Sophomore Album
'The House Bunny'
[Movie]
'The
Storyteller' [Movie]
Neutrogena
Spokeswoman
BIOGRAPHY |
Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984) is an
American Pop singer who was the runner-up to Taylor Hicks on the fifth season of
American Idol in 2006.
Early years
McPhee graduated in 2002 from Notre Dame High School. At Notre Dame, McPhee was a student body vice president, a varsity swimmer, and a thespian. She performed in school plays with her elder sister Adriana; both sisters were Homecoming Princess nominees in their senior year.
Afterward, McPhee attended Boston Conservatory for three semesters, majoring in musical theater. McPhee left the college due to her manager's suggestion that she try out for television pilots in Los Angeles. In a People news article it was reported that she was rejected in "only 195 out of 200 auditions." She was eventually cast as "Paramount Girl" in the 2006 musical film about the life of Hank Garland, Crazy. Other early acting endeavors included lead actress in local professional productions of Annie Get Your Gun and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. She was nominated in 2005 for the Theatre L.A. Ovation Award for her lead role in Annie Get Your Gun. McPhee was also part of a failed mall-based MTV soap opera entitled You Are Here, playing the older sister of a more popular younger sister. In the soap opera she was jealous of her popular younger sister.
American Idol
McPhee listed Whitney Houston and Brian McKnight as her favorite artists in the American Idol interview of the top 24 semi-finalists.
During the week preceding the top three show, McPhee visited her former high school for her hometown celebration. Antonio Villaraigosa visited Notre Dame High School and proclaimed McPhee's visit as "Katharine McPhee Day."
McPhee's run on American Idol led to the popular use of the term "McPheever", coined by Ralph Garman of Los Angeles radio station KROQ's morning show Kevin and Bean. She also referred to her fans as the "Kat Pack" and "McPhans".
McPhee was congratulated by Congressman Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks, the 27th district of California, who raised a flag in her honor at the United States Capitol on the day of the finale show.
McPhee was credited with performing K.T. Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" during the Idol final run.
During the competition, McPhee roomed with fellow contestant
Kellie Pickler, and when Pickler was eliminated, she roomed with
Paris Bennett.
Post-Idol
McPhee's debut single, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/My Destiny" was released on June 27, 2006 by RCA Records. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "My Destiny" peaked at #60. Thirty-two weeks after its release, Somewhere Over the Rainbow/My Destiny had climbed to #4 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales charts. It was 2nd highest best-selling single of 2006 after Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud?".
McPhee toured with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and performed in three of his concerts during his tour in the United States from June 9 through June 11, 2006. Together they performed "Somos Novios" and "The Prayer".
In June 2006, McPhee revealed to People magazine that she previously suffered from bulimia. After a period of about five years, she began treatment after qualifying for American Idol. During her run on American Idol, she lost 30 lbs.
McPhee missed the start of the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2006, due to severe bronchitis and laryngitis. McPhee commented on her illness in a public interview, saying "I just have to sing easily so I can get through the tour... I bruised [my vocal cords] because I was doing so much coughing". McPhee eventually joined the tour on July 28, in Washington, D.C. in time for all ten finalists to visit the White House to meet President George W. Bush. The day prior to returning to the Idol's tour, McPhee was a guest co-host on The View.
On July 21, 2006, Broadway World announced that McPhee is co-producing Michael Albanese's play Red Herring along with Robert Hawk, Angelina Bruno, and Jeff Kasal. McPhee was quoted in the promo as describing a desire to become involved in theatre, stating that although "audiences know me best from American Idol... my passion has always been theatre." The play will be a part of the 10th Annual New York International Fringe Festival. McPhee and her sister appeared on debut of The Dr. Keith Ablow Show on September 18, 2006 to discuss her struggles with a reading problem, bulimia, and her childhood fear of her father. On the show, McPhee stated that she was thought to have a learning disability during her middle school years but was finally diagnosed with a vision problem.
On December 2, 2006, McPhee attended VH1's "Big in '06 Awards" along with Melissa McGhee and won the award for "Big 'It' Girl".
McPhee sang at the Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1, 2007. She sang "Better Off Alone", a song of her debut album.
McPhee made a cameo appearance on the January 19, 2007 lonelygirl15 episode, "Truth or Dare".
On January 11, 2007, it was confirmed that McPhee would play herself in the Ugly Betty episode, "I'm Coming Out," which aired on February 1.
She also co-hosted TRL for a whole week, February 18, 2007, to February 23, 2007, and on her last day, Friday, she introduced the World Premiere of her first music video, for her first single Over It. The video peaked at #1 on March 1, 2007
She was named number 2 on the 2007 FHM US 100 sexiest women in the world list and she also made PEOPLE Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful List.
She appeared as a guest on The Tyra Banks Show (air date 2/27/07).
McPhee was named #1 on AOL's Top 10 sexiest Idol Contestants in 2007.
On June 6, McPhee sang at a fundraising event
for the Hillary Clinton campaign called "Club
44". She was joined by Kenneth "Babyface"
Edmonds, Caroline Rhea, Maya Angelou, tennis
star Billie Jean King, Dolores Huerta, and
Geraldine Ferraro.
Katharine is set to
make her major acting debut as the main role in
an Indie film titled "The Last Caller".
2007: Katharine McPhee
(Album)
Katharine McPhee is
the eponymous debut album from American Idol
season five runner-up, Katharine McPhee. The
album was released on January 30, 2007 by RCA
Records. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200,
selling 116,000 copies in its first week, behind
Norah Jones' Not Too Late.
The album includes
writing and production
contributions from Babyface, The
Underdogs, Kara Dioguardi, and
Nate Danja Hills. It was also
said that
Ryan Leslie contributed to
the album. However, none of the
songs written or produced by him
(including one called "Somehow")
made the track listing. McPhee
has described the album as
rhythm pop, taking a different
route from the traditional pop
ballads she sang on American
Idol.
On January 2, 2007 the first single, "Over It", and three snippets, "Each Other"; "Love Story"; and "Open Toes", were released on AOL Music: First Listen. Also accompanied were photos, quotes from the credited artist, and fan polls. McPhee was reportedly quoted on AOL Music for describing the first single, "it's a term that everyone uses, especially young girls. I didn't even realize just how much I used it. A lot of people will be able to relate to this song. This is really the only pure pop song on the record, so I thought it would be a good first single."
"Love Story"
has been
confirmed to be
the next single
off of the
album. Katharine
filmed a music
video for the
song on June 13
and 14, 2007
with director
Marcus Raboy.