Katharine McPhee Goes From Classics To Pop

After finishing in second place in 2006's "American Idol," Katharine McPhee hit the top of the charts with the classic song, "Somewhere over the Rainbow."

Now the 22-year-old California native is updating her sound with pop-driven, self-titled debut album.

She appeared on an episode of "Ugly Betty" and on and episode of the YouTube phenomenon, LonelyGirl15. For the past week, McPhee has been in New York City to promote her album, which defies many people's expectations after McPhee performed so many classic songs on "Idol."

Now she says she's showing off her personality by singing her own songs on stage and "not having, like, other people's words in your head ... it's just your song."

On "Idol," McPhee said her youth got lost with some of the songs she sang. She typically wore long gowns, which she has now traded for sexy, short dresses.

"I was always wearing the long gowns, which is a part of me, but I wanted to do something that was a little more fun. Truthfully, I'm more of the jeans and T-shirt girl," she told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm.

On the show, her signature song was "Somewhere over the Rainbow," which she said was like second nature because her mother is a cabaret singer. She knew she could perform the standards well on the show.

"But I always wanted to make, you know, being like a pop — a fun, pop record. So I ended up making the record I wanted to make," she said. "I'm excited to now be singing all the songs I got — I co-wrote a couple songs on the record, as well. So it's exciting."

Despite her success, McPhee has endured darker times. After "American Idol," she revealed that she had been suffering from bulimia for five years and had to seek help before the start of the show. She said she wanted to let her fans know that she was losing weight not because she was dieting, but because she was getting healthy.

"I just wanted to, like, let people know it wasn't because of the pressure of Hollywood," McPhee said. "That's not, you know, normal just to lose weight because people tell you to lose weight. I did it because I took charge of my life and got really healthy."

McPhee worked with some of the best in the business. One of the producers, Nate Hill, was nominated for a couple Grammys this year for Justin Timberlake's album.

"I went to Virginia Beach … where we recorded. We did nine songs in 10 days, which is a lot — unheard of, you know," she said. "And I remember, just in the beginning, just having to not be afraid or intimidated like, 'Oh, people are watching me.' I'm in this little black box by myself. I had to dive into it — same with songwriting. I was working with big songwriter, Nate Hill, and so I had to dive into it."

McPhee, whose album received a great review from USA Today, said she forced herself to learn very quickly. Even though there were several people in the studio, she said she pretended that she was performing in front of an audience. Her journey has taught her a lot about the music industry, and she said it is important to take other peoples' input while maintaining her own voice.

"I think that's the hard thing about growing up and being young in businesses — being with all of these people that have been around business for a long time and saying, you know, 'Oh, I don't really like that or I don't like that song,' " she said.