JB- Now then about your music and your album. It was several years from the time you left Idol from the time that you released your debut album. Why was there such a gap?

NM- It took me three years to get out of the Idol contract, and then I got hooked up with another management team in Australia, and unfortunately, we're on different time zones, and the guy was like, "Look, I can never get a hold of you. What are you doing?" And I said, "Well, I'm here. I'm ready to work. Any time you want me to work, I'm there." But he transferred me over to one of his co-managers in the States and that's when the album got put out.

JB- That's a little interesting that you go from being on American Idol to then an Australian company wanting to pick up your music.

NM- Yeah, I know. Weird. (laughing) But it's nice that other people know of me, I guess. I think it's really cool.

JB- It goes to show you the amazing reach that . . . I mean, it's a worldwide show obviously. We have it here in Canada, and exposure that it gives to the contestants whether it's first season, seventh season is amazing.

NM- Yeah, I get a lot of e-mails from Canada. I have a friend, Paula, that I met through the show that lives there, and she's like, "When's your album coming out?" It's hard to get across unless I get an opportunity like today to tell people that I actually have an album out, that they want to go buy it. It's available.

JB- Well, let's talk about that. On that album, what are some of the tracks? What is your favourite song to perform on that? Go ahead. Let us have it.

NM- The album's called Unleashed, and I think that my favourite song would have to be a tie between "Cry Little Sister," which is a cover from The Lost Boys movie, and "If I Was Boy," because "If I Was a Boy" is kind of punk-y, grunge-y, talking about all the things that I would do if I were a boy instead of a girl.

JB- What would you do?

NM- You know, men have a lot more power than women do. It's unfortunate to say, but it's true. They get paid more. The whole song is just, like, "If I were a boy, I'd be a big CEO and get rich ripping off every slob that I own. If I were a boy, I'd get a whole lot of cash to pay some hot little stripper to wiggle her ass. If I was a boy, I'd send your sons overseas to die for somebody's story that no one believes." It's very, very controversial, but it's a good song.

JB- But not too untrue to life, like you were saying.

NM- Definitely not. There are a lot of women that are like, "Well, if I were a man I would do this," you know? So the song's a little political in some areas, which causes some controversy and not very Christian in some places, which causes some controversy, and that's what I was going for. I wanted songs that people are either going to love it or hate it, but cause controversy over it.

JB- It's very weird, though, in this day and age, where you'd think that we've got such an open-minded society about things that people still, you know, just because you don't have the same beliefs will freak out and get so worked up about something.

NM- Mmm. Hmm. I know it's ridiculous. Not everybody's going to have the same beliefs, not everybody's going to have the same view on politics, and it's just that way. We claim to be open-minded, but really, we're so closed minded it's crazy.

JB- That leads into the next question, so what are you working on now? Where can we see or hear Nikki McKibbin? What is she up to?

NM- Well, right now I'm doing a couple of charity events this month. Just trying to help out. I'm really big on helping charities for MS. My mother had MS before she passed away, and I do a lot of stuff with the Make a Wish Foundation, because for some reason kids are drawn to me. I love it. I love kids, but all of my CDs are available on ITunes, and Napster, and Rhapsody and Limewire and just about anywhere you can go.

JB- The Internet is a wonderful place, isn't it?

NM- I know! It's awesome.

JB- Well, what do you think about that? Of downloading music and stuff like that? Are you in favour of that? How do you view it?

NM- Yeah, as long as the artist is getting compensated for it, go for it. I think more people are buying stuff off the Internet as opposed to buying stuff off the shelves, so why not?

JB- As long as they're buying?

NM- Exactly. Either you're going to pay $10 to buy it off the shelf or you're going to pay $10 to buy it off the Internet. I don't see what the problem is.

JB- So where will we see you five years from now? What is your hope? What is your goal? What is your plan?

NM- Well, my goal is to be rich and famous, isn't everybody's?

JB- That could be your next song: "If I Were Rich and Famous."

NM- "If I Were Rich and Famous." Maybe. But that's where every artist that goes into this. I wasn't anybody before I decided to go on American Idol, and it gave me the fame and none of the money, so my next step is "I still have the fame. Now I want the money."

JB- Gotta have both, or it just doesn't . . . It's not right.

NM- Right.