From someone who attended the conference. Follow down about 5 pp for new pictures.

http://idolforums.com/index.php?showtopic=541710

Magustajake, a very trustworthy and dedicated fan and long time IDF poster met Katharine today at the Sexy Hair show in Chicago. She has an album release planned for December though no more information about it. And she is building a school in Africa.

I believe magustajake 100% on this. He will be giving a more detailed report tomorrow.

And there are 2 new pics from today's event:

From the horses mouth. how it went down. Magustajake text messaging (I think) katpack_15 and kp15 posting it in real time:

OMG OMG OMG OMG

2:15 pm -- Okay we are waiting for her to come out there are like thousands of people. i don't think I'll get to meet her but its cool to be here.

2:50 pm -- Oh my god!

2:54 pm -- I have the story to top all stories!

3:13 pm -- I met her omg. I'll save that story for later it was amazing. Ok start a new thread and tell them...


3:15 pm -- New album in december. Also, she was given a check for 10000 dollars. She is involved with a new charity and she is building a school in africa!

3:16 pm -- I recorded that part where they talked about her upcoming projects.

3:30 pm -- We're still at the event. The blonde lady from the charity video we saw said I could stop by the stand and say hi again but it was crazy over there.

OMG!! new school in africa!

EVERYONE GET EXCITED!!!

In that Pheenomenon's second pic, that guy must have been singing and dancing to a disco tune while spraying Kat's hair... . He would fit right in with the Village People.

When I last got my hair cut, Great Clips had a Big Sexy Hair display with Kat on it at the front desk, so the product is getting broader exposure.

That $10,000 check to an African school must be a tie-in to the Idol Gives Back school.

 What would be the point of that? Does it make Sexy Hair seem sexier if their spokesmodel has an album coming out? If this turns out to be some windbag blowing smoke...well, just nevermind...

Actually yes from a PR point of view! It helps their imagea great deal if she remains relevant as an artist as well as a model. But let's wait to hear from Jake if she said it, she was on stage when it was said or just came from a PR/announcer person.

My only real point is I don't want to get too excited until we hear something a bit more concrete than a few texts from one of our favorite Kat fans is all.

I'm hoping for katharine to make some impact this year on the music scene if she is to be a popular artist, and she needs to get some movie roles if her popularity remains intact

Jake's recap of meeting Katharine with pictures and video.

http://idolforums.com/index.php?showtopic=541956

^Michael O'Rourke is the epitome of hip...I think. And he should have told Kat to close her eyes before spraying a big can of BSH hair spray near her left eye.

Thanks for all the news about what Kat apparently has on the agenda. Is it possible to post the pics and everything here so I don't have to make a trek over to IDF? I still have some trepidation about even stepping foot on one thread over there.

Kudos to Kat for starting a school in Africa. It all sounds vague at the moment, so I want to know more about that. Sure, it sounds like Kat wants to follow in the footsteps of Oprah, but I think Kat could be even better than Oprah. The reason for that is that Kat enjoys giving of herself clandestinely rather than broadcasting what she's doing to the world. Other than us, nobody will probably even know about this school...unless the media takes it and gives all the details.

Overall, don't expect Kat to ever do an ostentatious show called "The Big Give."

As far as a new album: It's wise of Kat to keep mum about it so pre-expectations don't start. This is going to be her most important album of all as most sophomore albums are. Funny that the David Foster connection dares not be mentioned right now--perhaps because contracts are still pending. Kat's learned the wise art of not talking until the ink is dry on the contract. Other less-experienced celebs sometimes like to blab about things in the pipeline that later fall apart and makes them look bad.

Based on the earworm quality of Kat and Elliott's "Real Love"--I have a feeling Kat might have a moderate hit with that to keep her on the charts this spring. I suppose some out there will try to give all the credit to Elliott when Kat's vocals subtly anchor the whole thing. But there's no doubt that she needs to keep herself in the limelight before the August movie. If she starts recording an album now (and maybe she and David are already laying down tracks), she'll have a good eight months to perfect whatever musical vision they conjure.

For those who are scared to go to IDF for some reason, here is Jake's most excellent post. Best "meeting Katharine" post ever, Jake. Congratulations. It seems to have worked out even better for you than anyone could have hoped or dreamed.

I know some of you have been waiting for my recap, but I just wanted to thank you all for being so happy and excited for me! I really did feel like we are apart of a family this weekend, because I couldn't wait to get home and tell you all. It was cool being able to text Jenn and let you all know what was happening.

