Idol Chatter & Voice Views

So, you say you’re suffering from American Idol withdrawal pangs with the York Fair over and most of the major new Idol-related music releases more than a month away.

Well, a new season of American Idol Rewind starts Saturday, with a look back at season five.

You remember season five. The year of the “Soul Patrol.” The year of “McPheever.”

The press release announcing the new season proclaims season five as “one of the most extraordinary in American Idol history.”

What it should say is that it was the most upside down in Idol history.

After all, McPheever faded pretty quickly. We’re still waiting for Katharine McPhee’s second album, now due out in January.

We’ve already got a second album from season five winner Taylor Hicks. I don’t know about the “Soul Patrol,” but it made me cringe.

Meanwhile, Chris Daughtry (fourth place that year) formed Daughtry and rocketed to stardom. Season five also launched successful country music careers for Kellie Pickler (sixth place) and Bucky Covington (eighth place).

Voters might have gotten it wrong that year, but American Idol Rewind will put the focus on Chris, featuring him in a one-hour segment. Ah, the benefits of hindsight.

If you miss the first-run episodes of Rewind, the show will be rebroadcast on the TV Guide Channel beginning Oct. 2.

Meanwhile, to get you in the mood, here are three of my favorite video clips from season five.

* Kat McPhee performs “Black Horse and a Cherry Tree” from her knees.

* Chris Daughtry provides a hint of what was to coming post-Idol with a blistering version of Styx’s “Renegade.”

* And last, but certainly not least, Kellie Pickler sings “Bohemian Rhapsody.” And you’re right, Simon. On paper, it should have been horrid. Somehow it wasn’t.