Keeping Up With Phil

[KSChristian4Clay]

Phil Stacey isn't going to make it to his 10-year reunion at Northwest High School this summer. But he'll have a good excuse.

He's going to be sort of busy on a sure-to-be-sold-out tour of the country.

Stacey, the former Wichitan who this week earned a spot among "American Idol's" top 10 finalists -- guaranteeing himself a spot on the show's popular summer tour -- was never really expected at the reunion anyway, friends say.

"Everyone always joked when he graduated that he wouldn't be able to come back for the reunion because he would be busy off somewhere on tour," said Miranda Rice, the best friend of Stacey's wife, Kendra. "And now it's true."

Late this week, I had a long conversation with Miranda, who now lives in Kansas City.

She's in constant contact with Kendra Stacey and has even been invited to sit with Kendra in the "American Idol" audience should Phil last a few more weeks.

Miranda has been a great source of information about Phil. Fox publicists won't allow him or Kendra to speak to the media. (Believe me, I've tried.) But so far, they're not stopping Kendra from talking to her best friend -- or her best friend from talking to me.

When I got hold of Miranda on Thursday, she'd just hung up the phone with Kendra, who was frantically trying to navigate Los Angeles traffic and tend to her 3-year-old daughter Chloe's dropped sippy cup emergency.

Kendra (a 1998 Goddard High grad) has spent the past several weeks flying back and forth from Oklahoma, where her parents live, to Los Angeles, where the show is filmed, Miranda said. On each trip, she takes one of her daughters along (the other is newborn McKayla) and leaves the other with her parents in Oklahoma.

Life has been crazy, hectic and surreal for Kendra, Miranda said. But it's been even crazier for Phil.

The 29-year-old contestant is semi-sequestered in a hotel room. He's allowed to leave during short periods of free time, but he has a curfew, and he's not permitted to have overnight visitors. Not even his wife.

He does have Internet access, though, and he's able to see what's being written about him -- and about his oft-discussed chrome dome. (Uh, sorry, Phil.)

Phil was majorly stressed out all last week because of his placement in the bottom three, Miranda said. But just before Wednesday's results show, he checked the predictions on dialidol.com, a Web site that calculates which contestants are getting the most votes. The site listed Phil as the week's second-highest vote-getter, which really lifted his spirits.

"Kendra said the look on his face was just like, 'Oh my gosh. Maybe I will be here for a little longer,' " Miranda said.

Phil knows that he's got a fight ahead of him and that outlasting his competition is going to be tough, she said.

But he still wants to win.

When and if he is eliminated, though, he and Kendra will sit down and weigh all of Phil's career options.

Ideally, he'd like to be a pop/rock/country singer based out of Nashville.

"Kendra said they're going to get through the show and the tour and see what kinds of opportunities the show brings," Miranda said. "He wants to sing. That's his dream. That's what his dream has always been."

Kansas.com

[KSChristian4Clay]

Letter from Kendra (Phil's Wife!!):


Hello Philnatics!

This is Kendra Stacey, American Idol finalist's Phil Stacey's wife, and I need your help. We are trying to raise a couple EXTRA million votes for Phil this coming Tuesday night in order to ensure he will stay in the competition and make the Top 10 American Idol Tour this summer! This past week he DID make the next round, but was in the bottom three via vote count. So he obviously needs not only our vote but our voices to get the word out!

Getting Phil several extra million votes this Tuesday is not far fetched - 2000 new power voters (voting or text messaging the entire 2 hours) means an extra 1,000,000 votes! We are challenging every block of "Phil Phans" to get him an extra million votes from their area. Oklahoma City and Denver have accepted the challenge! I believe that Jacksonville, Lee University and the Church of God can easily each bring Phil and extra million votes if we work HARD in the next couple of days! This obviously doesn't include KY/ Ohio, the Navy or other areas of support!

Please have everyone who will commit to "power voting" for Phil sign their name on a list then drop the list in the mail to me and I will personally make sure Phil get them. I haven't told Phil about this - and this surprise will mean the world to him! Please note that people are more likely to follow through with their commitment to power vote if they actually physically sign a list. Please ask your pastor to consider making an announcement from the pulpit for people to sign a list in the foyer. Co-workers and teenagers are huge untapped pools of voters. Please send your list to:
Kendra Stacey c/o Tami McIntosh 34 Cherokee St. Shawnee, OK 74801

Many of you are family and friends, some are church leaders, but all of you are imperative in Phil's success to date and his continuation in the American Idol competition. I wish I could personally write each of you to tell you how much we appreciate your support, but for now, please know how much the Stacey family truly loves you and thanks God for you daily!

