Out today: Katharine McPhee's "Had It All," Phil Stacey's 'Into the Light'

For the first time in a while, a new Idol-related single sees its release as an exclusive download at iTunes in the form of Katharine McPhee's "Had It All." The song, which was penned by Mitch Allan, David Hodges & Kara DioGuardi, is the first single off Katharine's upcoming release Unbroken, which is due out Tues., Oct. 6.

Also out today is Phil Stacey's sophomore album Into the Light, which is courtesy of Reunion Records. The album, which features the lead single "You're Not Shaken," is in the Contemporary Christian genre, a departure from his previous experiments in country music.

Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Singles
Katharine McPhee, "Had It All"

iTunes - ($0.99) - Buy

Albums
Phil Stacey, Into the Light

Amazon - ($13.98) - Buy
Amazon MP3 - ($9.99) - Buy
Barnes & Noble - ($11.09) - Buy
Best Buy - ($12.99) - Buy
CDUniverse - ($11.18) - Buy
iTunes - ($9.99) - Buy
Sears - ($8.99) - Buy

Katharine has been excitedly tweeting about the single's release over the past week, and informed fans that two webisodes would be released on her official music MySpace page on the same day. Unbroken can now be pre-ordered on Amazon as a CD/DVD deluxe package as well as a traditional CD.

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Track review: Katharine McPhee's "Had It All"

In anticipation of her forthcoming album ‘Unbroken’ (Oct. 6) courtesy of Verve Forecast, Katharine McPhee opts for a new look, and more importantly, a new sound as demonstrated by the album’s lead single “Had It All.”

Leaving behind the R&B-fused pop and open-toed shoes found on her debut LP, McPhee settles for a more earthy sound while marinating her vocal prowess. Although it is inaccurate to classify the song as being “indie,” it definitely gives off indie vibes as her vocals glide seamlessly over the barely polished production of the track.

“Had It All” was co-penned by an all-star trio of Mitch Allan, Kara DioGuardi and David Hodges, and the lyrics work for the most part despite having a bland chorus (“I had it all I threw it all aside / thinking there was more there I needed to find / I had it all baby till you went away”).

At the song’s bridge, McPhee harkens back to her days on ‘Idol’ with a building, billowing high note that carries through the song’s remainder, and finally settles on a crisp, calm finale.

Katharine McPhee surely is back in the game, only this time her true persona will shine through thanks to songs like “Had It All” that will allow her to demonstrate the most suitable styles of music for the budding artist.

"Had It All" is now available to purchase on iTunes.

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'Idol' odds 'n ends: Daughtry announces arena tour dates

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>Daughtry announced the cities and dates for the first leg of its highly anticipated arena tour in support of the band's latest album Leave This Town. The tour, which includes 36 dates, begins Oct. 19 in Topeka, Ks., at the Kansas ExpoCentre and wraps up at the Roberts Center in Evansville, Ind., on Dec. 20. Theory of a Deadman and Cavo will open for the band.

>Katharine McPhee's single off her forthcoming sophomore album Unbroken has been revealed. In a tweet sent by Kat yesterday, it was revealed that the single title's name is "Had It All":

My brand new single, Had It All, debuts in 5 days! about 5 hours ago from Tweetie

A demo of the song, which was co-written by Mitch Allan, David Hodges and Kara DioGuardi, can be heard below:



In preparation of her album's release on Tues., Oct. 13, Katharine continued to work on her music video for the song on Wednesday.

>When Season 8's Top 10 finalists swung through Albany, N.Y., on their "Idols Live!" tour on Wednesday, The New York Daily News had fun with the concert by comparing the tour stop to democracy and the lack thereof in the empire state's capitol. The newspaper's columnist Michael Daly commented in part:

His fellow Idol singer Lil Rounds echoed the same sentiment, as if it were only what decency requires.

"Anybody that supports you, you want to give them the best that you have," she said. "I want to give them everything I have."

Compare that to legislators who are willing to do anything to get whatever they can for themselves at the expense of the very people who put them in office.

The attitude of those bozo bums toward the voters could not be any more different from that of Idol singer Matt Giraud.

"You want to thank them," Giraud said of those who voted for him. "They gave you what you have."

Although the odds of Albany's political woes being remedied anytime soon are long, it is nice to know the people of New York had something to distract them in these long late August days.

>Blake Lewis continued to make all the right moves leading up to the release of his sophomore album Heartbreak on Vinyl. Blake released a nine-song digital maxi-single of remixes of his single "Sad Song" on iTunes for $8.91 and has been out on the road promoting the record by appearing on local radio stations and newscasts like Chicago's Kiss 103.5 FM.

>Apart from recently recording her sophomore album Battlefield, Jordin Sparks has been keeping busy in the studio. She just recorded a track for the soundtrack of the upcoming Disney direct-to-DVD release of Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. According to writer/producer Bryan Todd via his official Twitter account:

Jordin Sparks and Jordan Pruitt song turned out amazing for Tinkerbell and The Lost Treasure. Soundtrack out 9-22, Movie out 10-27-2009! 11:29 AM Aug 3rd from TwitterFon

The song is called "Road to Paradise" and will be released with the rest of the soundtrack on Tues., Sept. 22. It can now be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

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