She may be shooting daggers at Katharine McPhee during much of their time on “Smash,” but on a panel to promote the second season, Megan Hilty admitted she was a fan of her co-star when she competed on “American Idol.”
“I voted for you like a million times,” Hilty confessed to McPhee as they appeared on a late afternoon panel at the TV Critics Press Association winter press tour.
The “Idol” days for McPhee now seem like a faraway memory, she said.
“I mean, it’s been, I think, over seven years now, maybe even eight since I’ve been on the show,” McPhee said. “But I’m still aware of what’s going on with who the next judge is and grateful that it’s done what it was supposed to do, which was get you that platform and get you to that next thing. So I’m very grateful for it.”
“But it’s not something,” she said, “where I wake up every morning and say, ‘I was on “American Idol.”’ You know, I just it was an amazing experience, and it did exactly what it was supposed to do, and I’m very grateful for that.”
However, she added regarding “Idol,” “it’s such a different show now than when I was on the show. I mean, they get so many more things than we ever just in terms of earpieces and things like that, the rehearsal time that they get that we didn’t have when we on the show. It’s just a very different show.”
Her advice to those about to perform the next season is “you really should probably try and figure out who you are as a musician first” before the performances begin.
Her advice to those about to perform the next season is “you really should probably try and figure out who you are as a musician first” before the performances begin.
And now McPhee isn’t the only “Idol” non-winner on the show.
Jennifer Hudson lends her strong vocals and presence to the first four episodes of the new season when it begins next month. “She’s amazing,” McPhee says.
“We were very, very grateful to have her,” show producer Joshua Safran says. “ I think she’s really amazing. She sings a lot. She acts a lot. She dances a lot, and everyone got to work with her, and she’s just an amazing talent.”
“Smash” returns to NBC Feb. 5.