Below THIS letter you will find an attached letter that my father sent out to his network - many churches are actually putting it into their bulletin on Sunday morning! Please feel free to use either of these letters in anyway to help recruit power voters for Phil!

God Bless-
Kendra

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Letter from Phil's Father in Law:

Dear Friends in Christ,

I NEED YOUR HELP! I believe many of you watching the American Idol show
were shocked when my son-in-law, Phil Stacey wound up in the bottom 3 tier
of the 12 contestants, after doing an outstanding job singing Tuesday
night. I think many of Phil's fan base thought he was fine, and so
slacked off somewhat in their voting. So I need everyone's immediate
help!

We're out to raise up an EXTRA 2,000 people who will "power
vote" (votes are free calls) for my son-in-law Phil Stacey on American Idol.
Phil and his wife Kendra are devout Christians. Phil is the son,
grandson, and son-in-law of evangelical pastors; a Navy vocalist who
loves and serves his country; and a loyal family man, married to the same and
only wife for 8 years now. He has 2 children, a 3 1/2 year old
daughter, and a 5 month old baby. He will be an excellent role model
for Christ in the entertainment world, and Lord knows, we desperately need
such role models! Phil doesn't have to win the competition to have a huge
influence for Christ. He just needs to get into the Top 6!
2,000 extra people voting for the full 2 hours allowed (power
voting) will produce approximately 500 - 600 votes extra each. 2,000 x
500 votes = 1 million extra votes for Phil! I know it's a sacrifice of
time and a little bit of work, but together, what a difference for
Christ we can make!

We're asking all the people we know to consider "power voting"
for Phil Stacey every Tuesday night throughout the rest of the competition.
This week, the total number of votes cast was only 28 million.
Dividing that by the 12 contestants gives an average of only 2 1/3
million votes each this past week. So an extra million votes each week will
make an enormous difference in the weeks ahead. Our goal is to get Phil
into the Top 6 where he will gain enormous open doors in the recording
industry and ensure himself a major recording contract in the future.
This will launch a major career, one in which Phil is committed to
using influence to be a role model for Christ and to help win people to Jesus
for years to come. Additionally, I conduct periodic mass evangelism
campaigns in nations around the world, where the Lord has helped me win
thousands of people to Christ. Phil has committed to me that he wants
to become deeply involved in this ministry with me, using his
influence and prosperity to help me win hundreds of thousands
more people to Christ. So this is not a self-seeking request, but literally
an appeal to help us reach people for Christ! YOUR FREE VOTES NOW
(POWER VOTING), CAN MAKE AN ETERNAL DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF MANY PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE!

The votes are FREE on an 866 toll free number. Anything you can
do to help me in this is eternally appreciated! And if you could pass
this message along to all your friends at church, and forward it to
everyone on your email list, who could do the same... that would help
enormously! American Idol airs on Tuesday nights, at 7 pm central / 8
pm eastern time. You have 2 hours at the end of the show to call TOLL
FREE for Phil. Please consider helping us in this way, and recruiting
several friends to do the same! Thanks a million (literally!) and God bless
you my dear friends!

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW! THANKS!!!

Pastor Mark McIntosh
Evangelistic Center Church
Shawnee, Oklahoma

[KSChristian4Clay]

THE MESSAGE BELOW WAS POSTED BY KENDRA STACEY to ALL the PHILNATICS. (taken from www.phil-stacey.com) :
____________________________________________________________

Hey everyone-

How is everyone's weekend? I hope all is well! I haven't checked in for a while and just wanted to give everyone an update about us here in Hollywood.

First THANK YOU for you support and prayers. We can "phil" the love (sorry to corny to resist) out here in the midst of the CRAZINESS.

Phil is feeling absolutely great this week. He knows he has a decent chance of hanging around a bit longer- I'm sure much to everyone's surprise. He knows this because unlike everyone else (not you guys of course) - he has not underestimated God, himself or his core group of fans. Personally, I think something has finally clicked is his cute bald head and he knows he is up for a great performance that sounds amazing, is solid AND that America will really get into! He knows it is in him and I think this is going to be the week that everything comes together for him! If (and I do believe he can) he makes it through to the next week - he will blow America away with his inspirational song leading us to Bon Jovi week. Coming out of this week he is going to have some some major momentum- need I say more!!!! As of now, when ever Phil does go home (and why not as the winner - ha!) he is very confident that it will be a very strong perfomance and he is going to end on a high note! We are in for a treat from Phil this week (you can use that line if you want - ha!).

