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Katharine McPhee

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Katharine McPhee

Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984) is an American pop and R&B singer, songwriter, actress, model, and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the FOX reality show American Idol, eventually finishing as the runner-up.

Personal life

Born in Los Angeles, California, McPhee moved with her family to Sherman Oaks at age 12. 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 her daughter's musical talent and decided to train her. Her father, Daniel McPhee, is a television producer. McPhee has an older sister, Adriana. McPhee is of Irish, Scottish and German descent.[1]

McPhee attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, where she performed in school plays and musicals. She graduated in 2002.

McPhee attended Boston Conservatory for three semesters, majoring in musical theater. She left the college on the advice of her manager and returned to Los Angeles to try out for television pilots. In a People news article, it was reported that she was rejected for "195 out of 200 auditions."[2]

McPhee struggled with eating disorders in the past. She told People (magazine) that at age 13 she began starving herself and exercising compulsively, and she became bulimic at age 17.[3] McPhee gained weight in college due to her binging. After seven years of illness, she finally entered a three-month rehab program after successfully passing her American Idol audition; her rehab stint ended just before the Idol semifinals started in February 2006.[4] During her run on American Idol, she lost 30 pounds due to eating better as part of her treatment. Now, as she told Teen Vogue in May 2007, "I eat whatever I crave—I'm just really careful about portions."

McPhee and her sister appeared on debut of The Dr. Keith Ablow Show on September 18, 2006, to discuss her struggles with bulimia and her childhood fear of her father.[5] On the show, McPhee stated that she was misdiagnosed with a learning disability during her middle school years but was finally correctly diagnosed with a vision problem that caused her to have troubles reading in class. McPhee claimed she was known as the "pretty, but stupid" girl in school because she had troubles reading.

On February 2, 2008, McPhee married her boyfriend, Nick Cokas in a Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church.[6]

American Idol

McPhee was persuaded by Nick Cokas and her parents to try out for American Idol. She auditioned in San Francisco, and sang "God Bless the Child", originally performed by Billie Holiday.

After the first round of Hollywood week, she sang "I'll Never Love This Way Again" by Dionne Warwick which earned favorable comments from the judges. During the second round, she performed in a group, singing "I Can't Help Myself" by The Four Tops, forgetting the words, but the judges decided to advance the entire group. During the third round, she sang a Capella of "My Funny Valentine" and advanced to the top 40. She was mad when fellow group member Crystal Stark didn't make the top 24. When she was told that she would be advancing, she kissed all three judges on the lips.

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.

The inclusion of producer David Foster and singer Andrea Bocelli as guest mentors for Top 6 Week turned out to be a fortuitous introduction for McPhee, as she has worked on various music projects with both men post-Idol.

McPhee visited her former high school for her hometown celebration.[7] Antonio Villaraigosa visited Notre Dame High School and proclaimed McPhee's visit as "Katharine McPhee Day."

Performances and results (during voting weeks)

Week # Theme Song choice Original artist Result
Top 24 (12 Women) Free Choice Since I Fell for You Lenny Welch Safe
Top 20 (10 Women) Free Choice All in Love is Fair Stevie Wonder Safe
Top 16 (8 Women) Free Choice Think Aretha Franklin Safe
Top 12 Stevie Wonder Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do) Aretha Franklin Safe
Top 11 The 1950s Come Rain or Come Shine Ella Fitzgerald Safe
Top 10 Songs from The 21st Century The Voice Within Christina Aguilera Bottom 2
Top 9 Country Bringing Out the Elvis Faith Hill Safe
Top 8 Songs by Queen Who Wants to Live Forever Queen Safe
Top 7 The Great American Songbook Someone to Watch Over Me Ella Fitzgerald Safe
Top 6 Great Love Songs I Have Nothing Whitney Houston Safe
Top 5 One Song From the Year They Were Born (1984)
One Song on the Billboard Charts at the time 		Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree 		Phil Collins
KT Tunstall 		Safe
Top 4 Elvis Presley Hound Dog/All Shook Up
Can't Help Falling in Love 		Elvis Presley Bottom 2
Top 3 Clive Davis's choice
Judge's Choice (Simon Cowell)
Contestant's Choice 		I Believe I Can Fly
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues 		R. Kelly
Judy Garland
Ella Fitzgerald 		Safe
Finale Contestant's Choice
Contestant's Choice
Coronation Song 		Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
My Destiny 		KT Tunstall
Judy Garland
Katharine McPhee 		Runner-Up


Music career

2006: 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.[8]

On June 9-11, 2006, McPhee performed with Andrea Bocelli at 3 of his California concerts. They sang duets of "The Prayer" and "Somos Novios".

