Katharine McPhee was born on March 25, 1984 in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California. At the age of 12, Katharine's family relocated to Sherman Oaks. She started singing when she was only two years old and she received training from her mother, Patricia McGhee, who herself is an accomplished singer and voice teacher. She studied at Notre Dame High School, where she was vice president of the student body, an athlete and a stage actress. After she graduated in 2002, she continued to pursue her passion for singing by majoring in musical theater the prestigious Boston Conservatory, a school which season 4 American Idol Finalist Constantine Maroulis also attended. Her manager suggested that she try out her luck in acting, and so after only three semesters, Katharine dropped out and went on to work in productions like Annie Get Your Gun and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

In 2005, a former boyfriend encouraged Katharine to try out for season 5 of American Idol. She sang "God Bless the Child" for her San Francisco audition and quickly earned the approval of all three judges. With her amazing talent, she easily made it through Hollywood and became one of the 24 semifinalists. Her fan base quickly grew and when she made it to the Finals, her renditions of "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Against All Odds," "Hound Dog/ All Shook Up," "Can't Help Falling In Love," and "Over the Rainbow" were enough to get America to root for her all the way to the Top 2. Radio personality Ralph Garman even saw her talent as resulting to the "McPheever" haze. Nevertheless, America's ultimate choice for the fifth American Idol was Taylor Hicks, making Katharine the runner-up.

Being runner-up did not mean the end of Katharine's career, as 19 Recordings Limited and Sony BMG's RCA Records quickly signed her. Her rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/ My Destiny" was released as her first single, with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" climbing to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "My Destiny" reaching #60. Around the same time, Katharine revealed in an interview with People magazine that she had been a bulimic for 5 years. She has also made several television appearances, which include a cameo in lonelygirl15 episode and on an episode of the Emmy award-winning series Ugly Betty. Her self-titled album reached #2 on the Billboard charts.

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