But just to remind you - one reason Phil knows he has a great shot of pulling the rabbit from his hat (again too corny to resist) is because he KNOWS you all have unwaivering faith in him and are supporting him til the sweet end. Please continue to give your all in voting and super recruiting. Phil has not given up so lets not give up on him. He IS NOT discouraged about being in the bottom 3. Actually, I have pointed out to him that the show is up for a shock elimination which puts him in a very good position - HA!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I could go on and on but could never truely express how grateful we really are to each and every one of you. As always, please pass this along to other Phil supporters to let them know we love them - I know there are several people who I don't have their addresses so I count on you all to get this around to them! Philnatics and all his Phans are the absolute best!

Have a BLESSED day.

Kendra Stacey

P.S. I'm in a really good and silly mood today so thanks for putting up with all my chessy puns!

[KSChristian4Clay]

[KSChristian4Clay]

Phil Stacey Day - May 14, 2007 - Jacksonville, FL

[KSChristian4Clay]

PHIL STACEY TO PERFORM AT WICHITA FUNDRAISER
   CHRIS SHULL, The Wichita Eagle

"American Idol" finalist Phil Stacey will play a benefit concert May 29 in Wichita to raise money for Greensburg tornado relief.

The former Wichitan will perform at Central Christian Church. The concert will begin at 7 p.m.; doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday at Central Christian Church, Rock Road and 29th North; and at the studios of Clear Channel radio, 37th North and Webb Road.

Tickets will be $12 in advance, $15 day of the show. VIP packages will be available for $100 that include a backstage meet-and-greet with Stacey the night of the show.

The concert will feature Stacey performing songs he sang this season on "American Idol," said concert promoter Brett Harris. Harris also co-hosts the Brett & Tracy morning show on radio station B-98 FM.

Some of those songs are "Tobacco Road," by the Nashville Teens, "Where the Blacktop Ends" by Keith Urban, "The Change" by Garth Brooks and "Blaze of Glory" by Bon Jovi.

Stacey will be backed by a band of Wichita musicians.

A warm-up band not yet named will also perform. Survivors of the Greensburg tornado, including Greensburg Mayor Lonnie McCollum, will speak. Local and national celebrities will also make presentations, Harris said.

Proceeds from the concert will be given to the Salvation Army for Greensbu rg tornado relief.

The concert was pulled together over the past week by Harris, who ironed out details with Stacey, his manager, representatives from "American Idol" and others.

Stacey, who graduated from Wichita's Northwest High School in 1997, tied for fifth in the current "American Idol" contest.

He'll appear on the season-finale shows of "American Idol" on May 22-23 on Fox, cable channel 4 and Channel 24.

The sanctuary-auditorium at Central Christian Church will seat 3,000 for Stacey's show.

For more information, call Clear Channel at 316-494-6600.

Kansas.com

[Ilovetowrite]

Phil Stacey: 29, Jacksonville, Fla. Started singing in church; wants to get a nonameblogger.D. so he can be called Dr. Phil.

[aikenseeker]

Posted on Thu, May. 31, 2007

Phil Stacey show raises more than $60,000
Phil Stacey's benefit concert in Wichita on Tuesday raised more than $60,000 for Greensburg tornado relief.

The show, organized by radio station B-98, attracted 2,900 people to Central Christian Church and netted about $40,000 in ticket sales. An additional $10,000 was donated by a local branch of Edward Jones Co. financial advisers. And concert attendees gave $10,000 the night of the show.

Stacey, a former Wichitan, tied for fifth place this season on TV's "American Idol."

All of the money will be donated to the Salvation Army for Greensburg tornado relief.

Tuesday's concert also brought in more than $50,000 worth of in-kind donations, including a private chartered jet from Yingling Aviation that transported Stacey and his family to and from the show.

Denise Neil

http://www.kansas.com/entertainment/story/84373.html

[KSChristian4Clay]

Phil has posted a video I took on 5/29/07 on his MySpace page :

I Could Not Ask for More

[Claymaniac113078]

Meesa - What a GREAT video!!! I really love that song too! You must be so excited to see it on Phil's My Space!!!! Maybe you should consider changing careers!!!

