“Jennifer! Over here!”

“Jennifer, look this way.”

“Jennifer, Jennifer.”

“Over here!”

“No, over here!”

“Jennifer, turn to the right!”

I always dreamed of someday walking the red carpet in Hollywood.

Let’s be real. It’s fun. Everyone there is shouting out your

name just to get a glimpse of what you’re wearing. The press asks

you to pose, wave, and smile as they snap photo after photo, with flashes popping so bright you can hardly see. It’s a moment in time a girl feels truly beautiful. And on this particular night, I thought

I was looking fierce.

It was one of my first red– carpet events. I was a contestant on

American Idol, and was living my dream of singing for millions of

people on the highest– rated show on television. I was a long way

from singing in church and talent shows on the South Side of Chicago. I was excited, taking in the red– carpet finery for the first

time. I felt on top of the world.

“Jennifer, are you insecure about being a ’big girl’ in Hollywood?”

That is, until that question.

Oh, hell no. She didn’t just ask me that.

But she did.

It took me a minute to figure out who the reporter was actually

talking to.

Who, me? I thought. Insecure?

Surely, she wasn’t addressing me that way. I had the height of a

supermodel, breasts that were naturally big and real, and a Godgiven

shape. Why would I feel insecure about that? I looked around

hoping to spot another Jennifer— an insecure “big” girl, but there

wasn’t anyone else there.

Nope.

Just me.

Like Randy Jackson said to me after my American Idol audition:

“Welcome to Hollywood, girl!”