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Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984) is an American singer who was the runner-up to Taylor Hicks on the fifth season of American Idol in 2006.

Born in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Van Nuys, McPhee moved with her parents and sister to Sherman Oaks when she was 12 years old. McPhee has been singing since the age of two. Her mother, Patricia Burch McPhee (stage name Peisha Arten), a vocal coach and accomplished cabaret singer, recognized a talent for music in her daughter and decided to train her. Her father, Daniel McPhee, is a television producer and her older sister, Adriana Burch McPhee (born June 30, 1982) is an aspiring producer as well. McPhee also has two dogs named Lilly and Nena. She carries them along when she is on shoots or during recordings

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.

American Idol:

McPhee was persuaded by a significant other to try out for American Idol. She auditioned in San Francisco, and sang “God Bless the Child,” originally performed by Billie Holiday. Paula Abdul said that McPhee looked beautiful, Randy Jackson hailed her audition as potentially the best so far that season, and Simon Cowell complimented her for being “current” in terms of her appearance. Cowell also noted that McPhee was not the wannabe that he’d presumed she was after learning that her mother was a singer.

In the final cut-down show for the Top 24, McPhee was one of the first to be put through and, in excitement, kissed all three judges on the lips.

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 leading to the third round of the semi-finals, she was rumored to be quitting due to pregnancy. However, during the performance show on March 7, 2006, she denied this accusation, attributing it to a poor choice of clothing. Host Ryan Seacrest, with tongue-in-cheek, later asked about her and fellow Idol contestant Kevin Covais; McPhee denied any relationship.

During the week preceding the top three show, McPhee visited her former high school for her hometown celebration.

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.

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.

During the competition, McPhee roomed with fellow contestant Kellie Pickler, and when Pickler was eliminated, she roomed with Paris Bennett.

 

Eric the Midget controversy

Eric Lynch, better known as Eric the Midget, is a frequent caller to the Howard Stern Show on Sirius radio. On May 22, 2006, Lynch called the Stern Show and measured his penis in exchange for McPhee’s personal telephone number. (Lynch claimed that his penis measured at just over five inches.)

McPhee reportedly hates the Stern show now because Lynch called her too many times, according to Howard Stern, who told Lynch this news during the January 31, 2007, show. (Lynch claimed he only called her three times.)

As a result, McPhee refused to record a message for either the Stern show or Eric the Midget when she visited Sirius headquarters on January 30, 2007, according to Howard 100 News.

 

Post-Idol

On June 6, 2006, Sony BMG and 19 Entertainment announced that McPhee had signed to American Idol series creator Simon Fuller’s 19 Recordings Limited and Sony BMG’s RCA Records.

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.

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.

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. just in time for all ten finalists to visit the White House to meet President George W. Bush.

On July 21, 2006, Broadway World announced that McPhee is co-producing Michael Albanese’s play Red Herring with her partner; 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 along with Lisa Tucker on January 1, 2007.

McPhee made a cameo appearance on the January 19, 2007 lonelygirl15 episode, “Truth or Dare”.

On January 11, 2007, it was confirmed that McPhee will play herself in the Ugly Betty episode, “I’m Coming Out,” which aired on February 1.

 

2007: Katharine McPhee

McPhee’s self-titled debut album sold 116,000 copies its first week, making it the second best selling album in the United States that week behind Norah Jones’ Not Too Late.

In mid-November, McPhee’s management enlisted the music promotion website Promosquad.com to test some of her debut album’s potential singles. Three songs resembling the rhythm and blues and pop music genres with the titles “Open Toes,” “Each Other,” and “Over It” appeared on the site for music fans to review.

On November 29, 2006, MTV announced that McPhee has worked with the likes of Babyface, songwriter Kara DioGuardi, Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, and Timbaland’s production partner, Nate Hills. Mentioned in the article was five potential tracks included on the album - “Somehow” (produced by Ryan Leslie), “Home” (a power ballad written by DioGuardi), “Each Other”, “Neglected” (which McPhee co-wrote), and “Open Toes,” and does not include “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

On December 11, 2006, Wal-Mart released an exclusive CD single for the tracks “I Lost You” and “Dangerous.” Although many fans thought it was the first single, McPhee posted many bulletins on her MySpace claiming that it was not. The first single off the album has been confirmed to be “Over It” and was released for U.S. radioplay on January 16, 2007. However, following the AOL Music First Listen, radio began playing the single during the first week of January. “Over It” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 48 on February 7, 2007

 

Religious Views:

In the past, McPhee had attended and completed two individual courses in Scientology, and had completed the purification. Nevertheless, according to a May 12, 2006 interview on Los Angeles radio station KROQ 106.7 (Kevin and Bean), McPhee stated she “dabbled in Scientology” because of a former love interest but is not a Scientologist; according to her, she was “quickly out the door.”

Source: Wikipedia