DESPITE HIS LOW VOTE SCORE, STACEY SURVIVES ANOTHER WEEK

Local Idol contestant Phil Stacey had to sweat out another results show, this time as one of the bottom three vote-getters, hanging on while Gwen Stefani performed and Akon wasted oxygen Wednesday. Stacey deserved much better after his decent performance Tuesday, but at least he eventually got to sit back down. Poor Chris Sligh drew the short straw as Sanjaya "The Butcher" Malakar skated through again.

-- Don't worry, Fro Patro: Your beloved Sligh once did a stint at Bob Jones University, and anyone who can get through that will be just fine.

-- If I were a betting man: As Sligh sang his farewell version of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, he leaned in toward Stacey and said, "You owe me 50 bucks." A few hunches on what was wagered: 1) That Malakar would do the honorable thing and fall on the mike stand; 2) That the one with the most hair would last the longest; 3) That going with a campaign slogan of "Bringing Chubby Back" would be a great idea.

-- Cowellism of the night: "I think it's bye-bye Curly" -- Simon's answer when Ryan asked whether Sligh or Haley Scarnato was going home.

-- Predictable: As my tag-team partner Roger Bull pointed out, TV Guide and MTV News also called it right. Entertainment Weekly, L.A. Times, Yahoo! TV and I thought it was going to be Scarnato. We'll tell ourselves at least we didn't blow it like Access Hollywood, which thought LaKisha Jones was going home. Did they not see the way she held her own Tuesday against Melinda Doolittle in the battle of Donna Summer disco songs? Someone's been stealing Paula's meds.

-- Next week: Tony Bennett will be the guest mentor, so a safe bet would be the contestants will sing standards Tuesday. Also, the results shows on April 11, 18 and May 2 will be drawn out to an hour. Great waste, less thrilling.

John Timpe/The Times-Union

PHIL STACEY GETS A LOT OF PRAISE FOR HIS VOCAL STYLINGS TUESDAY

The pop music theme Tuesday night on Idol was a gift to Phil Stacey, because the big Police fan got to sing Every Breath You Take. He was strong on the chorus, had a nice tone, and inspired guest Gwen Stefani to say, "I was pleasantly surprised." He should be safe for another week.

-- The judges' take on Stacey: Randy liked the fact that he didn't push it, Paula admired the "personality and color to your voice," and Simon said, "I actually thought that was very good." Not so fast, Philnatics; Simon also said Blake Lewis is lead dog among the guys.

-- Let me guess: Every other sentence of advice from Stefani was "Stick to the melody." I'm guessing Juilliard's not inviting her to teach music theory anytime soon. Chris Richardson listened to her and caught flak from Randy for not infusing enough style.

-- Cowellism of the night: "It was literally chalk and cheese." Simon uncorked the British/Aussie expression to compare Gina Glocksen's performance of The Pretenders' I'll Stand By You to her missteps in past weeks. It's been a while since we heard such a pleasant surprise on the show.

-- Conspiracy theory: Fans are accusing producers and votefortheworst.com of manipulating the votes to keep Sanjaya Malakar around, but they're missing the real crime. Jordin Sparks lost her voice at the bottom of the register on Hey Baby, and went flat at other times. Again, the judges fell all over themselves to call her "brilliant." I smell three rats eager for a teen star.

-- Look, it's Aunty Entity: No, not Tina Turner in the Thunderdome, but Malakar trying to pull off a faux Mohawk while singing No Doubt's Bathwater. It was so bad, it was good. Which leads me to ...

-- Most likely to go home: It should be Malakar but the short dress alone won't save Haley Scarnato this week. See you tonight at 9, when Stefani and Akon hit the stage.

John Timpe/The Times-Union

The "Idol" Factor

Check out Roger Bull's story on what making the Top 10 means for Phil Stacey (may require payment).

YOU JUST KEEP ME . . . HANGIN' ON

We here at the Times-Union don't like to complain about how difficult our jobs are. After all, most of the time we sit around all day writing pithy items for A.M. Stir. But occasionally we have to actually do something. So let us expose the dark underbelly of journalism.

A couple of weeks ago, we were told that we could interview local American Idol contestant Phil Stacey, but it'd be sometime between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. Kind of like waiting for the cable guy, and we're not much for hanging around on a Friday afternoon. But occasionally the work ethic kicks in, so we agreed, and we waited and we waited. Any minute now, we were told. Finally, about 6:30, the word came: "Sorry, not today."

