Katie Melua

“I go into a book store and start having heart palpitations. I get very excited.”

“Queen were the first western band I got hooked on. I got a bootleg - there was hardly any legal buying of CDs in Georgia.”

“And I did feel there was an album to be made about winter that can make you feel the way Sinatra and Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline make me feel - warm, nostalgic and comforted.”

“I spend eight to nine months working abroad and cram in a holiday when I have the odd week off.”

“But I'll never forget my trip to Las Vegas. I'm a huge rollercoaster fan and we did the one at the Stratosphere, which curls around the hotel, and there's one that dips out from the roof the...”

“I do tend to drape my real feelings with pretty words and different layers and stuff.”

“I love fruit. One of my earliest memories is climbing trees for figs, and I once got stuck in one when I was six. I could see the biggest, juiciest fig and I climbed up and got it and ate it...”

“I wouldn't really call myself a Jazz singer I think it's offending to real Jazz singers to call me a Jazz singer.”

“I would advise everyone to have a travel drawer. Mine contains adaptors, ear plugs, blow-up pillows for the plane, travel health books, disposable cameras, a first aid kit and torches.”

“If I have children, I am never going to read them stories about finding Prince Charming because they will grow up feeling disappointed.”

“I grew up in Georgia where my parents, little brother Zurab and I shared a flat with my paternal grandparents and two uncles in the capital, Tbilisi. Times were hard and the country was rack...”

“When I was younger I dreamt of intrepid travel and whenever I had some time off I wanted to scuba dive. Nowadays I'm a bit more relaxed but I'd still like to do an Amazonian trek.”

“The first dramatic experience I had of music was when I was five. The electricity had gone out in Georgia, and my mum played the 'Moonlight Sonata' on the piano.”