Five more questions with Katharine McPhee

My Conversation with season five runner-up Katharine McPhee (who releases her second album, "Unbroken," on Tuesday) is now up, but if you’re itching for another dose of McPheever, here are a few more tidbits that didn’t make the cut.

Your season of “Idol” had David Foster and Andrea Bocelli as mentors, both of whom you worked with after the show. Who do you think would make good mentors for season 9?
They should have Kelly Clarkson come back and be a mentor. She’s someone who has the success to back it up, and also the experience to understand what the contestants are going through. And I still think David Foster would be a great one to have back. He’s had such longevity in his career; I think it’s important to have that.

Do you keep in touch with Taylor Hicks?
I don’t, actually. Not because we don’t like each other, but we all had to change our numbers so many times and a lot of us lost touch. I keep in touch with Kellie Pickler and Chris Daughtry. I don’t know why I don’t keep in touch with Taylor. I like the guy.    

I read that you recently re-watched some of your “Idol” performances. What did you think, in retrospect?
I mean, you’re not gonna have a great week every week, but honestly, I was surprised how bad some of them were. Maybe in the moment people didn’t think they were bad, but looking back at how much I’ve grown… I could see where I was uncomfortable, where I was pushing, where it wasn’t about the simple storytelling of the song, it was about trying to perform, and that really doesn’t work. It’s not about selling the song, it’s about telling the story. I really wasn’t a developed singer and didn’t have much performing skills. When I’m on stage now, the simple act of breathing through the songs and being able to control my voice more [means] I’ve grown a lot, and “Idol” really worked that growth. Coming off of that show was a lot of growth, my first record was part of that growth, traveling around and doing gigs and little radio shows around the country—all that literally taught me how to be a recording artist.

The movie “The House Bunny,” in which you played Harmony, starred the brilliant Anna Faris as a Playboy Playmate. Would you ever consider posing for the magazine?
I don’t think that will never happen. Unless I, like, lose my mind at some point. I already made the mistake of being in Stuff, a magazine that doesn’t even exist anymore. I was pressured into that. I didn’t really want to, and I was assured that it was going to be tasteful. And you know what? I’ve come to the realization that with those magazines, if they’re wrapped in plastic, they’re probably never going to be tasteful.

[Note: for demonstration's sake, the cover in question...]

Now that you’re signed to Verve, which has such a long list of accomplished artists, who of your label-mates are you proud to be affiliated with?
Jamie Cullum. I’ve seen him live and I think he’s incredible. He’s huge in the UK, but not a lot of people here know who he is. And Herbie Hancock is another one. He won album of the year at the 2008 Grammys and he’s just a total musician. Then there’s Ledisi—she’s such a powerful R&B artist who I love. It’s such a diverse record label, it’s hard to choose!

– Shirley Halperin

Photo: August 2007 cover of Stuff Magazine

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