Partyhopper

In Style’s conference room isn’t one of my favorite places in the office—perhaps because I associate it with our 10 a.m. production meetings—but I’ll never think of it the same way again after Katharine McPhee gave an impromptu concert there during her "meet and greet" with staffers. Granted, the acoustics aren’t so hot, but that’s not a problem when you’re born with powerhouse pipes like McPhee.

When we asked Kat (as her publicist, Roger Widynowski, likes to call her) for her playlist, she responded by belting out some of her iPod favorites. One of them was Nelly Furtado’s "Say It Right": “I'm not sure what the words are, but I love this song,” Kat said—and then proceeded to do a dead-on impression of Nelly singing it. She also channeled a belly-dancing Shakira. I had no idea she was so hilarious—Kat's the kind of gal who would make a great SNL host. I can't possibly do justice to her visit to In Style, but fortunately we videotaped it, so you'll be able to watch her "greatest hits" very soon.

Katharine McPhee and James
Photo by Rebecca Grice

Her showstopping number, so to speak, was when she performed my favorite song from her hit debut album: "Open Toes." As the title suggests, it's an upbeat ode to shoes, and I think it could be the song of the summer, sort of like her answer to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." (Maybe she should've titled it "Girls Just Wanna Shop for Shoes"?) I'm also loving Kat's current single, "Over It," which perfectly sums up my feelings about the weather in New York, though I think Kat's actually singing about a relationship gone bad. She just premiered the hot video for it on MTV's TRL today—have you seen her hosting all week long? She may be a native California girl, but she's doing a great job of looking glamorous while braving the cold, something she also accomplished during New York Fashion Week.

I also have to give Katharine props for her blogging abilities. She does daily video blogs (a concept that sends chills down my spine), and she frequently appears makeup-free so that her fans can see that stars don't look flawless in real life. Needless to say, I'm glad that there are no cameras on me when I'm up blogging late at night—I'm as big a fan of Photoshop as I am of McPhee.

-- James Patrick Herman