Semifinals
• February 21, 2006 - “Since I Fell for You” - Barbra Streisand . - Cowell said that she was the best singer of the night. • February 28, 2006 - “All In Love Is Fair” - Stevie Wonder - The judges stated that they thought this performance fell victim to poor song choice, but Abdul thought that she was “still a star.” • March 7, 2006 - “Think” - Aretha Franklin - The judges stated that they loved this performance because she “had fun with it.”
Finals
• March 14, 2006 - “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)” - Aretha Franklin
- The theme was Stevie Wonder, and the judges stated that they loved this performance of the Aretha classic (written by Stevie). Jackson said that the McPhee he “met during the auditions” was back. Cowell compared her gaining of momentum to Kelly Clarkson in the show’s first season.
• March 21, 2006 - “Come Rain or Come Shine” - Ella Fitzgerald
- The theme was 1950’s, and once again the judges were very impressed. Jackson noted that it wasn’t her best vocal performance, but it was still great. Abdul agreed wholeheartedly. Cowell noted that it was the performance that made her a star.
• March 28, 2006 - “The Voice Within” - Christina Aguilera - (Bottom 2)
- The theme was songs of the 21st century. Jackson thought she should have changed the performance up to make it her own. Abdul said she wouldn’t change a thing. Cowell said it was the best that night so far, and almost as good as Aguilera. During the results show, however, McPhee was placed in the bottom three, and Cowell stated that upon viewing the playback, she wasn’t nearly as good as he thought.
• April 4, 2006 - “Bringing Out The Elvis” - Faith Hill
- The theme for the night was country. McPhee was the eighth of nine performers that night. Jackson said: “Kind of bluesy country, yeah? I like it. You sang it very nice, very nice. Good job, dog, good job.” Abdul said: “That is your style; that’s your niche. You look sexy, hot. You’re cool.” Cowell, looking a bit bewildered, said: “I don’t know what to say anymore; I really don’t. That song was just so peculiar.” At this point McPhee spoke up and said: “Simon, you just don’t like country music. It’s okay. Just say it,” with which Cowell agreed, saying: “You’re right, I don’t, I don’t. I hate it.”
• April 11, 2006 - “Who Wants to Live Forever” - Queen
- The theme was songs by Queen, and McPhee performed fifth out of eight contestants. The judges’ reactions were as follows: Jackson said: “This is your element, I mean a little Broadway, big song, kind of big voice. It was a little pitchy in spots, and I thought at some points it was a little big for you, but you did a good job, I think, all in all.” Abdul said: “You made the right decision to just stand there and be glorious, with your glorious voice. I mean it’s a song that big singers like Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand take on; and you, Katharine McPhee, can handle it, and you did a great job.” Cowell said: “Katharine, I mean that was almost the moment. You know, I agree with Randy [Jackson], I think there were some tuning problems at parts. I think you owe a big kiss to the director and the lighting director there, because they made you look amazing — I mean really good. But overall I think it was probably one of the strongest tonight. Yeah. Very good.” She turned and thanked them.
• April 18, 2006 - “Someone to Watch Over Me” - Ella Fitzgerald
- The theme was “The Great American Songbook”, after the series of hit albums by Rod Stewart. McPhee performed the George Gershwin standard last that night. Jackson said that McPhee was in her “element.” Abdul believed that she picked the perfect song and told her that it was like watching her for the very first time, and that she had fallen in love with her all over again. Cowell said that she made the others look like “good amateurs.” He told her she was the best of the night, and that she was elegant and sang like a returning pro. Rod Stewart made some very positive comments about her: “Katharine I believe, is born to sing the standards. I would imagine big things for her. There’s not much I can say about this girl - she’s fantastic.”
• April 25, 2006 - “I Have Nothing” - Whitney Houston
- The theme was “Greatest Love Songs.” Jackson said that it was a good song choice but it was too big for her. Abdul said she was stunning but believed it was too pitchy. Cowell said that by coming out and singing that song she was saying she is as good as Whitney Houston. Seacrest jokingly remarked that McPhee would get votes from anybody with the volume turned down. The following night, Cowell took back his statement, saying that when he watched it back, it wasn’t as bad as he had told her. Jackson also apologized by saying that he had been a little bit “too harsh.” Abdul said that she has never been harsh, and later said that she still didn’t feel that Katharine had had a good night.
