"American Idol" Season 5 ended nearly six years ago with Katharine McPhee finishing in second place. Since then, she has struggled to establish herself in both the music and acting industries. With NBC's "Smash," she just might have found her chance to finally come out on top in both.
It took her a few years, but the second-place beauty that somehow lost the "American Idol" Season 5 title to Taylor Hicks seems to have finally made the big time.
Her new series, "Smash," premiered on NBC Monday evening and won the time slot with 11.44 million viewers (per TV By The Numbers and Neilsen), solidly pulling in a million and a half more viewers than CBS' "Hawaii Five-O" and nearly three million more than ABC's "Castle." Given that its first episode's success could be the result of a combination of advertising, star power, and general hype, it remains to be seen whether the show will be able to hold such a large audience in the future. But it certainly bodes well...
So does interest in the show's music. Three songs from the first episode were released a few days before the premiere and hit iTunes Top 100.
Speculation has run rampant about the viability of musical-based series since NBC began broadcasting promos for their new behind-the-scenes Broadway drama, "Smash." Starring alongside McPhee is Emmy winner Debra Messing, Oscar winner Anjelica Huston, and actual stage veteran Megan Hilty ("Wicked" and "9 to 5: The Musical"). The music for the show is being composed by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who collaborated on "Hairspray," which won a Tony and a Grammy. (Shaiman has also won an Emmy and an Oscar.) And if the series needed any more star credibility, Shaiman and Wittman will share production credit with Oscar-winning director and producer Steven Spielberg and Oscar-winning producer Neil Meron ("Chicago" and "Hairspray").
But the going might not be easy for the show, which got mixed but somewhat negative reviews from critics. In a rundown of critiques, CNN's "The Marquee Blog" found that although the show appears to have issues (cliched characters, poor dialogue), some, like The Atlantic, found that it had promise.
And promise is what has always been Katharine McPhee's draw, ever since America fell in love with her in 2006 on "American Idol." Since being on the popular talent show, she has cultivated her music and acting career, releasing three albums (including a collection of Christmas songs) and appearing in several movies and television shows.
"Smash" could very well become McPhee's breakout vehicle.
"My character, Karen, is the biggest dreamer of them all, she dreams big," McPhee said of her character when speaking with MTV News at the Red Carpet premeire of "Smash." "Our show is about dreaming big. She has a big heart, she has a lot of drive and she's very determined about what she wants in her career and what she wants out of it and how she's gonna go about doing it and keeping a real strong moral code. I think she is a little green when you first meet her. She's not quite sure how things go and how things are worked in the business, [and] she learns a lot throughout the course of the first season."
Sounds a bit familiar. A green kid with drive and determination, trying to find the key to success. It seems a little like her own journey, "American Idol" and all.
And, again, her success rests in the hands of the American audience.
(photo credit: Chad J. McNeeley, Wikimedia Commons)
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