Last Monday, we were offered a conference call with the executive producer. Sure we said, apparently forgetting the old "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" adage. So we waited on hold, and we waited and we waited. Any minute now, we were told. After 30 minutes, the word came: "Sorry, not today."

We guess if you're the most-watched show on TV, you can get away with it. But, jeez.

Roger Bull/The Times-Union

NEWS OF THE WEIRD THIS WEEK

American Idol officially entered into the Bizarro World Wednesday night. Up was down, down was up and Sanjaya Malakar is still on the show. But, first, Jacksonville sailor Phil Stacey survived another week, as the contestants were narrowed down to 10. Stacey was in the first group called to stand. The fact that he was with Blake Lewis and Melinda Doolittle should have been clue enough that he was staying. But he was still clearly excited when it was announced. Let's face it, he was surprised. He was still yelling after the next group was cleared to stay.

-- Bizarro: When Malakar, Haley Scarnato and Gina Glocksen stood, everyone knew they'd be the bottom three. But nope, they were safe, too. Even the unflappable Chris Sligh had a "What the ...?" look on his face.

-- Goodbye: Stephanie Edwards and Chris Richardson were the final two, the bottom two. And they had to wait through commercials and Lulu singing To Sir With Love (why didn't she do one of her many other hits?) before the announcement came: Edwards was going home.

-- The Road: The final 10 get to go on the American Idol tour. Think about it: Sanjaya Malakar in concert.

Roger Bull/The Times-Union

STACEY MAY HAVE REACHED THE END OF HIS ROAD, SIMON SAYS

hil Stacey took a trip down Tobacco Road, but Simon Cowell isn't sure how much further he can go. The theme was 1960s British Invasion on American Idol Tuesday, with help from Peter Noone and Lulu. Stacey, the Jacksonville-based sailor, broke into a hard-rocking version of Tobacco Road, but Cowell had words of warning: "You're being outsung by a lot of the singers. ... And you may have a problem tomorrow."

New strategy: Haley Scarnato has been near the bottom of most rankings, this time she went with skin and jiggling. "I think," Cowell said, "people will be talking about a lot more than your singing."

Pandering: Did the show really need to focus so much on the girl in the audience crying during Sanjay Malakar's butchering of You Really Got Me? Was it love or pain? Love, apparently.

Best of the night: Jordin Sparks' I (Who Have Nothing), Blake Lewis' Time of the Season and the flawless Melinda Doolittle on As Long as He Needs Me.

Worst: Malakar, who sounded like he had simply given up.

Prediction: Malakar should be long gone by now, but someone keeps voting for him. Stacey could indeed have a problem.

Roger Bull/The Times-Union

This time, can he make them love him just a little bit more?

The theme tonight is the British invasion for Phil Stacey and the 10 other American Idol finalists. With help from Lulu (one big hit with To Sir With Love) and Peter Noone (the Herman in front of the Hermits), will move from last week's Motown to 1960s British pop.
It's at least one more week for Stacey, a member of the U.S. Navy stationed in Jacksonville. After having a hard time with LeAnn Rimes' I Need You, he redeemed himself last week with I'm Gonna Make You Love Me and a bit of help from Diana Ross.

Still, on last Wednesday's results show, Stacey, Brandon Rogers and Sanjaya Malakar stood by themselves as the three lowest vote getters among the 28 million votes cast. Though Malakar has been routinely roasted by the critics, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Weekly, LA Times, MTV News and Yahoo! TV all picked Rogers to go home. And they were right.

With Rogers gone, now it's down to 11. And this is important territory. In past seasons, the last 10 finalists have been invited to go out on a nationwide American Idol tour.

Idol watchers in the media and online tend to put Stacey just above Haley Scarnato and the much-maligned Malakar in the rankings. Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones have been the big favorites, but Jordin Sparks has been coming on strong.

The finalists perform from 8 to 10 tonight. Wednesday at 9 p.m., one of them will be voted off during the half-hour results show.

