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When I went downstairs for breakfast, my mom had the Entertainment portion of the Daily News on the table. The front cover was a huge picture of Katharine from her BOTEIM performance!! It was all about her fanbase in her home city (which happens to be about 20 minutes from where I live).
Here is the link to the three parts of the article (story, odds, & performances)
http://www.dailynews.com/tv
Fan power'American Idol's' Katharine McPhee has a valley home base cheering, voting By Fred Shuster, Music Writer
Sherman Oaks' Katharine McPhee had just wrapped up a blockbuster version of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" on "American Idol," and the hit TV show's judges — instead of giving her praise — were weighing in with an unprecedented critical lashing.
Kat's Houston cover, they whined, "was way too big," resulting in "pitch problems." And the most cutting comment from Simon Cowell: "By choosing that song, it is like coming out here and saying, 'I'm as good as Whitney Houston' — (and) you're not."
The Kat Pack — about 20 fans, friends and supporters of McPhee gathered in a Studio City living room — lashed back. "You're on crack," one fan snapped at the TV. "That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," shouted another. "I can't believe that, for the first time in history, (judge) Paula (Abdul) has an opinion about something."
It was a dramatic change in mood from the group's excited reaction when McPhee had finished singing. That ended with a roof-raising cheer.
At the commercial break, a discussion broke out among the friendly throng about the possible inner workings of the record-breaking series. On this night, McPhee led off the competition show, and some believed the judges' negative opinions were a deliberate attempt by producers to set up tension among viewers.
"By doing that, they make it look like she's starting out this week with a battle on her hands, and if she comes out well tomorrow, it looks as if she had to really fight for it," mused Jim Davis, who, along with his wife, Diane, hosted the McPhee support party and whose son, Jamie, is a longtime friend of Kat's.
"McPhans" are sprouting up throughout the San Fernando Valley. Along Ventura Boulevard, shops are waving McPhee banners, while about 1,000 McPhee support buttons were handed out at a go-Kat-go booth at the Sherman Oaks street fair a few weeks ago.
Balloons festooned the lawn of the Davis home. An autographed picture of McPhee with the legend, "I love you Sherman Oaks!" hung on the door. A sign above the TV read: "Catch the McPheever!" The coffee table was littered with popcorn, sodas, a basket of McPhee lapel buttons, and cell phones and BlackBerrys.
The cross-generational McPhee supporters that night were being visited by McPhee's mom, Peisha, a cabaret singer and vocal coach. They all had one thing in common: They all want Kat to win the prize, which includes a recording contract and a shot at stardom.
Peisha McPhee, who shares the same dark-eyed good looks as Kat and her other daughter, Adriana, 23, watched the night's competition, clearly thrilled with Kat's performance of the Houston number.
A few months ago, as the new "Idol" season was getting off the ground, Peisha described Kat to the Daily News as "gutsy and spiritual, someone who wants to express herself and takes that ability seriously."
Her fans take their roles seriously. When the phone lines opened after Tuesday's competition, the frenzied clicking of speed-dialing and text-messaging grew in the Davises' kitchen and living room as electronic votes mounted for the attractive 22-year-old Notre Dame High School grad.
"We love her because she's a very down-to-earth girl," said Kevin Circosta, 22, a McPhee pal who watched the show at the Davis home. "She's a sweetheart, and we're just so happy for her."
With the fifth contestant eliminated tonight, McPhee is expected to be a front-runner for the crown; the winner will be announced May 24. Whatever happens, fans say, she's made the Valley proud.
"Kat is a very hardworking singer who takes her craft seriously," said party guest Susie Welby, who was McPhee's musical theater singing coach at Notre Dame and operated the Kat support booth at the street fair. "She honors the craft and approaches it with discipline and integrity. She's a really sweet person who's just a love. Plus, she's a great baby sitter and she's terrific with dogs."
After the frenzied voting died down, Jamie Davis, 22, offered this about the girl he's known for about 10 years. "I remember last year Kat was sitting on my couch, and we were watching last season's 'American Idol,'" said Davis. "And she said, 'You know, I bet I could do that.'"
The night after that fan gathering, Kellie Pickler was bumped, and Kat placed among the top two vote-getters, ensuring her spot in this week's song derby.
And in an even sweeter victory, Cowell ("You're no Whitney") apologized to McPhee.
---Fred Shuster, (818) 713-3676 and fred.shuster@dailynews.com
Katharine's odds By Fred Shuster, Music Writer
According to Aces.com and others, Kat is currently listed with 11-5 odds of winning, second only to Chris Daughtry's 13-10.
Viewers, too, are right behind Kat, who was among the top two favorites when last week's nearly 48 million votes were counted and Kellie Pickler got the boot.
Against remaining "American Idol" hopefuls Paris Bennett, Taylor Hicks, Elliott Yamin and Daughtry, the theatrically trained McPhee is the most polished, agrees Ken Warwick, the show's executive producer.
"People like to think that they have taken somebody who is working in a garage or flipping hamburgers or cleaning windows and made a big star out of them," he said. "They do like to think that, and it's quite possible that, with Kat, they will think, 'Hang on a second — she's so good, she's too good.' "She's going to make it anyway. She doesn't need our help. ... If it comes at the end that she's just too damn good, then so be it, that's the way it's going to be."
Whatever happens on Fox's two-hour "Idol" finale on May 24, Warwick believes Kat is an "extreme talent ... the real deal. Whether she'll make it, she won't be the first very, very talented kid that's been cut this year."
Hope you enjoy!! If I get the chance, I'll scan the pictures fromthe article and post them
Our Kat did it again.
Sherman Oaks songbird Katharine McPhee, 22, made it to the final four on "American Idol" after her twin performances this week wowed voters.
Paris Bennett wasn't so lucky.
The 17-year-old sang "Kiss" but instead of puckering up, audiences gave her the thumbs down and sent her back to Fayetteville, Ga.
McPhee sang Phil Collins' 1984 hit "Against all Odds" and KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," and her loyal fan base kept her in the running.
Judges commented more on her appearance - all favorable - than her singing, which was mixed. But viewers were heard loud and clear.
Contestants sang two songs - one from the year of their birth and one from any Billboard chart's current top 10.
Though judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul praised Bennett's funky take on Prince's 1988 hit "Kiss," judge Simon Cowell derided it as "screechy" and "annoying."
In a turnaround, her second performance - a cover of Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You" - was deemed "pitchy" by Jackson but well-received by Cowell.
"I think she did rather well with that," Cowell said.
Elliot Yamin, 27, had the next-lowest vote total.
Cowell offered typical sugar-free criticism on Tuesday's program, saying Yamin's rendition of "On Broadway" was "disjointed." He also said he was "just a little bit concerned" following his cover of Michael Buble's "Home."
Katharine McPhee fans around the world