Hind Laroussi Tahiri

"I was raised as a Muslim but my family and I celebrated both Muslim and Christian holidays."

"I have so many childhood memories of Morocco."

"My parents heard me singing and they were surprised because they did not know I could sing."

"It actually helped me sign contracts with record labels and management teams (…) it just went very fast after Idols."

"All contestants were imitating famous singers (…) I was imitating Vanessa Williams and managed to reach the finals"

"My lawyer, Channing Johnson, introduced me to Adrian Miller and we talked about music. I was impressed with how he helped Anderson Paak build his career as an independent artist. That matched up well with what I wanted for myself. Adrian introduced me to DJ Chris Cox, who has over 60 number 1 hits on the Billboard Dance Chart. He made the remix for my single “Lost.” In January of this year my single “Lost” was released. The second week after my single was released, I made my debut on Billboard."

"My relationship at the time ended and I decided to go to Nashville to record country music and try something new. When I was in Nashville I unexpectedly received a phone call from the well-known songwriter Philip Lawrence. He asked me whether I could come to Los Angeles. It’s Philip Lawrence, so I got on the plane and met him in a studio in L.A. He had just finished rehearsing with Beyonce and Bruno Mars for the Super Bowl."

"Oh, yeah, many, many times. I often cried on the phone when I was talking to my parents. At some point, I almost lost my confidence. My hair started to fall out from all the stress. My mother told me to come back home, but I told her that I believed in my songs and that I had to stay and give it a shot."