• pigduck
• Dec 22,2006
• In: Katharine McPhee

X’mas Comes Early - Katharine McPhee gives and gives and gives!

 

 

If you go to Katharine McPhee’s Official website, you will see the image above. Click on it and you will be taken to Katharine’s Christmas gift to her fans. It’s a beautiful rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful”.

The song is arranged and produced by Walter Afanasieff. He used to work with Mariah Carey till she had a fall-out with Tommy Mottola.

This Christmas song is very Mariah-esque. It has the Walter A. stamp.

There were a few things I wondered.

First of all, why O Come All Ye Faithful? It’s not about Santa or sleighrides or partridges… it’s about why we celebrate Christmas. It’s a rather religious song to say the least. It’s a serious Christmas hymn as evident by the lyrics.

O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God’s holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Secondly, is it because she didn’t want to be compared to anybody so she chose a song that’s really quite unusual? Not many singers would choose O Come All Ye Faith as a Christmas song to sing. Usually they sing happy, gay songs. So singing a song that may be popular at church but not among singers is interesting.

Thirdly, why is this song so reminiscient of old school Mariah?

Fourthly, how did she weasle out these recordings from her record company? I am sure someone had to foot the bill… to pay the producers, studio time, engineers, etc…why would her management agree to releasing this song for free and also the Walmart CD Single?

Hmm…I was a bit shocked at first when I heard she chose O Come All Ye Faithful. It’s a very random choice in my opinion… But I can see she put a lot of thought into it especially in her message to her fans. I forgot what it was about. I suggest you download to take a listen.

It’s very generous of her to give us a gift. That’s for sure.

It’s not just the CD single, this X’mas track but she also posted up song bytes of 4 songs on her myspace. Go there to listen to them. We’ve heard three of them before (these are the newer, longer versions) - Over It, Each Other and Open Toes but the 4th song is new. It’s called Love Story. It ain’t a sad song. It’s pretty chirpy actually. Here are the lyrics:-
Over It

I’m over your lies
And I’m over your games.
I’m over you asking me when you know I’m not ok

You call me at night,
And I pick up the phone
And though you’ve been telling me, I know you’re not alone

And that’s why your eyes,
I’m over it.
Your smile,
I’m over it.
Realized
I’m over it, I’m over it, I’m over.

Wanting you to be wanting me
No, that ain’t no way to be.
How I feel, read my lips
Because I’m so over, I’m so over
I’m so…

Moving on, and it’s my time.
You never were a friend of fine
Hurt at first, a little bit
And now I’m so over it, I’m so over it,
So over it

I’m over your hands
And I’m over your mouth.
Trying to drag me down and fill me with self doubt

Oh and that’s why your world
I’m over it.
So sure,
I’m over it.
I’m not your girl
I’m over it, I’m over it, I’m over.

Each Other

No more lonely nights to hurt me
No more tears left to spare
No more reasons to be unhappy
You through them all up in the air

And I don’t know how you did it
But you made me a believer
I never thought that love could turn someone into a dreamer
For the first time in my life I don’t feel like I need a breather

Cause everywhere I go
I wanna know you gonna be there

I’d give it up all for you
(I’d give it up all for you)
Do anything you ask me too
(Do anything you ask me too)
You’re like a pillow I can hold on too
‘Cause we got each other, we got each other

Now that this has gone away
You left me here without a trace
And now I’m in a brand new place
‘Cause we got each other, we got each other

And sometimes in the past almost pulled us under
But we got through all that and it made us stronger
Through the good, through the bad you just stayed another
You’re the best thing I have and we’ve got each other

When the hard times confront me
You always show me that you care
And I believe that you are my rescue
When I see you right there
(When I see you right there)

And I don’t know how you did it

Open Toes

I’ve been needing a girl’s night out
I’ve got nothing but hand-me-downs
I need quick fix to make these clothes hotter
No matter what it is a girls gotta

You’re pedicure; white tip French
Your legs don’t make no sense
Not rich but got a diamond anklet
Keep it on goes with my outfit

Hey, hey let’s go
If their not to high to low
I’ll take them home
In purple, red or gold
Because I know them boys they like those open toes

Jeans all black
Hair slicked back
Baseball cap
Still cute in my open toes

Mini skirt
Feet don’t hurt
Just a flirt
Too cute in my open toes

Work or play
Night or day
Do my thing
Too cute in my open toes

Never too many open toes
A girl needs plenty open toes

I’m lovin’ these sling back shoes
I like the way the stay loose
I could wear them all day and listen to the click-clack
Shoes like this make me hate flats

Swipe that card I’m good
Another pair, leather and wood
I’m a sucker for a name brand
Skip the rack and stick to the game plan

Hey, hey let’s go
If their not to high

Love Story

I think it was a summertime
When I laid eyes on you
I didn’t even know your name
Somehow we’d end up in the same room

It never crossed my mind
I never saw you like that
I should have listened to my best friend
She knew we’d a perfect match

It’s a typical love story.
Started out as friends
We met way back when.
This is just a
Typical love story

The boy you never wanted
Just steals your heart
I never saw it coming
‘Til I fell so hard

I always made up some excuse
Saying that you weren’t my type
I didn’t want to face the truth
Didn’t wanna cross that line

‘Til one day I saw you
At the corner of my eye
You were flirting with some girl
And inside I thought I would die.

