‘American Idol’ And ‘X Factor’ Singer Jillian Jensen To Record New Album [VIDEO]

Following a breathtaking run on two of television's top-rated singing competitions, Jillian Jensen stopped by the studio this morning to chat with Phil Paleologos on his show Midday Magazine about her plans for a new album. 

Jillian, who lives in Rochester, Mass., first appeared on X Factor two years ago. "I feel like they really focused on my life rather than my music," she says. Even though telling her life story wasn't her intention when she went on the show, afterward she used her story to motivate other young people by going into schools during anti-bullying assemblies and showing them how to turn negative situations into positive ones. "Find whatever it is that you care most about," she tells them, "and put all your energy into that and it will take you away from all that is negative in your life."

Then she moved on to appear on American Idol this year. "I met such beautiful people," she says. But when her time on that show came to an end, she was ready to move on with her life.

Now she's focusing on creating her debut album, she says. Her first EP came out when she was 14 and then she released a second one two years later. "Those were from my growing periods. They were experimental."

To help her make her dream a reality, she launched her Kickstarter last Friday. People can donate as little as $5 or as much as they want. For $10 or more, you are basically pre-ordering the album. Additional prizes are given the more you donate. For example, for $1000 you can spend a day in the studio with Jillian and for a $5000 donation, Jillian will tattoo your name on her body. "Then you can be with me forever," she says.

Once she has $15,000 she can start recording the album, which she hopes to do in New York City in August. She plans to record behind the scenes video content to record her journey as well. All the songs are original and are based on her life over the past few years. It is a country-blues-rock combination, she says.

One song, "Morning Thoughts," she wrote when she awakened one day at 9 o'clock in the morning and started writing. "It talks about how being by yourself and escaping your thoughts is sometimes better than reality."

"Life has been crazy. I have to have my bar gigs on the side to pay my bills, so I'm always going. I'm 21, providing for myself and living a life that I enjoy living," Jillian says.