Ryan Seacrest: (Introduction) Next song is at number nine on the adult top 40 charts. With "Black Horse Of The Cherry Tree" it is... (Looks across stage) ...she's on the floor... Katharine McPhee.
Katharine sings...
¯ Two, three, four ¯ (Woo-hoo-oo, woo-hoo) ¯ (Woo-hoo-oo, woo-hoo) ¯ Well my heart knows me better than I know myself ¯ So I'm gonna let it do all the talking ¯ (Woo-hoo-oo, woo-hoo) ¯ I came across a place in the middle of nowhere ¯ With a big black horse and a cherry tree ¯ (Woo-hoo-oo, woo-hoo) ¯ But I said no, no, no, no-no-no ¯ I said no, no, you're not the one for me ¯ No, no, no, no-no-no ¯ No, no, you're not the one for me ¯ (Woo-hoo-oo) ¯ And my heart had a problem ¯ In the early morn' ¯ So it stopped it dead for a beat or two ¯ (Woo-hoo-oo, woo-hoo) ¯ But I cut some cord, and I shouldn't have done that ¯ And it won't forgive me after all these days ¯ (Woo-hoo-oo, woo-hoo) ¯ But I said no, no, no, you're not the one for me ¯ No, no, no-no-no ¯ You're not the one for me ¯ My heart ¯ My heart's forsaken me ¯ Yeah! ¯ Black horse and a cherry tree ¯ You're not the one for me ¯
(Cheers and applause)
Randy Jackson: This is a wild show tonight, but I tell you what, you know what? Now that's more like the Katharine that I grew to love. (Cheers) That's more of the vibe. Here we go, c'mon man!
Paula Abdul: And I... I love the little... the choreography and the little intimacy. You picked these two guys to do it...
Katharine: They're awesome!
Paula Abdul: I know. This was mo... this is a much better performance.
Katharine: Thank you.
Randy Jackson: (Looking over at Simon, who rocks in his seat and pushes out his bottom lip) I don't want to say anything, but Simon loved the toes. The toenails, right?
Katharine: They match.
Simon Cowell: This is a strange show. (Laughter) Taylor is lying down. You're on your knees. This is strange.
Katharine: (Laughing) I'm just, you know, trying to step out of the box.
Simon Cowell: However, Katharine, you know what? I much preferred that to the first song, because you know what, it was different, it was younger, it showed more personality. It was a good choice of song.
Katharine: Cool! (Smiles) Thank you.
Ryan Seacrest: (Arrives on stage and joins Katharine) McPhee! Well done. (Katharine wipes her eyes) You did seem very comfortable during that song?
Katharine: Ah? (Giggles) I dunno.
Ryan Seacrest: (Turns to speak to the musicians) What is this, the ah? What is that instrument called?
Musician 1: The box drum.
Ryan Seacrest: The box drum. How original.
Katharine: The box drum.
Ryan Seacrest: Yes the box drum. All right. Well it sounded great.
Katharine: Thanks.
Ryan Seacrest: (Gives out the voting numbers)