Katharine McPhee

McPhee was persuaded by Nick Cokas and her parents to try out for American Idol. She auditioned in San Francisco, and sang "God Bless the Child", originally performed by Billie Holiday. Paula Abdul said that McPhee was "absolutely beautiful", Randy Jackson hailed her audition as potentially the best so far that season, and Simon Cowell complimented her for being "current" and her audition being "absolutely fantastic".