Phil Stacey - He Made Us Love Him

At one time Phil Stacey was a question mark on whether he would make the final 12 on American Idol, and while he made several appearances in the bottom three he lasted longer than he was expected to, but it was for good reason. He definitely had his struggles with keeping our attention, as he tended to choose uninteresting songs. Yet, if you just sat and listened to his voice, it had a great pure quality to it. It just sometimes lacked a little warmth, until he hit country week.

Phil started out with a great story for us to embrace. In the first place, he's a Navy guy, and ever since Josh Gracin, America has loved our Service Idols. And more importantly, Phil was a daddy, a new daddy. Phil had left his very pregnant wife and young daughter back at home in Jacksonville, Florida, and traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, for the American Idol auditions. The night before his big audition, there was someone that just didn't want to miss any of his upcoming success, as his wife gave birth to his second daughter that night. Simon asked what was more important, going to Hollywood or his baby, and Phil was honest. It was his new baby girl.

We didn't get to see too much of Phil during Hollywood week, but his back story alone made us happy he made it to the final 24. He continued to have a very strong voice in the final 24, but his song choices at times had us scratching our heads, as they didn't seem to do him justice or fit him very well. Picking a LeeAnn Rimes song just seemed odd, and he became a question mark on making it into the the final 12. While another popular singer that also struggled with song choice, Sundance Head, didn't make it, Phil did. He had a lot of proving to do for us.

There was something about Phil, though, that just wouldn't allow us to vote him out once we got him into the final 12. He was just such a warm person, and it showed through in his performances. During Diana Ross week he sang I'm Gonna Make You Love Me, and he did. We began to really love that guy with the shiny dome. We put him in the bottom three, but we just couldn't seem to let him go. When singing Tobacco Road for Peter Noone, he told him he'd never heard the song sung quite that good before. We thought so, too, and kept him out of the bottom three. It was clear that uptempo was the way for him to go.

The next three weeks Phil did well vocally, but failed to bring the wow factor, ending up in the bottom three, but always still surviving. When asked if he was worried, he just said he was blessed to even be there, and the thing is, we know he meant it. He wasn't just feeding us a line. Phil came alive then in country week, with a very solid performance of Where the Blacktop Ends. Randy Jackson told him he could have a career in country music, and Phil answered that was his goal all along. It kept him safe from bottom three for the first time since Tobacco Road.

Inspirational music week had Phil singing Change by Garth Brooks, and once again his vocals were clear and beautiful, but a return to ballads left us with question marks on him for the first time in a long time, as he failed to garner much excitement. That week will go down without us knowing how he faired with the voters, as the votes were combined with the following week's when he sang a foretelling Blaze of Glory. This was definitely one of Phil's best, and the guy that was at one point a dark horse, was suddenly being looked at as a frontrunner.

Again, we'll never know how he did with the votes that night, as they were combined with the votes from the week he did Change. We also don't know who the bottom three was, only the two people with the lowest vote totals of the two weeks, Phil and Chris Richardson. Yet, Phil stood center stage with Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones, and after Melinda was declared safe, it came down to being between LaKisha and Phil. This was finally the week for Phil to leave the show.

Blaze of Glory turned out to be a swan song for Phil, yet he managed to perform it even better than he had on performance night, making the song title quite significant. He took it to the audience to shake hands and share hugs, including with a couple of his Naval buddies in the audience, and his wife, who seemed to be at every performance of his. Ryan Seacrest told him he'd be missed, and the looks on everyone else's faces backed that up. The guy that just seemed like nothing could ever get him down was leaving the show.

It was probably bittersweet for Phil, as he was on the show for the same reason everyone else was, to be the American Idol, yet since this whole thing began the morning after his daughter was born, Phil hasn't had the time to adequately spend with his family. Unfortunately, he probably still won't be able to spend time with them. The American Idol finale is coming up in just a couple weeks, and he'll need to prepare for that.

And that's not to forget his commitments to United States Navy, which he says is always his primary responsibility. He's hoping to be able to appear on the tour this summer, although if the Navy calls his number for an important mission, he'll have to leave the Idols and a singing career behind. He needn't worry, though, as the last person in the service to go through American Idol was Josh Gracin, and while he needed to get back immediately after he was voted off and missed the tour, he found a ready made country career waiting for him upon his return to civilian life.

Phil Stacey can probably expect the same for himself, and as a bonus he also has a beautiful wife and two daughters waiting for him.

You can contact me at LauraBelle@realityshack.com

For more information on American Idol, see Reality Shack or SirLinksalot: American Idol and for more on Phil Stacey, see SirLinksalot: Phil Stacey.