[KSChristian4Clay]

This is his new song, "Old Glory" that he did for the first time, for the people of Wichita and Greensburg.

Old Glory

[KSChristian4Clay]

[KSChristian4Clay]

On Tour with American Idol: The Phil Stacey Q&A
by Dana Meltzer Zepeda

Sure, life on the road can be glamorous. But ask top-10 finalist Phil Stacey and he'll tell you — despite the perks of touring with American Idols Live — there really is no place like home. "I just miss my family," says the chrome-domed singer, whose youngest daughter, McKayla, was born during his first audition for Idol. Just before reuniting mid-tour with his fam, Phil shared a few minutes with TV Guide.
TV Guide: How's the tour going?
Phil Stacey: I'm holding up. Actually, I'm having the time of my life. I just miss my family.

TV Guide: Have your wife and baby been out to visit?
Phil: They were on the road with me until Nashville. Now I haven't seen them for a few weeks. Then we'll meet up with them again in San Diego.

TV Guide: Has your wife sent you photos so you don't miss anything with the baby?
Phil: Yeah. McKayla started crawling while I was here. And when I saw her in Florida, my wife started feeding her solid food and I was like, "What are you doing?" She was like, "It's time, honey. We can do that now."

TV Guide: What are you doing to stay in touch on the road?
Phil: Other than talking on the phone, there's really not a whole lot I can do. I'm about to buy them an Apple computer so we can do iChat and actually see each other when we're not together. But hopefully they'll be with me for most of it from here on out.

TV Guide: What are you enjoying most about being on tour?
Phil: I enjoy being with my friends, Blake, Chris Rich[ardson], Chris Sligh, Sanjaya.... We're all on the bus together and we're having some good times. I really enjoy meeting the people who got us here and saying thank you to some of the more hardcore supporters who not only voted for you, but recruited all of their coworkers and friends to vote for you.

TV Guide: Any funny stories about fans you've met?
Phil: Well, I took Chris Sligh to my house in Jacksonville, Florida, when we were there. On our way to the auditorium — our wives were in the backseat — this car kept catching up with us. We looked over and it was this couple, and the wife was taking pictures of us while we were driving. It was funny.

TV Guide: Have you been playing a lot of Xbox on the tour bus?
Phil: Well, you know, we can't hook the Xbox up to the TV. [Laughs] So we all got our little individual personal PlayStation Portables. But usually, we just sit around and talk and hang out.

TV Guide: What are you snacking on backstage?
Phil: What am I not eating backstage. I've gained like 20 pounds since I've been here and we've only been on the road for two weeks! When we showed up in Arizona, for lunch they had jambalaya. Sometimes it will be Italian food or whatever. Then, of course, there are unhealthy chips that we obliterate before the show even starts. There's lots of bottled water to keep our voices healthy, and lots of Throat Coat.

TV Guide: All Melinda talked about were Pop-Tarts backstage.
Phil: Yeah. We actually went through a couple of shows without having any Pop-Tarts backstage. I was like, "Where's the Pop-Tarts? I need the Pop-Tarts!" I love them. The strawberry ones with frosting and sprinkles? I can't get enough of those. I'm kind of glad when people forget to bring the Pop-Tarts into our room because I will eat them. [Laughs] I'm also eating Snickers and the Reese's cups, and they don't even sponsor us. I just can't stop eating.

TV Guide: Any memorable moments onstage?
Phil: Yeah. I was singing "Into Your Love" with Gina Glocksen. We had just been backstage reading an article in the paper about Haley Scarnato's legs. After the song is over, I was like, "Ladies and gentlemen, Gina Glocksen!" That's when she usually says, "Phil Stacey!" but this time she said, "See, America? I have good legs, too!" and she just walked off the stage. That really made me laugh. Then, the night before last, we were in San Antonio and at the end of our duet, she just stopped singing and started laughing out loud into the microphone.

TV Guide: You've been to so many cities. Have you had a chance to do any sightseeing?
Phil: Not really. I think we've actually been out one time, in Houston. The guys and I basically spent the entire day at Guitar Center, each of us spending a small fortune on gear that we dragged along with us and are going to end up having to send home anyway because we don't have space for it on the bus.

