Ryan Seacrest: (Introduction) Katharine is next ladies and gentlemen.
Intro clip... Katharine: (To Camera) I'm going to be singing "Hound Dog" with a little bit of a twist.
Katharine: (To Tommy Mottola in Graceland rehearsals) We kind of added in another piece of Elvis' song, because there's a lot of his songs are very similar kind of chords...
Tommy Mottola: (Interested) Let's see what it sounds like.
Katharine: (Sings for Tommy) ¯ You ain't nothin' but a hound dog ¯ ...
Katharine: (To camera) It was a risk for me to take. At first I thought "Uh! (Don't) Know if I wanna do that 'cause it's a real rocker song.
Katharine: (Singing in rehearsal) ¯ You ain't nothin' but a hound dog ¯ ...
Tommy: That's a hard song to pull off because it's typically... that's a signature song for Elvis.
Katharine: (Dancing and pointing at Tommy whilst she sings) ...¯ And you ain't no friend of mine ¯ Well a bless my soul ¯ What's wrong with me...
Tommy: I was very impressed with Katharine. She is actually so much better a singer than I've even heard so far on the show. Vocally she's incredible, she has a very fluid style, her range is incredible and she really scored big with me.
Katharine sings...
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog ¯ Cryin' all the time ¯ You ain't nothin' but a hound dog ¯ Cryin' all the time ¯ You ain't never caught a rabbit ¯ And you ain't no friend of mine ¯ Well you said you was high class ¯ That was just a lie ¯ Yeah, you said you was high class ¯ That was just a lie ¯ You ain't never caught a rabbit ¯ And you ain't no friend of mine ¯ Well bless my soul ¯ What's wrong with me ¯ I'm itching like a girl on a fuzzy tree ¯ My friends say I'm actin' wild as a bug ¯ I'm in love ¯ I'm all shook up ¯ O-hoo-hoo, ooh, yeah, yeah! ¯ Please don't ask what's on my mind ¯ I'm a little mixed up ¯ But I'm feelin' fine ¯ When ... ¯ I love best ¯ My heart beats so but I know you're nothin' but a hound dog ¯ Cryin' all the time ¯ Yeaaa! You're nothin' but a hound dog ¯ Cryin' all the time ¯ You ain't never caught a rabbit ¯ And you ain't no ¯ Friend ¯ Of mine ¯ That's why I'm all shook up! ¯ Yeah-he-he-hey! ¯
(Cheers and applause)
Simon Cowell: Randy?
Randy Jackson: A'ight so yo!
Katharine: (To the still cheering audience) Thank you!
Randy Jackson: So I know... I know you had a good time. I know you had a good time with that. That was fun. You kinda did your thing at the end, but what happened in the middle I might say?
Katharine: (Grinning) I dropped one little part of the lyric. (Laughs)
Randy Jackson: Yah!
Katharine: Sorry!
Randy Jackson: All of a sudden you got really quiet... I was like "Oh she forgot the words!"
Katharine: Ya, and I like turned around too. (Katharine turns around again)
Paula Abdul: That was the best part...
Randy Jackson: Yeah!
Paula Abdul: ...is that you worked the choreography out when you turned around like... that's...
Randy Jackson: Yeah. (Laughs)
Katharine: Sorry.
Paula Abdul: But that's very smart... (Katharine lets out an embarrassed laugh) ...It was really fun seeing you dance up there...
Katharine: Thank you.
Paula Abdul: ...really fun.
Simon Cowell: Katharine, I'll tell you what it reminded me of... All across America you hold auditions for theatrical production... It looked like a desperate manic audition. (Boos)
Paula Abdul: (Shakes her head) Oh!
Randy Jackson: What?
Simon Cowell: Let me finish!
Randy Jackson: What?
Simon Cowell: Let me finish.
Randy Jackson: What?
Simon Cowell: Let me finish. "I can sing, I can dance" ...
Paula Abdul: You can?
Simon Cowell: It was manic, it was shrieky. (Continuing groans from the audience) It... and to be fair, you know this was always gonna be tough... (Pauses whilst he checks out the dissenters, who go quiet!) ...tough for you. Um, it just for me wasn't a great performance overall. I've got to be honest with you. I hope you've got a second better song.
Katharine: (Disappointed tone) Okay.
Paula Abdul: (Throws her arms up) Urgghhh!
Ryan Seacrest: Katharine McPhee... (Joins Katharine on stage, greeting her with a friendly squeeze) ...Let me ask you... We have a boys' club here. 'The guys'...
Katharine: Yah!
Ryan Seacrest: 'It's Elvis themed'. Were you worried about that going into it?
Katharine: Definitely, I mean I um, I definitely was worried about Elvis week, but I ended up having so much fun, so... (Shrugs. Supportive shouts and applause from the audience.)
Ryan Seacrest: Well your second song, it is a beautiful song, so stay tuned for that...
Katharine: Okay.
Ryan Seacrest: (Gives out the voting numbers) ...Katharine coming up again ladies and gentlemen...