• May 2, 2006 - “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” - Phil Collins; “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” - KT Tunstall
- The theme for the night was for them to pick a song from the same year they were born, and a song from this week’s Billboard charts. For “Against All Odds”, Jackson thought her performance may have been in the wrong key for Katharine’s voice, but it was OK. Abdul said it wasn’t her favorite song choice for her. Cowell said that in parts the song was a mess, and that it ran away from her. They all thought she looked stunning in her dress. For “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree”, she was accompanied by two cajon box drum players. Jackson liked seeing the old McPhee back. Abdul loved the intimacy and the choreography. Cowell said the song choice was great for her and it really showed her personality. She performed barefoot, and he liked how her toes matched her top.
• May 9, 2006 - “Hound Dog/All Shook Up” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” - Elvis Presley - (Bottom 2)
- The theme was Elvis Presley. For “Hound Dog/All Shook Up”, Jackson asked if she forgot the lyrics but Abdul said she handled it well and that the performance was “really fun”. Cowell said it was a “desperate manic audition” and that the song was also “shrieky” and for him, he just thought that it “wasn’t a great performance”, although he previously mistakenly said that it was a great performance, but then corrected it. When Ryan Seacrest asked him “is that your final answer?” (an obvious reference to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire), Cowell said yes, it wasn’t a great performance. For “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, she received mixed reviews, as well as Abdul commenting that she preferred “Katharine having fun” and Simon noting the song as being “pitchy.” On May 10, 2006, McPhee was in the bottom two with Chris Daughtry. Daughtry was eliminated from the competition.
• May 16, 2006 - Clive Davis chose R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” for McPhee.
- Jackson thought she did well, but the song choice was bad (this comment led Katharine to state that she had no control over the song choice) and she wasn’t “that singer.” Abdul, after some pause and inspiration from an audience member, said that McPhee was incredible, and that she looked fabulous. Cowell enjoyed the performance.
- Cowell chose Judy Garland’s theme song, “Over the Rainbow”, for McPhee. She sang a hybrid version using Jane Monheit’s version of the rarely heard introduction, and Eva Cassidy’s 1996 rendition for the rest of the song.[21] Jackson called her “a hot one”, and declared that she had the best song of the season. Abdul said that that song was her “element.” Cowell said that he was very happy for McPhee and, putting the fact that he chose the song aside, he thought it was the best performance of the competition to date. He also added that it was brilliant.
- McPhee chose Ella Fitzgerald’s “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues” (from Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook) for her final song.
- Jackson said it was good, but not to the extent of her second song. Abdul agreed, once again saying that McPhee’s second song was her “element.” Cowell said it was okay, and he wished America had seen her second song last instead. McPhee made it to the final two, along with Taylor Hicks.
• May 23, 2006 - McPhee’s first song was “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” from the Final 5.
- Randy Jackson said it was better than the first time. Paula Abdul said that Katharine was brilliant. Simon Cowell said it was good, but not big enough for this event.
- McPhee’s second song was “Over the Rainbow” from the Final 3. Jackson said it was amazing and hot. Abdul said it was great. Cowell said it was her best performance of the season.
- McPhee’s third song was an original single called “My Destiny” written by singer/songwriter Hanne Sorvaag. Jackson said McPhee looked and sounded amazing, but she was better than the song. Abdul agreed that McPhee sounded amazing. Cowell said that this song made her go from “brilliant” to only “quite good”, but her second song was where she truly shined.
• May 24, 2006 - At the end of the 2 hour season finale, the final votes revealed that McPhee did not receive a majority of the votes, thus crowning Taylor Hicks the new American Idol. Ryan Seacrest stated there were over 63.4 million votes. Not long before the finale began, McPhee stated that she had changed into a record of nine dresses during the show.
Post-Idol
• March 12, 2008 - McPhee performed the song “Something”, originally written by George Harrison, with David Foster on the Top 12 results show on the seventh season of American Idol, where the pair announced they were collaborating on a new album.
source: wikipedia