Roger Bull/The Times-Union

On the Sligh

If you're like me, and I hope for your sake you aren't, you're watching a lot of American Idol whether you want to or not. During those times when a song becomes unbearable (thanks Sanjaya), I like to play a little game I call Which Finalist Could Make an Album I'd Actually Buy.

This season we're getting a little help, courtesy of contestant Chris Sligh (pictured). He's a member of Half Past Forever, and the South Carolina band already has an album out. Amazon.com is offering Take a Chance on Something Beautiful for $12.97.

You can listen to snippets elsewhere on the Web and decide for yourself, but as for me, Sligh is out of the running in my little game.

INDIGNITIES PILE UP, BUT STACEY HANGS ON FOR ANOTHER ROUND

Poor Phil Stacey. First he had to perform in that contrived Idol group sing Wednesday night. Then he had to shill for Ford. But the ultimate indignity had to be discovering he was in the bottom three, and then having to wait for the final result as Diana Ross mailed in her cover of More Today Than Yesterday. Stacey escaped once again (Brandon Rogers took the bullet), but he deserved better. Jacksonville must not have speed dial.

-- Snarky things you know were being said as Ross performed: "She doesn't just move like Anna Nicole on stage -- she sounds like her, too" ... "Don't her arms get tired from the way she celebrates each note she sings?" ... "Wow, some of those Idol contestants don't seem half bad now" ... "How many red sequins had to die for that dress?"

-- Cowellism of the (Sunday) night: "I think people should be given the chance to watch them -- why not?" Cowell on televising executions, from an interview on the next 60 Minutes.

-- The other one in the bottom three: Sanjaya Malakar, come on down! It looked like justice might prevail but his luck continued, and he knows it. He looks like the grim reaper every time he gets to sit back down. Cursed pink flip phone vote! (Thanks for that one, Jill Szaroleta).

-- Surprises: Haley Scarnato had the look of a gazelle peering into the lion's den until she heard that Malakar was the one in danger, not her. It was almost as shocking as Simon not wearing a black T-shirt. Which leads me to ...

-- Unpredictable: DialIdol.com could only predict that three contestants were safe this week ... and one of them was Malakar. So starting next week, I'm going with my own picks.

Ross does help local boy Stacey overcome last week's disaster

She can't go a full sentence without mentioning her "four decades" in the business and how "tiny" she is, but Diana Ross was just what Phil Stacey needed. The diva gave the local Idol contestant advice on starting his songs better, and then said that working with him reminded her of performing with Marvin Gaye. Stacey responded Tuesday night with an on-pitch, full-bodied performance of I'm Gonna Make You Love Me that should make you forget last week's fiasco.

--More good times for Stacey: Randy gave him the "Voice Award" for the night, something Simon and Paula seconded. The order of singers worked in Stacey's favor, as he followed Sanjaya Malakar and Haley Scarnato, aka Peter Brady and The Next Mandy Moore.

--Best in show: LaKisha Jones continues to own the joint, this time with a sultry, jazzy take on God Bless the Child.

--Cowellism of the night: "When you hear a wail in Beverly Hills, that is when Diana Ross is watching the show." Malakar butchered Ain't No Mountain High Enough to draw Simon's ire.

--"Fro Patro": That fan's sign was consolation for Chris Sligh, who realized to his horror he and Ross go to the same salon.

--Unhip to be square: Sligh did a sweet job of rearranging Endless Love to sound like a Coldplay song, and Blake Lewis digitized You Keep Me Hanging On. Well, Simon could be heard saying over and over, "I don't get it." No, you don't. Rent Happy Gilmore and you'll know why Endless Love stinks as is.

--Most likely to go home: With voting half over, dialIdol.com said Stacey was safe and Lewis and Brandon Rogers were at the bottom.

Phil's competition

Local contestant Phil Stacey faces some formidable challenges in his quest to be the next American Idol. He also faces some lightweights, leading you to believe he has a good chance of making the top 10. Here are the other 11, ranked in order of their threat to Stacey - with America voting, though, nothing is sure.
1. LaKisha Jones: The diva, in a good way; she belts out Aretha and Whitney like she means it, with nary a flaw.

