Growing up, I played softball and I was a cheerleader.

American Idol transcends age, gender, ethnicity, everything.

We see new male artists have their first single reach No. 1 on the charts, but it generally takes a female a lot longer to build momentum.

I think after coming off of 'American Idol'... people kind of expect you to just be awesome all the time, and we're still learning. I had a lot of stage experience, but it was in a 200-seat theater, you know - it wasn't thousands of people in front of me.

To be spiritual means you have cosmic ambitions. You want to know not just the whole creation but the Creator and the source of creation as well. To be material means you have petty ambitions of owning a house - or 10 houses - or a whole apartment building.

Parents today are self-absorbed. They don't care what anyone thinks or even what their children think. There is less focus on discipline, integrity, boundaries, fairness, honesty and spirituality.

Hamilton' has restored my faith in theater.

When I write, I try to represent the ordinary person in the pew, which means that, ironically, I'm qualified to write about prayer by being unqualified!