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.

While the digital age has done so much to improve our world, it has dramatically changed our social structure, often further isolating us from each other.

I read so many things because a colleague or a friend will post something, and I'll be able to learn a tremendous amount only because they drew attention to it. So I try to do that for others, and that's the great thing about social media. It's not always a narcissistic cesspool or waste of time.

People who take time out to dole out opinion on social media are negative people.

I was always putting songs on the Internet, but I was never into pushing them on anyone.