On September 9, 2006 The Reliant Arena in Houston was a packed house of enthusiastic Idol-ites all waiting to see their favorite...and they were not disappointed as each of the AI Top 10 shone in his/her own element. But this website is really about only one of those brilliant young people: Katharine Mc Phee. So what can be said about her that has not already been said.

From our third row floor seats we could see her visual beauty. With her now shorter flat ironed hair, long black gown and rosy cheeks she appeared more like a fresh faced teen girl carefully and gracefully groomed for her first school dance than the polished performer we had come to admire. Her voice, angelic and strong, soared like the bluebird beyond that rainbow... her movements energetic as she joyfully charged across the stage and past the front row during her first two numbers. There were no signs of that fractured foot or the bruised vocal cords now...those seemed to have passed as quickly as her three song set.

But what did we who have been privileged to be in any of the Idol Concert audiences really learn from Katharine? How many other young artists today are like Katharine who is completely at ease with performing barefoot (whether by necessity or preference)... who is unashamed of the occasional tears that she might shed before an audience of thousands during a song that echoes what she is truly feeling that moment? And who never fails to thank her supporters and make them feel a part of her life if only for a short while? Katharine Mc Phee's message to us was (is) not just about how dreams can come true, but about being comfortable with who we are. In the end we stood in awe with her beyond that rainbow... for we saw what we could all become...true to our dreams, yes. But more importantly...true to ourselves.