"AMERICAN IDOL SEASON FIVE ENCORES" BY VARIOUS ARTISTS; RCA

For a glorified karaoke album, this isn't bad.

Thanks, at least in part, to the curative effects of studio technology, nearly all 12 "Idol" finalists sound competent on these full-length versions of well-known songs they performed in the finals or preliminaries.

A few are impressive: Paris Bennett on "Midnight Train to Georgia," Mandisa on "I'm Every Woman," Chris Daughtry on "Wanted Dead or Alive."

Interestingly, the least appealing performance (aside from "When I Fall in Love" by the hapless, hopelessly outclassed Kevin Covais) comes from newly crowned Idol Taylor Hicks, whose drab Michael McDonald impression on "Takin' It to the Streets" rates far below his best TV moments.

Best by a long shot: runner-up Katharine McPhee, whose version of Aretha Franklin's "Think" avoids slavish imitation and shows off grit, style and verve that former "Idol" champs Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Fantasia would be hard-pressed to match.