pop music become. It used to be much more diverse. Maybe it's just what's played on the radio sounds very much the same.

I know there's a lot of competition in the world of magazines and newspapers and we have to make headlines and be sensational and sell, and saying bad things about me is going to sell more papers than writing good things about me.

I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.

When I first came to New York I was a dancer, and a French record label offered me a recording contract and I had to go to Paris to do it. So I went there and that's how I really got into the music business. But I didn't like what I was doing when I got there, so I left, and I never did a record there.

I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.

I'm not a reluctant pop star. I'm very grateful and happy for everything that I have and for things when they go well. On the other hand, I've had enough of the other side to know that if it doesn't, I will survive that and life goes on.

I'm encouraging other people, whether they're professionals or not, to use their creativity to express themselves, to get a conversation going, to get the party started, really.