As you know, I found out Saturday morning that my friend would be working at the same event Katharine was supposed to attend the next day. Thankfully, my sister and brother-in-law were willing to go. We didn't leave the house until 1:30AM SUNDAY morning. I drove through the night as they slept. I was so tired but the thought of meeting her kept me awake ...until 8AM, when I started falling asleep behind the wheel. That is when my brother-in-law took over. So I was able to sleep for a half hour before we started looking for hotels.

We stayed on Michigan Avenue, at the Hilton Just 5 or 10 minutes from McCormick Place, where the expo was. The city was FLOODED with models, I am not even joking. To get into the event, you had to have a cosmetology license (unless you sneak in like we did) so these people knew how to dress. The three of us looked like absolute wreaks in comparison. We couldn't check into our room until 12:30PM, so we asked where we could take showers and they directed us to the fitness club. The shampoo wasn't labeled so I washed my hair with body soap By the time I was finished, our room was ready so I took another half-hour nap, trying to force beauty upon myself (to no avail).

I texted Jenn (katpack_15) when we were about to leave, and she tells me that Katharine is going to be there at 1:08-1:25PM. This kind of threw off my schedule because my friend told me she wasn't going on until 2PM. I told my sister and her husband that we needed to leave immediately, but they took their damn time, trying to validate their parking We got there at 12:50PM, but we had to wait for my friend to come get us. She must've got caught up with a customer, because she wasn't returning my texts or calls. I was flipping out thinking we were going to miss her! By the time her husband came with our badges (I was "Peter" for a few minutes ), it was 1:11PM And I was ready to throw a tantrum...this place was huge, and there were thousands of people there. He lead us to their stand which was in the back, and I was like, "Where is Sexy Hair!? WHERE.IS.SEXY.HAIR!?" . I thought she'd be on the Sexy Hair stage, not the main one...which incidentally, WAS right by my friend's stand. We got there just as the last presentation came to a close, and the announcer said that Michael O'Rourke was next, presenting Katharine McPhee.

The Presentation

So we all sit on the floor so we can get a better view of the stage.



Let me tell you, Sexy Hair is totally representing for Katharine McPhee. Michael O'Rourke came out first, talking about Sexy Hair and introducing Katharine. He said not only is she an "actress, model, and singer" but she has a wonderful soul. She is one of the nicest people hes ever met, and he cannot work with someone who doesn't have a wonderful soul. He called her a powerhouse performer, one of the biggest up-and-coming talents...and when he was doing her hair, he said "She'll blow you away with her voice".





Someone next to me called her friend and said, "You'll never believe who is here: Katharine Freaking McPhee". I heard so many comments from different people: how beautiful she was, how she is prettier than most models. A lot even mentioned her CD, some having questions about it to others. It just made me so happy to realize events like these DO promote not only the product, but Katharine and her career. It was nice to be in an environment where everyone was so positive about her, I'm always worried they won't be.

The majority of the presentation was spent with Katharine's back facing the audience. Michael O'Rourke was showing hair stylists how to do an updo using their products. On the screens, when they weren't doing close-ups, they were playing clips from her photoshoots. They played "Dangerous" three times, only briefly interrupted by some generic instrumental. I wondered why they didn't play a different song, but Katharine managed to find a different verse to sing along to every time Katharine looked amazing! I have never seen better posture in my life, and her neck is so long and slender. I know thats a weird thing to notice but when you're staring at someone's profile and back for 20 minutes...





(Sorry the quality isn't better, my hands get really shaky )

The rest, with CEO Jim Morrison, you can see here:



^ EDIT: That says "2/12/08" WTH?

I can upload that video to sendspace or something if anyone wants better quality. Like Jenn already told you, he mentioned "I Know What Boys Like", her upcoming album to be released "later in 2008", and her new charity with Global Compassion Services. As you can see my hands got progressively shaky when she started talking about her upcoming projects I really tried to control myself and not scream (I stopped the camera for that ).

Here are pictures of the Sexy Hair stand:





On the stage, stylists were cutting people's hair...only they were choreographed. So they were dancing and most of them would switch clients/models. It was kind of ridiculous But it paid off...there was really loud music, and it was honestly the busiest stand I saw all day. Sexy Hair is amazing!

Okay, part two coming up

Magustajake's story continues: