Phil Stacey
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 a
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Kimberly Caldwell and Rosanna Tavarez take on American Idol.
Just how awesome were Melinda and Blake last week? Who of the two eliminations was the bigger surprise? And who has reason to worry going into "Boogie Week"? We asked Kimberly Caldwell and Rosanna Tavarez, the hosts of TV Guide Channel's Idol Chat, Idol Tonight and Reality Chat, for their takes on these topics and more.
TVGuide.com: How awesome was Blake's "You Give Love a Bad Name"?Kimberly Caldwell: Oh my god, I think it was one of the best performances ever – ever – on Idol.Rosanna Tavarez: I really liked it! If
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Phil Stacey by Frank Micelotta/Fox
Phil Stacey, one of American Idol's two Wednesday castoffs, is singing the praises of the lone male left in the mix. As well as, yeah, the other three finalists. "I think Blake is most likely to be the most original contestant ever on American Idol. He just blew it out this week with Bon Jovi," Phil said in a press conference call. "Melinda is possibly the greatest singer I’ve ever heard on the show; LaKisha sings with so much passion that it's hard to listen to her and not get chills; and Jordin has got a range that lasts for days, her upper notes have so much power behind them." Phil opted not to forecast the ultimate outcome, saying, "Honestly, I think it's anybody's ball game at this point. I’m really looking forward to seeing how it goes from here on out."As for this week's other elimination, the bad news for Chris Richardson's femme fans is he's... single. "I just got out of a three-and-a-half-year relationship back home," he shared. "All of the rumors that are going...
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Blake Lewis and Chris Richardson by Frank Micelotta/Fox
In Wednesday night's double elimination on American Idol, Phil Stacey (who should've known he was in trouble when he was asked to sing a number by a hair band) and Chris Richardson finally got sent home. Which makes sense, right? I've thrown away paper towels that are more charismatic than poor Phil, and Chris... come on. The only time the bargain-bin J.T. has hit the right note has been with his stylist. This leaves the newly brunette Blake Lewis as the last contestant to represent the male of the species. Sputter, man! Sputter and hiccup and do that spitting thing you do like your life depends on it!UPDATE: OK, it needs to be asked: Who is your current favorite to win American Idol? Vote here.Thursday's Today's News was written by Ben Katner.
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Well I'll have a lot more for you later, but suffice it to say, I picked the two to go home this week in my last blog. And though I was right, I don't feel very good about it. Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson were voted off after a combined two-week total of 135 million votes — that's an insane number!You know how I feel about Chris, so it was really hard to see him go, and Phil had actually been performing a lot better over the last few weeks. There's no joy in being right tonight. As we get down to the wire it gets harder and harder to be happy about who’s going home. Oh sure, back in the days when we were ready to jump off a bridge if America kept Sundance around for another week it was all fun and games, but that’s all changed with this week. I trust you all watched in horror as Ryan and Simon had their weekly tiff — this time about puppets. If I had kids, I’m really not sure I would let them watch this show. It’s very randy. (Not randy as in Jackso...
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Ryan helped raise so much money last week that he didn't feel the need to wear a tie… nor to shave. Say what you want about the commercialization of music that American Idol perpetuates, but those crazy folks got us all to donate $70 million ("That's seven zeros," Ryan pointed out) to make the world a better place — and for that I give them kudos.Who’s in the house? Antonella “Girls Gone Wild” Barba’s in the house! Anyone else in the house? Gina “I don’t care what you say she’s still a rock star to me” Glocksen’s in the house!Phil chose "Blaze of Glory" and wanted to sing it into his comb. He was the only Idol who seemed to have the vaguest idea who Bon Jovi were. Randy was jazzed because he recorded this song for the Bon J and said it was Phil’s “best performance ever on the show.” Paula also swooned, saying it was the “best opening all season long.” Mr. Ornery “thought it was OK.” And likened...
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Tonight we learned about giving until it hurts. It started out all well and good and then ventured into some “aren’t we fabulous” territory and into a puddle of... I am getting ahead of myself. Ryan looked dapper in another skinny tie from the '80s and, what is that? Is that facial hair? I do believe it is. Well, Ryan, who knew you had it in you? Before announcing what show it was we were watching, Ryan was nice enough to mention that as we vote tonight, not only are we “saving our favorite contestants, we are also saving lives!” And there you have it. Watching American Idol will make you a lifesaver. Me, I’m butter rum. For the first of several sections devoted to showing off the great team in the disastrous world in which we live, Coldplay made caring about extreme poverty, malaria, malnutrition and hunger seem hip and cool. I noticed while watching most of the segments that they never really said anything about what was going on so much as showed the...
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Before I give away too much for those of you who haven’t watched the results show and haven’t heard the news — and obviously live in a vacuum, because this news will be everywhere — let's just say that Ryan walked past the Idols as he does every Wednesday and looked at Sanjy when he asked the fateful question, “Is your favorite safe?”But first, Simon and the “eye-roll” warranted commentary from he, himself. He broke his rule never to discuss press frenzies, not wanting to be thought of as that guy who finds tragedy worth ridiculing. And my how they went on about it. They spent more time explaining what actually happened on the show last night than they did making any intelligible or coherent comment the night before about the VT tragedy. Ryan told Simon that if he did less talking and more listening, we would not have to spend so much time reviewing the tapes to see what really happened.Ryan announced the kids would sing “I’m Alright...
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“... that love was meant for beauty queens and high-school girls with clear-skinned smiles....” Who could this be about?Martina McBride, country superstar and mentor to the Idols, showed up. And after she won award after award, year after year, with the same haircut, Martina got a weave for the Idolites. Her advice to the Idols was to “tell the story” of the song — sounds like the same advice Tony gave them, J.Lo gave them; I think even Diana Ross may have said something similar. Only Gwen neglected to share with them that bit of wisdom. So with Martina, her weave and Phil Stacey’s shiny noggin, we began the top-seven countdown.Philly boy, nice save. With the help of Keith Urban’s “Where the Blacktop Ends,” Phil was able to come back from the depths of never-never and skid into middle earth. He actually sung the song from beginning to end. He brought it with the first note, and he took it all the way through to the last note. The song was...
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Ryan walked past the Idols and asked the magic question, “Who will be going home tonight?” He gave a very long look to Sanjaya, knowing full well the king of hula was not going anywhere. (I thought the real question was, “How many white strips do those kids put in their mouths each night?” Because the whole lot of them have the whitest teeth I have ever seen.)Next we had the money shots, Eva Longoria and Sharon Osbourne, our resident audience stars of the evening. Ryan introduced the judges, which wasn’t really interesting except that when he introduced Simon, Simon winked at Paula. It was frankly a bit creepy. Let me take a moment here to say, “Poor Randy.” Simon and Paula get all of the attention and Randy just sits there. What exactly is his function? Aside from the various glasses he shows off each night, the vibrant shirts and the “Dawg, you blasted it out da house tonight,” I’m not sure I know what he’s doing there. Well y...
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