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.

In my lifetime, I've discovered a great many incredibly talented individuals. Some have achieved stardom. Simultaneously, I've seen many dreams shattered, egos destroyed and lives changed forever. The end destination may well be fame and fortune, but the road to stardom is littered with broken hearts.

For me, the fall of the Wall came at the exact right time because, I mean, I was 17, basically I hadn't missed anything, unlike the generation of my parents, who were deprived of a lot of things. They couldn't travel, and they couldn't really get ahead in their professional careers. So for me, it was perfect timing.

Star Wars' was the mythology of my youth. I longed for adventure.

There's simply no better company out there doing mobile travel apps with the same level of design sensibility and utility as Mobiata.