“I’m cute – and God I hate that. Because that’s not cool. I’m like your niece, and nobody wants to date their niece. It’s the chubby cheeks. The whole reason people voted for me on American Idol is because I’m an everyday, normal girl.”

The thing I love most about going on vacation is that I get to leave behind any kind of schedule. My entire life is scheduled from morning to night, and when I’m on vacation, there is no schedule.

I am just like my mother. She raised me to love and take care of animals, especially the ones that need it the most and so I started Eddie’s Rescue Ranch. We take in animals that need extra care and attention and the animals that get left behind.

Even though I hate acting, I love doing videos for my songs.

Confidence is seen, not heard.

I have a big fear of change, or negative change, anyway. I’m basically the same person I was when I won ‘Idol,’ or when I was 10.

I try not to date musicians. It’s all I’ve dated. Every guy I’ve dated is a musician. Obviously, it’s not working.

It’s ignorant to think you know everything about a person. There’s many different sides to everybodys personality and there’s just different colours to a personality.

I sing songs that I have lived or I write them because I have lived them. I think the believability factor is key.

I may not be Einstein but I know dumb plus dumb equals you.

I’m so happy now. I love that I’m in a relationship right now… I want a life… The past five years or so I’ve found my groove and my balance.

The hardest thing about being in this business is just being able to be yourself. People act like there’s this one set of rules to follow to be a pop star and I think, ‘Well, you say I’m a pop star, so maybe that’s not true.’

I’ve never been more nervous in my life than singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.

Life’s too short to be a pushover.

Really, what I try to instill in my fans is to be healthy and happy. I have no desire to be super-skinny.

If I can wake up everyday before I die and know that I don’t have to serve anyone food or drinks, I will be happy!

My mom and I are like sisters. We kind of grew up together. She always treated me as an adult. I never had curfew. She’s a workaholic, like I am. We’re not super family-oriented people, you know?