Bad luck doesn't seem to let go of
American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee. After missing some legs of the
American Idols Live tour due to laryngitis and bronchitis, the Los Angeles lass joined the tour last week only to suffer a hairline fracture on her left foot after tripping backstage.
According to Roger Widynowski, a spokesperson for McPhee's record label RCA Records, the incident occurred on Tuesday before McPhee was to go onstage for a performance in the Bobcat Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. The singer, however, went ahead with her performance wearing 'a pair of gardening slippers', keeping the hospital trip to after her two songs. Later, an x-ray of the injured foot revealed a hairline fracture.
But with her vocal cords intact, the 22-year-old will go ahead with the tour. “Nothing's changed. She's still going to perform, just in a temporary cast. She's in some discomfort, but she's not letting that get in the way of her doing her thing,” Widynowski said. The tour ends September 24 in Pennsylvania.
McPhee's earlier absence from
American Idol Live, coupled with her Hollywood good looks, had fuelled speculations that she was busy shooting for a film and so did not want to do the live tour. Some also felt that bulimia, a condition she has admitted to suffering from, was behind her absence. But the singer spiked those rumors on a television interview towards July end. “People speculated that I was making a movie, and that I was better than
American Idol. I am so grateful for what
American Idol did for me. And I miss those people on the tour. People thought the bulimia was the reason I was set back, but it's just not true. I just got sick and I was overworked,” she explained.
Though the original plan was for McPhee to join the entourage in Pittsburgh on July 27, a plan that stood cancelled along with her flight due to bad weather, she finally rejoined her fellow winners in Washington, DC, on July 28. The entire
American Idol Live posse met up with President George W Bush at the White House, ahead of its performance on the same evening. To prevent her laryngitis and bronchitis from recurring, McPhee performed only her numbers, which included her hit
Somewhere Over The Rainbow, and opted out of group songs.
