Thursday, October 27, 2011

#91 Phil Stacey

Next on my American Idol finalist countdown is my number 91 (or 91st favorite) American Idol finalist Phil Stacey. Shortly after he was eliminated at sixth place on American Idol season 6 on May 2, 2007, he was signed to the now defunct Lyric Street Records. His second album was released under the record label Reunion Records. He was ranked at number 55 on The Los Angeles Times' American Idol top 120 power rankings chart of May 31, 2010. His favorite male recording artists are Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Sting, Michael Jackson, Timberlake, Robbie Williams, James Taylor and Sir Paul McCartney. His favorite female recording artists are Vienna Teng, Sheryl Crow, Anastasia, and American Idol judge Paula Abdul. His music genres are country and contemporary Christian music.

Joel Philip "Phil" Stacey was born to Adell Horn and Gary Stacey in Harlan County, Kentucky, on January 21, 1978. His mother Adell Horn hails from Madison County, Kentucky, and works as a nurse in Smyrna, Tennessee. His father Gary Stacey is the paster of the Church of God of Cleveland, Tennessee. Both of his grandfathers Carlie Horn and E.T. Stacey were also Church of God pastors. Stacey was raised in Fairfield, Ohio, and began to sing in church.  In 2006, he served as the music minister for First Coast Christian Center in Jacksonville, Florida. His father-in-law Mark McIntosh is the pastor of the Evangelistic Center Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He currently resides in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with his wife Kendra and their two daughters, Chloe and McKayla.

Stacey graduated from Wichita Northwest High School in Wichita, Kansas, in 1997. He attended Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. He holds a degree in vocal performance from Lee, where he was a member of one of its auditioned choirs, Lee Singers, and part of that choir's internally-selected traveling ensemble, Second Edition.

Stacey served in the United States Navy at the time of his stint on American Idol. He auditioned for American Idol season 6 in Memphis, Tennessee. He resided in Jacksonville, Florida, at the time of his stint on American Idol.  He had to miss the birth of his daughter McKayla in order to audition for American Idol. He auditioned with the songs "My Girl" by The Temptations and "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye, and then he advanced to the Hollywood round.

During top 24 week, Stacey performed "I Could Not Ask for More" by Edwin McCain. During top 20 week, he performed "Missing You" by John Waite. During top 16 week, he performed "I Need You" by LeAnne Rimes. During top 12 week, he performed "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" by Dee Dee Warwick. He was in the bottom 3 with Sanjaya Malakar and Brandon Rogers, who got eliminated that week. During top 11 week, he performed "Tobacco Road" by The Nashville Teens. During top 10 week, he performed "Every Breath You Take" by the English rock band called The Police. He was in the bottom 3 with my number 99 American Idol finalist Haley Scarnato and the week's eliminee Chris Sligh. During top 9 week, he performed "Night and Day" by Fred Astaire. He was in the bottom 3 once again with Haley Scarnato and the week's eliminee Gina Glocksen. During top 8 week, he performed "Maria Maria" by Santana & The Product G&B. He was in the bottom 3 with Chris Richardson and a third time with Haley Scarnato, who got eliminated that week. During top 7 week, he performed "Where the Blacktop Ends" by Keith Urban. During Idol Gives Back week, he performed "The Change" by Garth Brooks. After performing "Blaze of Glory" by Bon Jovi, Stacey was eliminated from American Idol alongside Chris Richardson in the top 6 results show, as no one was eliminated in the week before that.

In late 2007, Stacey was signed to Lyric Street Records, which went belly-up in 2010. Under that label, his first single was "If You Didn't Love Me", which released to country radio on January 7, 2008 and peaked at #28 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. It was written by Jason Sellers, Wendell Mobley, and Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts. His self-titled debut album was released in April 2008. Stacey also released a promotional single entitled "Old Glory" in July, and left Lyric Street Records soon thereafter. On January 28, 2009, Stacey was signed to Reunion Records, a Christian record label founded in 1982 by Dan Harrell and Mike Blanton, and based in Brentwood, Tennessee, and operating under the Provident Label Group. His album for the label, Into the Light, was released on August 25. It has sold 18,000 copies so far. His third album Faith was released on March 29, 2011, under the label Conquer Entertainment.

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