It’s a typical love story.
Started out as friends
We met way back when
This is just a
Typical love story

Thanks to those who painstakingly transcribed it for us.

The point is, she’s really quite generous.

I then read up that she had visited a local shelter to bring gifts to the kids and mothers there. Again, I thought this was really nice of her. Some times you don’t know who you can touch so you start, little by little…

 …

“Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee and her boyfriend, Nicholas Cokas, drove two cars packed with gifts from their home in Sherman Oaks to Hopes House, a refuge for abused women and their children.

…

McPhee requested wish lists from the children’s mothers last week after choosing Hopes House as the first recipient of her newly founded McPhee Outreach.

It was Leesa Bellesi – the wife of Pastor Denny Bellesi, formerly of Coast Hills Community Church in Aliso Viejo – who suggested Hopes House to McPhee.

McPhee, 22, met Bellesi when she began attending Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, which is where Denny now preaches.

…

Niki, one of five mothers living at Hopes House, told McPhee that she rooted for her on “American Idol” and never forgot how McPhee once said that if she made the big time, she wouldn’t forget to give back.

“I just want to thank you for keeping your word,” she told McPhee.

…

“Hi. Lovely to meet you guys,” McPhee said before heading to her car to bring in more presents.

…

Before leaving, McPhee held hands in a circle with the moms and kids and sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and a round of “Happy Birthday” to Jesus.

…

“This is reality,” Cokas said. “Everything else is just a job.”

 

Just a few things I wanted to highlight from the article. It is true that throughout the American Idol process, Katharine McPhee did say she was going to give back somehow and to help others and that was what it meant to be a celebrity. I was a bit suspect of her for saying that so boldly. But this Christmas I can see she is keeping to her word. However, this is the first still only the first Christmas after American Idol…

I was thinking at first, wasn’t she being a bit showy about her charity? She talked about the outreach program she set up on her blog somewhere and then we know she’s supporting certain charities but then, I realised that she’s using her fame to bring awareness to such things that people would like to conveniently forget. You know, Mariah does charity too and she’s always been rather subtle about it, except for Make a Wish Foundation that loves to give honours and props to Mariah. Hahaha…or like the time her fur coat en route to Mongolia and it got lost in the mail.

The “paper” that reported Katharine McPhee’s news though was a community paper so I don’t think she meant it to use it as a publicity stunt in any way.

Another interesting thing that was revealed was how Katharine McPhee is close to a pastor’s wife.

She never seemed that “religious” on American Idol. Her background never screamed Christian although a few months back I had posted an article that said she was baptised and that one of the churches was behind her. It seems the article is taken down but you can see that I at least reported on this before.

I mean, she’s definitely no Chris Daughtry (who was part of a Christian band) or Elliot Yamin (who sang gospel) or Mandisa (remember her… the “Praise You” and “church of Mandisa”… hee hee)… or Kellie…I’m sure there were others…

Even in her liner notes on the American Idol 5 Encore CD, she didn’t thank God at all unlike the other Idol finalists who had… there was only one other person who didn’t thank God. I forget who it was now. Was it Taylor Hicks? By the way, it seems that Chris Daughtry has trumped Taylor Hicks. Taylor debuts at no. 2 on the Billboard Album Charts whereas Chris had debuted at no. 1. In terms of CD sales, Chris sold a lot more too.

Anyway, the point is, Katharine McPhee never seemed to be all that into her faith… although I had hoped that when she went on tour, the others might rub off on her. I had always noticed she was somewhat close to Mandisa, Lisa and Kellie… all who seemed pretty much secure in their faith. I guess when you’re faced with the absolute truth there’s no way else around it. I’m really happy. I think it might have strengthened her belief and that’s awesome in my opinion.

On the other hand, maybe it was because she had the guidance from pastors too. Someone wrote a post way back in April about meeting up with the above mentioned pastors who talked about Katharine McPhee and also meeting up with Nick Cokas (Katharine’s bf). It’s good to know he goes to church so maybe all of this shows that Katharine McPhee has grown in her faith… remember all the links to Scientology and all that… and how she fervently denied it. I think that was why I always saw her as a bit … shaky because she seemed to be searching. I hope she’s got her feet on solid ground now. It seems like it.

She’s a very gracious person and I guess it’s proof this holiday season with the 4 new snippets on her myspace that you can preview, the Walmart CD single and also this Christmas song…

I guess to come out and sing a song like O Come All Ye Faithful is almost like making a stand. It is making a statement. Just like Carrie Underwood who released Jesus Take the Wheel as her debut single. I have to say I salute Carrie for being so bold to take on such a song. Of course it bodes well with her target audience but still, it’s quite a big step but it’s helped her. Her album has done so well and it’s still in the top 10 this week. She’s definitely the Idol of the Year.

Anyway, interesting Katharine McPhee… she never fails to surprise and I have to say that it’s the best Christmas present … to know someone you admire, admires God and glorifies Him first…

It’s a little boost for me. God knows I’ve been needing a kick in this area…:)