TV Guide: Did you buy guitars?
Phil: A couple of people got guitars. I actually bought a large keyboard, but there's just no space for an 88-key keyboard on the bus. All of us guys are songwriters and while we're on the road, each of us has our own project studios. I use ProTools. I have an Apple with me so I'll take out that keyboard and record songwriting demos. Chris Richardson has his Martin acoustic guitar and Chris Sligh brings his bass along. What we'll do is basically share our assets so all of us can record good-quality song demos for our stuff.

TV Guide: Do you already have a record deal, or are you shopping a demo around?
Phil: There are things in the works. I haven't signed a recording contract yet but there are definitely different things I've been in discussions with.

TV Guide: What kind of music are you writing?
Phil: I've been writing a lot of country music. That's kind of my roots. I'm definitely influenced by gospel music. Some of the stuff that I'm writing is a little edgy, too. It's very rock-influenced country music, but some of it's really tame, too, and pretty traditional. It'll be interesting to see what the label ends up wanting to put on the record.

TV Guide: Have any of the other guys written for you?
Phil: Yeah! Chris Richardson and I have been writing a lot. He's just a phenomenal writer. He may end up with tracks on Jordin's record and Blake's record. Who knows, you know? Chris Sligh has written me some songs....

TV Guide: Last question: What did you bring on tour to remind you of home?
Phil: I have a picture of my two daughters that I actually carry with me everywhere. When I go in the dressing room, it goes in there with me, too.

TV Guide

[clayniac4ver]

what is phil up to these days?

alyse

[KSChristian4Clay]

what is phil up to these days?

alyse

He is moving to Nashville to record his first album!

[clayniac4ver]

Nashville huh?

to record his first album thats coooooooooooool!!!!!

alyse

[KSChristian4Clay]

Phil's first video : If You Didn't Love Me

There is also a Behind the Scenes video. The director of this video has also done videos for Carrie Underwood.

His CD hits stores on April 29th and is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

[HavinaClayAffair]

There was a 1 page article on Phil in last weeks Country Weekly....

[clays#1fan]

I got to see and hang out with Phil for 2 days in a row and I must say he is one of the funniest people I have ever met. And so sweet. If you have a chance to see him do it. He's great. :)

[ACcountryFan]

I found this while reading the charts this morning...

Of all the contestants on American Idol, the ones who've gone country, it seems, have gone the farthest. Admittedly, I pay much more attention to this format than any others, but am I wrong in believing that a show whose agenda seems to be finding America's next big pop star has inadvertently brought us some great country artists?

Speaking of inadvertent, I snatched up two CDs to listen to before my vacation last week; both turned out to be former Idol hopefuls who were decidedly country, went deep into the competition, have a military background and found their way to Lyric Street Records. Josh Gracin was a season two finalist on Idol; Phil Stacey is a season six alum. Gracin served in the Marines, Stacey was a navy man. As Dana Carvey's church lady character on "Saturday Night Live" used to say, "Coincidence? Hmmm ..." Well, I listened to Gracin's long-awaited sophomore effort, "We Weren't Crazy," back-to-back with Stacey's self-titled debut. Not surprisingly, Gracin's latest has a more familiar feel to it, and part of that is the strength of the songwriting. Brett James has four cuts on this CD and even produced six of the 11 songs. Gracin co-wrote two cuts and wrote another one himself; Jeffrey Steele co-wrote cut eight, "I Keep Coming Back," and Marcel's "Favorite State of Mind" is here, too. Remember that one? It was released as Gracin's fourth single a couple of years ago, peaking in the top 20. Oh, and remember "Telluride," the Tim McGraw album cut from 2001? That's on this collection as well, and I think Gracin does a great version of it here. The title cut, "We Weren't Crazy," currently sits at No. 25 on the R&R chart. I have no idea what the label has planned next, but the one I kept coming back to was, pardon the pun here, cut No. 8, "I Keep Coming Back." Speaking of back, I'm glad Gracin is. I think this was worth the wait.

I had to turn to a little "aided recall," as we say in radio, when trying to remember Phil Stacey on American Idol. I'm not a big watcher of the show, but I do remember seeing him absolutely nail Keith Urban's "Where the Blacktop Ends" one night. Vocally, Stacey sounds a bit more contemporary to me, and I thought the CD found its groove on the last three cuts. Right now, "If You Didn't Love Me"-- my favorite song on the CD -- is No. 34 on the R&R chart, but I also really like cut nine, "What I'm Fighting For." I repeated the last cut on the CD, "Identity" a few times, too.

R&R