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.

God gave me life to continue to do things that I would never have done.

Praying without ceasing is not ritualized, nor are there even words. It is a constant state of awareness of oneness with God.

With Faith No More, even though we're a bunch of old men, what I remember about our best shows is some sort of confrontation with the audience.

I am very conscious that, from the time of 'The God of Small Things' was published 10 years ago, we are in a different world... which needs to be written about differently, and I really very much want to do that.