McPhee performed at the J.C. Penney Jam: Concert for America's Kids [9] in June 2006 (David Foster was the music director), soloing with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and performing a duet with Andrea Bocelli on "Somos Novios". The concert was telecast on CBS August 22, 2006 and J.C. Penney sold an exclusive CD/DVD of the concert.

McPhee's Idol 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.[10] Thirty-two weeks after its release, Somewhere Over the Rainbow/My Destiny had climbed to #4 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales charts.[11] It was the 2nd highest best-selling single of 2006 after Taylor Hicks's "Do I Make You Proud". "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/My Destiny" continued to chart for more than 58 weeks.

In July, McPhee missed the first 3 weeks of the American Idol Tour due to laryngitis and severe bronchitis.[12] She joined the tour beginning with the July 28 show in Washington, D.C., singing only 2 songs "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" instead of the usual 4 on doctor's orders to conserve her voice. At the August 1 concert in Charlotte, N.C., McPhee suffered a hairline fracture of her foot when she tripped backstage and was fitted with a walking boot cast.[13] Once she recovered from the foot injury, she added "Think" to her concert set.

McPhee recorded a duet with Andrea Bocelli on "Can't Help Falling In Love" for his Under the Desert Sky album, which was released as a CD/DVD package on November 7, 2006.

2007-2008: Katharine McPhee

McPhee's self-titled debut album, Katharine McPhee was released on January 30, 2007 and sold 116,000 copies its first week, debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart.[14]

The first single from the album was "Over It", which was officially released on the same day as the album and peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song's music video hit #1 on both TRL and VH1's Top 20 countdown, maintaining the top position on VH1 for 3 consecutive weeks. The video also hit #1 on MTV Asia's Pop 10 Chart for 12 consecutive weeks.

On May 22, 2007, RCA released "Love Story", the second single from McPhee's debut album. "Love Story" failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100, though it did reach #38 on the Canadian Hot 100, and its video stayed at #1 on MTV Asia for 5 consecutive weeks.

During the 2007 Christmas holiday season, McPhee released a Christmas single "O Come All Ye Faithful".

On January 11, 2008, it was reported by Billboard.com that McPhee had been released from her contract with RCA Records, through speculation that the label was dissatisfied with lack of overall sales of her debut album. A spokesperson for the label confirmed this in a statement reading: "Katharine McPhee has moved on to support her other entertainment activities. She is going to record her next album on her own."[15]

McPhee appeared on Idol judge Randy Jackson's album Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1, which was released on March 11, 2008. McPhee recorded a duet of "Real Love" with fellow American Idol 5 contestant Elliott Yamin. "Real Love" was released as a second single, due to the high popularity of the song on Itunes.

On March 12, 2008, McPhee returned to the American Idol stage during the Top 12 results night of the seventh season of the competition. She performed the Beatles song "Something", with producer David Foster, on piano. After the performance, Foster confirmed that he and McPhee were collaborating on her second studio album.

McPhee took part in the David Foster tribute concert Hit Man: David Foster & Friends, which was filmed by PBS, in May 2008.[16] She soloed on "Somewhere" and performed a duet of "The Prayer" with Andrea Bocelli. A CD/DVD of the concert was released in November 2008. The show was shown several times on PBS starting in December 2008 under their "Great Performances" title.

David Foster recorded a new song entitled, "I Will Be There With You" for Japan Airlines (JAL), with McPhee on vocals. Starting about June, 2008, it was used to promote the introduction of new aircraft to JAL's US flights.[17]

On July 16, 2008, McPhee released a cover of the song "I Know What Boys Like", featuring the other cast members of the movie The House Bunny.

McPhee recorded a cover of the song "Connected" for the Mattel movie Barbie and the Diamond Castle. McPhee's version of the song was produced by Room For Two and a music video was also recorded to be featured on the movie's DVD. The video and song are available on the movie's website.[18] The soundtrack CD and movie DVD and Blu-ray were released for sale in September 2008.

McPhee took part in the concert Chris Botti: Live In Boston, which was filmed by PBS, in September 2008.[19] She sang "I've Got You Under My Skin" accompanied by Chris Botti on trumpet. The show was shown several times on PBS starting in January 2009. The CD/DVD and Blu-ray were released March 31, 2009.

