Katharine Hope McPhee Foster born March 25 1984 is an American pop singer songwriter and actress She gained fame as the runnerup on the fifth season of American Idol in May 2006 Her eponymous debut album was released on RCA Records on January 30 2007 and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 selling 381000 copies as of December 2010 The albums first single Over It was a Pop Top 30 hit and was certified gold in 2008 Her second album Unbroken was released on Verve Forecast Records on January 5 2010 and debuted at No 27 on the Billboard 200 The album featured the single Had It All which peaked at number 22 on the AC chart Her third album the holidaythemed Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You was released on October 12 2010 The album debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart while the single Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas peaked at number 16 on the Billboard AC chart McPhee released her fourth album Hysteria on September 18 2015 She released her fifth album I Fall in Love Too Easily composed of jazz standards on November 17 2017 She has also established an acting career costarring in The House Bunny Shark Night 3D and The Tiger Rising 2022 She starred as Karen Cartwright on the NBC series Smash as Paige Dineen on the CBS series Scorpion and as Bailey on Netflixs Country Comfort 2021 She made her Broadway debut in the musical Waitress taking over the role of Jenna in 2018 and again in 20192020 and also starred in the role in Londons West End in 2019