"I'm excited about the new judges on 'American Idol.' Jennifer Lopez was a real mentor to me my seaso..." — Jordin Sparks

It's cool to have parents and family who will always tell me the truth no matter what. They'll tell me if I'm doing something stupid!

I know what I want to look like. I don't want to look trashy. I want mothers to be able to look at me and not have to close their kids' eyes!

Well... I had braces and I had to wear headgear! I loved my braces, actually. For me, they were like a piece of jewelry! Instead of the silver or pewter I had gold braces. It was so much fun, I loved them. I got to change the colors and stuff and I had the rubber bands.

With 'Idol' it's kind of just like 'OK, here's this competition - I need to do better than somebody else.'