Katy Perry vows she's never actually kissed a girl. If she had, it would probably have been a certain ballerina. "When I was growing up, I was enamored with this one friend," says Perry, 23, of a teenage crush. "She had the most beautiful complexion and skin, and strawberrylike lips." Those lips would eventually inspire "I Kissed a Girl," the infectious, bi-curious pop nugget that has earned her props from Madonna and the top slot on the Billboard singles chart for six straight weeks. On her debut, One of the Boys, Perry sings about her metrosexual-hipster exes ("Ur So Gay"), and on "Thinking of You" she channels the confessional pop rock of her idol, Alanis Morissette. Perry is currently on the Warped Tour and proudly wears the diamond promise ring from her boyfriend and tourmate, Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy. Says Perry, "I suffer from lead-singer syndrome."

Who came up with the lines "I kissed a girl, and I liked it/The taste of her cherry ChapStick"?
I did, actually. One morning, I woke up with the chorus and was like, "[Gasp] I love this! This is so taboo, though!" For a year and a half, I did nothing with it. When I was finishing up the song "Hot N Cold" with producer Dr. Luke, we were going to start a new song, and I said, "Y'know what? I should just finish 'I Kissed a Girl.' " And I'm happy I did.

Fox News has denounced you for the "I Kissed a Girl" lyrics. Well done!
I grew up with Fox News at home every day, listening to the lovely Bill O'Reilly — and I say that with sarcasm. Everybody's entitled to their own opinion, and I welcome it. But I'm more of a CNN girl, anyway.

Your parents are ministers. Have they disowned you yet?
I'm sure they opt out of singing "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl," but they're singing along to every other song on the record. I tried to change them for so long, and finally, I'm like, "You know what? I ain't gonna try to change my parents." They're happy and they love what they do. They're just glad I'm not strung out, doing centerfolds and shit like that.