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Music on the Road

Lindsay Pagano: A starstruck star

By Jodi Ross
CNN Entertainment Correspondent

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Go ahead, call Lindsay Pagano the "AOL gal." She doesn't mind.

After all, it was a national commercial for AOL (owned by AOL Time Warner, the parent company of CNN) featuring the line "All I need," from her single "Everything U R," that has gotten her a ton of attention. Since then, she's released an album called "Love & Faith & Inspiration" featuring a duet with Paul McCartney, and the AOL tune is the theme song for the WB sitcom "Maybe It's Me."

It looks like Pagano, currently on tour with teen heartthrob Aaron Carter, has all she needs ... and she's only 15.

Pagano stopped by the CNN studios in Manhattan to talk about touring, befriending a Beatle and how her family treats her like, well, family.

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Watch the new Lindsay Pagano video for her song 'Everything U R' (February 21) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

CNN: Can you believe all this attention over one line in an AOL commercial?

LINDSAY PAGANO: It's so funny, because now that I'm on tour with Aaron Carter, it's like people hear my name, and then they go "OK." And then they hear "All I Need" and it's like wow! I'm known as the "All I Need" AOL girl.

CNN: You just started your tour. How was [the first night]?

PAGANO: I was so nervous (laughs). For the first show in Jacksonville ... Chris from Dreamstreet [is] watching my sound check, and ... then Aaron comes and sits down right in the front, and watches my sound check, and I was like, "Oh my God." My voice started quivering, but all in all, it went really well. I was really nervous because it was the first show and everyone was still working out all the kinks, but I got a really positive reaction to it so I was really happy (laughs).

CNN: It is as thrilling [to be on stage] as it seems like it would be?

PAGANO: It is. ... Being on stage is basically what I live for. I mean, the working hard and getting up at 6 a.m. and doing interviews and that kind of thing -- that can be a drag. But once I get on that stage -- it's all worth it, because it's so much fun being up there.

CNN: We can't talk about the album without speaking about Paul McCartney. What's the story?

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PAGANO: We were recording at the same studio. He came into the studio one day when I was working on "Amazing High" ... and he says to me, "So I hear you're gonna be a star and if you're gonna be a star, I want to take your picture." So he walks out of his studio and everybody is freaking out, and he comes back in with a camera and he takes my picture and he asks to hear some music after that. ... After a while, he just became a regular person in the studio. It would be like, "Oh, I just saw Paul in the hallway." To me now he's just a regular person. My mom calls him Uncle Paul.

CNN: Does anyone believe that you're 15?

PAGANO: (laughs) Some people do. I've gotten people coming up to me in airports going, "Hey, you're 19, right?" and my mom's like no. My mom and dad aren't very happy about that but once you get to know me, I'm pretty much a typical 15-year-old. I like 'N Sync and Britney. But I also like Linkin Park and that kind of thing. I'm pretty normal.

CNN: At such a young age, how do you digest all this?

PAGANO: To me, it hasn't happened that quickly. I got signed when I was 13 and I'm 15 1/2 now, so I really have been working towards it. At the end of the day every day I ... sit down and I say, "Lindsay, I know you were in front of a lot of cameras today and there were a lot of people listening to you and you went on stage and performed and everything, but you're still a regular person and you still need to be grounded." I don't want to wake up one morning and think I'm Miss Diva. ... I just try to take it one day at a time. There's a lot happening but I just try to stay grounded.

CNN: And when you're home do you still have to do things like clean your room?

PAGANO: My Dad once said to me, "You can't go to that interview until you clean your room." And that's how I knew things would never ever change (laughs).