Quotes from La'Porsha Renae

A lot of people behind the scenes were telling me that I was going to have to do something with my hair, my weight, all of that stuff.

When I first start writing a song, I usually write the title first, then the song, and I'll sing the song in my head and think of a visual of the song. If I can't think of a visual behind the song, I'll throw the song away.

I'm an old spirit, and my voice tends to be kind of heavy and loud. I've been referenced as 'a young Aretha.'

My fans are so loving and encouraging. They're with me on good days and bad days.

I love 'Battles,' and I love what it's doing for people.

A lot of the former Idols were voting for me, and that makes me feel really good.

When people ask me a personal question, I answer it in a personal way. I can only speak from the footsteps and the shoes that I've walked in.

The reaction that I got from 'Diamonds' I would have expected to get from 'House of the Rising Sun' or one of the other songs.

Everybody is a human being. We should be able to coexist with one another.

I am one of the people who don't really agree with that lifestyle. I wasn't brought up that way; it wasn't how I was raised, but I do have a lot of friends and a lot of people that I love dearly who are gay and homosexual, and they're such sweet, nice people.

I had a high school sweetheart that was my first. We were together all through high school. I had just broken up with him because I didn't think I was good enough. He wanted to be an anesthesiologist. I wanted to be an entertainer. His life was more planned out, and mine wasn't.

Anyone is welcome to hang out with me and have fun or sit down with me and talk. I don't discriminate against anyone. And I don't condone hating someone or treating them badly because they live differently than I do.

People say a lot of hurtful things, but in a way, the abuse that I endured from my husband prepared me for that. The things I had been told and drilled into my head from him were worse than what anybody could say to me.

Now I'm going to show a side of me I haven't shown before. I'm going to be fierce.

I haven't always been confident. I actually suffered with low self-esteem growing up. Eventually, I got to a point where I was just like, 'OK, this is taking too much energy.' After that, I started accepting myself for who I was, and I was like, whoever is not going to accept it, they weren't really meant to be in my life in that way.

I embraced everything that I thought would hold me back from pursuing my dreams and used my insecurities to give me the courage to inspire and advocate for others who possessed many of the same insecurities I had.

I've also gotten messages from men and women who are not the most attractive, in their minds, or are self-conscious about their weight. They're thanking me for doing songs like 'Proud Mary' and shaking a tailfeather, because they say I seem real comfortable in my skin and it made them want to be comfortable in theirs.

I do what I do to inspire people. They can't be inspired by an ego, a big-headed person. It doesn't work. It doesn't match. And I really want to be that role model for people, for children. I want to be real. To my fans, I want them to view me as a real person. Don't put me on a pedestal. I'm human. I make mistakes, I cry, I hurt - just like you.

I really do think that getting the golden ticket for 'American Idol,' it's just the start of something really great.

My parents got to see all my hard work pay off.

My ex-husband didn't like my singing. He didn't like my hair. He hated my eyes. Everything. Everything he complimented me on when we first met, he just hated.

My mom hates being on camera. My dad loves it - he eats it up!

To be honest, if it wasn't for my daughter, I don't think I would have gotten out of the situation that I was in before 'Idol' because I am a domestic violence survivor.

What made 'American Idol' different from 'The Voice' and all these other singing competitions... 'American Idol' just gave regular old normal people like me and like Trent a chance.