McPhee recorded the song "Let Your Heart Sing" for the Disney movie Tinker Bell. The movie DVD and the soundtrack CD (featuring the song) were released in October 2008.[20]

2009-present: Second album (title TBA)

It was announced on January 27, 2009 that McPhee signed a new record deal with Verve Records (a label group under Universal Music Group) and that her album would be out by the end of the year. "The album she is working on will show many new sides to her talents as an interpreter and a songwriter, and show everyone just how special she is," Verve Music Group president/CEO Bruce Resnikoff says.[21]

Verve is also in talks with McPhee's past label RCA, to purchase her debut album and have the rights to it, as well as keeping it in print.[citation needed]

Discography

Albums

Year Information US WW Sales and certifications
2007 Katharine McPhee 2 5 U.S sales: 375,000[22]

RIAA: N/A

Singles

Year Single Album Chart positions Sales
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Hot Digital Songs Canadian Hot 100 RIAA certification
2006 "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Somewhere Over the Rainbow/My Destiny 12 12 21 — — 131,000[24]
"My Destiny" 60 42 31 — — 93,000[23]
"Think" American Idol Season 5: Encores 121 90 102 — — 21,000[25]
2007 "Over It" Katharine McPhee 29 21 18 25 Gold 522,000[26]
"Love Story" 102 — 126 38 — 77,000[27]

Miscellaneous

These songs have not appeared on a studio album released by McPhee (except for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"").

  • Sales numbers under Sales column are for digital sales only
  • unk - Sales unknown
  • n/a - Not applicable (not released for sale as a digital single under that album)
Year Song Album Sales
2006 "Can't Help Falling in Love" (with Andrea Bocelli) Under the Desert Sky n/a
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" J.C. Penney Jam: Concert for America's Kids n/a
"Somos Novios" (with Andrea Bocelli) J.C. Penney Jam: Concert for America's Kids n/a
2007 "O Come All Ye Faithful" O Come All Ye Faithful - Single 19,000[27]
2008 "Real Love" (with Elliott Yamin) Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1 8,000[27]
"I Will Be There With You" Promotional song for Japan Airlines n/a
"I Know What Boys Like" I Know What Boys Like - Single 9,000[28]
"Connected" Barbie and the Diamond Castle Original Movie Soundtrack 5,000[28]
"Let Your Heart Sing" Tinker Bell Original Movie Soundtrack unk
"The Prayer" (with Andrea Bocelli) Hit Man: David Foster & Friends unk
"Somewhere" Hit Man: David Foster & Friends unk
2009 "I've Got You Under My Skin" Chris Botti: Live in Boston unk

Acting career

McPhee was cast (during the time she had dropped out of college and was auditioning in Los Angeles) in a mall-based MTV soap opera pilot entitled You Are Here, playing the older sister of a more popular younger sister. MTV never aired the pilot and didn't pick up the series.[29]

McPhee had a small role as "Paramount Girl" in the 2007 musical film Crazy, based on the life of Hank Garland.[30] McPhee filmed the role in early 2005, before she auditioned for American Idol.

In early 2007, McPhee had a small part in the web series, lonelygirl15, in the episode "Truth Or Dare".[31]

McPhee made a cameo appearance as herself on the ABC show Ugly Betty in the episode "I'm Coming Out".[32] The episode was broadcast Feb 1, 2007.

McPhee made her studio acting debut as one of the few members of a misfit sorority that stars Anna Faris as a playboy bunny who takes the girls under her wing in a comedy titled The House Bunny (formerly known as I Know What Boys Like), directed by Fred Wolf for Columbia Pictures and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions. The film was released in August 2008 and co-starred Rumer Willis, Emma Stone, Colin Hanks, and Tyson Ritter.

It was announced in 2008 that McPhee would co-star in the indie suspense thriller, The Storyteller. The movie is being directed by Robert A. Masciantonio, who also wrote it. The budget is set at $2.5 million. McPhee will play the role of Tina, alongside Jesse Spencer, Wes Bentley, and Anita Briem.[33] Filming is scheduled to begin in late winter 2009, in Philadelphia.

In 2009, a Hawaii film blog announced that McPhee landed a lead role in a romantic-comedy, tentatively titled Wedlock (working title is "You May Not Kiss the Bride" at this early stage[34]). The budget is set at $6 million. The movie began filming in mid-March 2009 in Oahu, Hawaii. McPhee will play the role of Masha, alongside Dave Annable.[35]

McPhee is set to appear on an episode of the CBS show CSI: NY as a singer and crime victim who resorts to murder as revenge. The episode is set to air on April 8.[36][37]

Filmography

  • 2007 - Crazy .... Paramount Girl
  • 2008 - The House Bunny .... Harmony
  • 2009 - The Storyteller (pre-production) .... Tina
  • 2009 - You May Not Kiss the Bride (filming) .... Masha

Musical theater

In March 2005, McPhee starred as Annie Oakley in a Los Angeles-based production of the musical "Annie Get Your Gun".[38] McPhee was nominated for an L.A. Stage Ovation Award in the category of "Lead Actress in a Musical".[39]

In July 2005, McPhee co-starred as Anna Muir in a Los Angeles-based production of a musical version of "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir".[40]

Major product endorsements

McPhee signed a two-year endorsement deal in 2006 with Sexy Hair Concepts to become their first celebrity spokesperson for their hair-care product line.[41] The deal expired in 2008.

