Quote

When I was younger, there was a huge gap between what I wanted to do and what I could do as an idol.

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.

Yeah... I was a singer as a kid. I had a lot of stage fright, and what's happened with 'Idol,' it has got me past so much of that.

Before 'Idol,' I was lost... Now, I've actually followed through with something. I am a better man for it!

'American Idol' has taken over my whole life.

People around me called me an idol, so that's what I was.

I still have a photo on my wall of the greatest idol I will ever have in my life, and it's myself at eight. Because that's when the forces of imagination have the same value as the real world, when they're an instrument of survival: when my mother disappeared, and I imagined a mother. That was me at my best.

'American Idol' has done a great job of defaming my name and throwing a lot of mud at me for the past two years, so that set up a lot of roadblocks for me.