Katharine McPhee

Winning second place in the US television show 'American Idol' catapulted singer-songwriter and actress Katharine McPhee into the public limelight in 2006. She followed it up with several popular recordings and roles in TV shows such as 'Smash' and 'Scorpion'. She has also appeared in feature films including 'Shark Night 3D', 'You May Not Kiss the Bride' and 'The House Bunny'. Following her success on the talent show, her rendition of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' went to number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and her eponymous debut album in 2007 reached number two on the Billboard 200. The album's first single, 'Over It' went to number 29.

Born in Los Angeles into a showbusiness family, she trained as a singer as a child and performed in school plays and musicals. After studying musical theatre at the Boston Conservatory, she returned to California and appeared in a local production of 'Annie Get Your Gun'. During that time she suffered from an eating disorder that she overcame in order to audition for 'American Idol' where she won a spot in the 2006 season in which she was runner-up to Taylor Hicks. Signed to a recording contract by the producers of the show she toured with the road-show of the TV programme and landed a role on the US TV series 'Ugly Betty'. She appeared in television commercials and acted in 'Tit for Tat' and 'Community'. McPhee's 2010 album 'Unbroken' went to number 27 on the Billboard 200 and her latest album, 'I Fall in Love Too Easily', a collection of standards produced by Don Was, peaked at number two on Billboard's Jazz Albums Chart in 2017.