With her French accent and booming voice, 19-year-old Cherie has been dubbed by some as the new Celine Dion.

But the songbird is hoping with her U.S. album debut, appropriately titled "Cherie," that people will start to notice her for her own accomplishments - and not compare her to the French-Canadian singer.

"Now it's the moment," Cherie, who is from France, told The Associated Press. "Now we're going to see if people like me or not."

Cherie's pop dreams have been a decade in the making, when at age nine, she starting taking professional voice lessons in Marseille, France. She was still in her teens when she became a pop star in Europe, and drew the attention of record labels in the United States.

She's garnering more and more attention these days. Her first bubbly single, "I'm Ready," was featured in Lindsay Lohan's movie "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen," and on the WB's "Charmed" before becoming a dance hit this summer.

She's also been on tour "American Idol" star Clay Aiken, and even acted on a soap opera.

AP: You sing in English, French, Spanish and Italian. How did you learn to do that?

Cherie: Really because of the school I was in. You have to learn English. You have to. I was very into languages. I just picked different options. It's very easy to sing in French because it's my native language. It's almost like it's less effort.

AP: But you don't sound French on the album?

Cherie: I don't do it on purpose. It's easier for me to sing in English than to speak in English. I just want basically the people to be able to understand the words.

AP: How do you like being compared to Celine Dion?

Cherie: I'm very honored, but that's a lot of pressure because I'm at the beginning of (my career). People are expecting me to be at her level. I just want to say I just started.

AP: Your style is much softer than Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. What do you think of them?

Cherie: We're just different people and we probably just have different influences. I will list Madonna or Toni Braxton for the people who influence Christina and Britney. Those weren't my biggest influences. Mine were Celine Dion and Shania Twain.

AP: What is it like touring with Clay Aiken?

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