In 2008, McPhee signed a two-year endorsement deal with Neutrogena to become the new spokesperson for their anti-acne skin-care product line. In March 2008, she filmed her first commercial, which began airing on television in May 2008 and on Neutrogena's skinid.com website.[42]

Philanthropy

In 2006, McPhee founded a charity called McPhee Outreach. The purpose of the charity is to team up with other foundations or organizations and help in any way possible.[43]

The foundation teamed up with The Lollipop Theater Network to provide music outreach (called "Rhythm of Hope") to sick children in Southern California hospitals.[44]

McPhee Outreach teamed up with Global Compassion Services to build a preschool in the poor West African nation of Burkina Faso to help combat that nation's high illiteracy rate.[43]

Beauty lists

In mid-2007, McPhee was named one of the year's 100 Most Beautiful People by People; she was photographed with no make-up on. She was also voted #2 on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in The World of 2007 and #47 on Maxim's Hot 100 Women of 2007. At the end of 2007, AOL Readers placed her as the Number 1 Sexiest American Idol contestant ever. In 2008 she was voted #38 on FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in The World and #43 on AskMen.com’s Top 99. In 2009 she was voted number #64 on AskMen.com’s Top 99.

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ Save Ellis Island - Katharine McPhee page
  2. ^ People.com : The #1 Celebrity Site on the Web
  3. ^ MTV article
  4. ^ Katharine McPhee's Bulimia Battle - Katharine McPhee : People.com
  5. ^ "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution". "American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee reveals reading disorder and struggles with father to talk show host Dr. Keith Ablow. Retrieved September 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |first_name= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |last_name= ignored (help)
  6. ^ "Idol" Katharine McPhee Weds
  7. ^ High school fever for 'American Idol' finalist Katharine McPhee
  8. ^ Katharine McPhee Signs Record Deal - Katharine McPhee : People.com
  9. ^ J.C. Penney Jam - The Concert for America's Kids
  10. ^ Chart Beat, Billboard.com, July 6, 2006, accessed July 26, 2006
  11. ^ "Hot Singles Sales: Issue date 2007-02-17". Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  12. ^ http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2006/07/mcphee_will_not.html#uslPageReturn
  13. ^ Katharine McPhee Breaks Her Foot
  14. ^ Jonathan Cohen, "Better 'Late' Than Never: Jones Debuts At No. 1", Billboard.com, February 7, 2007.
  15. ^ Katharine McPhee: the latest Idol to go indie
  16. ^ Great Performances: Hit Man: David Foster and Friends
  17. ^ YouTube - Katharine McPhee - I WIll Be There With You (Demo Version)
  18. ^ http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/diamond-castle/
  19. ^ Chris Botti plays with Boston Pops, pop stars
  20. ^ http://www.katharine-mcphee.org/
  21. ^ Katharine McPhee Signs With Verve
  22. ^ http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2008/12/idol-sales-cook.html#more
  23. ^ a b http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2008/07/the-idol-corona.html
  24. ^ http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2007/05/a_brief_update_.html
  25. ^ http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2006/08/idol_season_5_d.html#more
  26. ^ http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2008/01/delayed-downloa.html
  27. ^ a b c http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2008/07/new-kellie-sing.html
  28. ^ a b http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2008/11/idol-download-1.html#uslPageReturn
  29. ^ "Ask Ausiello" column TVGuide.com, May 31, 2006, accessed July 26, 2006
  30. ^ Crazy at IMDb
  31. ^ Katharine McPhee to be on 'LonelyGirl15'
  32. ^ Ugly Betty at Internet Movie Database
  33. ^ Katharine McPhee to star in 'Storyteller'
  34. ^ 'You May Not Kiss the Bride' press release
  35. ^ Hawaii Film Partners has landed American Idol runnerup Katharine McPhee
  36. ^ CSI:NY collars an American Idol
  37. ^ FIRST LOOK: Katharine McPhee on CSI: New York
  38. ^ Sharpshooting rivals battle on Thousand Oaks stage
  39. ^ 2005 Ovation Winners
  40. ^ Talkin' Broadway
  41. ^ Sexy Hair Signs 'Idol' McPhee
  42. ^ Neutrogena Introduces SkinId
  43. ^ a b Katharine McPhee page at YourCause.com
  44. ^ Lollipop Theater Network
  45. ^ Young Hollywood Awards 2007
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