I have always wanted to do a Christmas album and covers.Collection: Christmas
Christmas is my favorite holiday because you spend time with family. I love the decorations, the music, and buying gifts for people. Everything about Christmas is the best.Collection: Christmas
I wanna be more like the Rihanna kind of, Beyonce kind of thing, but I don't want to compare myself to anybody, because I wanna be somebody new, too.
But I'm really into old music - bluesy, soulful singers, like Etta James, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin. I wouldn't have minded being born in the 1960s!
I'm all about risque - I love that stuff. I love to be creative - that's what the entertainment business is about.
During 'Idol,' I wasn't expecting anything. I just wanted to survive the competition, but my album and my music are a big part of who I am. Hopefully it translates well and I keep growing as an artist.
Before I was on 'Idol,' I just sat at home and played video games all day long. Now I get to travel and work towards my dream. It's the best feeling ever.
I grew up singing ballads, but what I really wanted to get into was the mainstream music on the radio because I really love the beats and everything.
On 'Idol,' you have to show off your vocal abilities, so I stuck to the ballads, so I'm glad my first single is 'Tonight' so I can show off my fun, young side, and what I want to do as an artist.
I grew up always wanting to be a part of 'Idol,' and I never thought I would make it as far as I did. I was really lucky, and it's given me the opportunities that I have now.
I'm playing a powerhouse singer who is big competition, but she's also really down to earth and sweet. But the whole sweet thing goes away when she's in competition mode. I love the show, so I'm very excited to be a part of it. I'm going to kill it on 'Glee!'
'Idol' was more of a competition, and that was more of a platform that I wanted to get a hold of and get on top of. And I finally got that opportunity, and now it's more like, I just gotta show and prove myself to everybody that I'm not just the 'balladeer.'
I'm very blessed and appreciative of everything that's happened, and I'm just working hard for more opportunities to come.
'American Idol' is such a big platform. It's been on for so many seasons. I went on the show not thinking I was going to make it that far at all because there was so many talented people that auditioned.
I have a picture with Obama in my house, and I freak out every time I see it. I'm like, 'What the heck? Did that even happen?' It's like a dream.
I remember Steven Tyler coming up to me once. He was like, 'Oh my god, you have a God given talent,' and I freaked out. He's so sweet.
I feel like artists and their lyrics are something that people can relate to when it comes to love and break-ups. I really want people to know how I felt when I went through a break up, when I really felt alive, and everything in between.
I've been training myself and listening to other artists and seeing where their emotion comes from, singing a heartbreak song when they're in a happy relationship.
I want to do more urban R&B with a little bit of pop, but not much. I want to have that soulful kind of side of me come out.
It's important to work hard, stay humble, and not let the criticism or the compliments go to your head.
In the U.S., no one minds who I am, even if they saw me in 'Idol.' If I'm not doing any shows, my friends and I can just drive around the neighborhood and go to bars at night and chill till four in the morning.
Every single year, I tell myself I am going to drive. It never happens. I don't know how to drive. I am already 20. This needs to happen.
It was crazy... working with Ne-Yo. Everything was such a blur, and I was just a fangirl the whole time.
This is going to seem odd, but I love Eminem because he has so much conviction and emotion in the way he raps. Every word that he raps, you feel it.
I don't want people to just hand me music and be like, 'Here, you sound good on this. Sing it.' I want to be able to say, 'This is me.'
Right after 'Idol,' I was like, 'I've got to become a totally different person. I gotta upgrade myself.' I can't just stand there and be all shy and sing.
Do not let anything get in your way of chasing your dreams.Collection: Dream
I want to let my fans know that I will not hold myself back anymore. Everybody knows me as "15-Year-Old Little Jessica who was on 'American Idol' and who is this sweet, quiet girl." I am very soft-spoken, but I have gone through numerous experiences, and I want to speak out and tell people what has been going on in my life.Collection: Girl
A lot of people who wanted to audition for Idol have asked me: “What should I do?” or “How to I prepare myself?” I always told them: “Just go in and believe in yourself.”Collection: Believe
Being hurt by someone you really cared about, it makes me want to make them regret ever hurting my heart. Best way of doing that? Success. Get ready for it.Collection: Hurt