GRACE VANDERWAAL

I love everything Katy Perry does.

Every time I do something or release something or announce a new project, there's always that fear that it won't go well.

The world is unpredictable.

Always be kind, but kindness doesn't mean that you have to not say what you think.

'So Much More Than This' is about just getting tangled up in all of the drama and stuff that really does not matter and probably won't matter in, like, three months.

I'm obsessed with Lorde. Oh my gosh. I'm always listening to Lorde. Her music is so powerful.

I had a lot of those fake friends. You just have to realize it's happening. You can't get caught up in the 'Oh, my God, they want to be my friend, finally' aspect.

Don't be afraid to cry. Everyone needs a good cry sometimes. Sometimes I'll feel it in my throat, like, 'Today I'm going to cry about something stupid,' so just to get it out of the way, I'll watch a sad movie or something, accepting that that's totally fine and feels good.

I do school online. My favorite thing to do with school is to finish things and then watch it go away, especially when I am working on a laptop.

I've become a ukulele hoarder.

Not so much the sound but as a person, I would say Katy Perry inspires me because you can always see that she's being true to herself. She focuses on her music and even turns down big producers. Her whole career and music is about her being herself. I want to be more like that.

The crowd really controls how I am onstage. One show, it might be a lot of young people, super-high-energy dancing. I mirror that. Other shows, it's much more calm.

Child stardom is a really hard thing. It can really lead to bad things, and I think a lot of people have gone through that.

A family friend was staying with us once and had brought over a ukulele. I just loved the way she played it. I saved up the money from my 11th birthday and went out and bought one for myself.

I would love to sit down and do only the ukulele with a very small crowd. I would also like to sing the super poppy songs and all the background stuff. I think both would be an interesting path.

I feel like my fans and I are all friends.

I think everyone has music inside them, and my hope is that I can help them find it.

I love colors, but I also love rich sounds. And I feel like when it comes to colored ukuleles, people assume they're cheap or that they'll have a tinny sound. And I feel like it would be really beautiful to have a rich color but also to have a rich sound.

Schools should be safe.

I always want to stay true to who I am, and if people don't like that, then that's okay. I think fans appreciate when you're genuine and honest, and that's how I try to be through all of this.

The artist I would love to be is inspiring and strong: show that I can be vulnerable but still independent.

When Ariana Grande was starting out, everyone was like, 'You're just like Mariah Carey!' She inspires me so much because she just kept going and made her own name, and no one even says that anymore.

I want to thank everyone who supported me on 'AGT.' Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today, and I really can't thank you enough.

That's the amazing part of humans - it's so weird how one person can inspire.

I've accomplished so much, have done so many projects, and have worked with such amazing people.