2. Melinda Doolittle: All power and range on stage; all winsome humility after the last note.

3. Blake Lewis: Different (hip-hop and reggae) with great stage presence - things the judges beg for weekly.

4. Stephanie Edwards: A sleeper who has Fantasia-like promise.

5. Chris Sligh: Can cover spectrum of styles; atypical looking for Idol; needs to bring back his biting wit.

6. Jordin Sparks: Big voice; needs to play with arrangements to make songs her own.

7. Gina Glocksen: Consistently good rocker with so-so range.

8. Brandon Rogers: Smooth with solid pitch; too bad we already have plenty of Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson wannabes.

9. Chris Richardson: 'N Sync called: They miss the '90s, too.

10. Haley Scarnato: Perfect for Miss America singing competition, all smiles and Up with People.

11. Sanjaya Malakar: Why, Mama, why?

'Idol' contestant Phil Stacey gets coaching from Diana Ross

Phil Stacey survived LeAnn Rimes, now it's on to Diana Ross.
The early rounds of American Idol seemed to go easily for the Jacksonville-based sailor. Last Tuesday night, though, Stacey struggled a bit on Rimes' I Need You and all three judges questioned his song choice. Yahoo.com called it "clearly the worst vocal of the night" and predicted his departure.

But he survived to be a finalist.

With Idol down to the chosen 12, the show is back to twice a week. The finalists perform from 8-10 tonight, and on Wednesday, one of them will be voted off during the half-hour results show at 9 p.m.

For this week's songs, the finalists have been working with Diana Ross, and they'll all do a song of hers or the Supremes'.

While they get ready, Stacey and the other finalists are off limits to much of the world. The show rarely allows him to talk to the media, and then only with officials listening in, interrupting him if he starts talking about something he shouldn't talk about.

Officials didn't allow his family to talk to the media at all.

"And it's very unlike us not to talk," Stacey said in the only interview the Times-Union has been able to get with him.

A Fox spokeswoman said that the show wants the contestants to focus on nothing but each week's upcoming performance. Eventually, she said, Fox will allow family members to talk. And it will arrange the occasional interview with the contestants.

A month ago, Stacey said he could live with it.

"It's very much a loose control," he said. "I can do whatever I want, but if I want to stay here, I have to do what they want."

Roger Bull/The Times-Union

STACEY SNEAKS INTO FINAL 12

There's I-just-made-it-through-that-yellow-light relief, and then there's I-just-made-it-to-the-rest-stop-in-time relief. I'm thinking Phil Stacey was feeling something more like the latter Thursday night when he found out he'd made the top 12. He said he was very nervous going in, and when he was awarded one of the honorary clear, commodelike chairs, he couldn't even show his eyes. The good news is that his mini-solo during the group song at the top of the show sounded worlds better than his previous outing. His part in Stuck in the Middle with You consisted of the words "Please, please, please." How appropriate.

-- The top 12: Stacey, Blake Lewis, Brandon Rogers, Gina Glocksen, Chris Richardson, Haley Scarnato, Jordin Sparks, Chris Sligh, LaKisha Jones, Stephanie Edwards, Melinda Doolittle and Sanjaya Malakar.

-- Stacey makeover: A little free advice for Phil, and that's about what it's worth. 1) No more LeAnn Rimes tunes. Ever. 2) Rock out. We know you can; the Navy has the tape to prove it. 3) Bald is beautiful; skip the hats.

-- More crock tears: The judges once again blamed America for voting wrong and sending Malakar on through. Once again, I'd like to remind the judges that they're the goobers who wrongly chose Malakar for the semifinals in the first place.

-- Cowellism of the night: "The volume was turned down?" Answering Ryan Seacrest's question about why Sundance Head was eliminated.

-- Predictable: DialIdol.com predicted all four eliminations when the margin of error is factored in. That makes the site 11-for-12 this season. Then again, how hard was it to predict that Antonella Barba would get bounced? And America did her a favor. She doesn't have to stick around for Diana Ross week.

DOOLITTLE DOES A LOT TO IMPRESS

Melinda Doolittle did such a good job with I'm a Woman on Wednesday night, I'm seriously starting to wonder if she's better than LaKisha Jones. It's like choosing between the first two Godfather movies. Jones bravely pulled off a Whitney Houston cover, Gina Glocksen rocked out with Evanescence's Call Me When You're Sober, and everyone but Antonella Barba had a good night. It was the bizarro version of the guys' round. Still, the women to beat are Doolittle, Jones and Stephanie Edwards. Simon said as much and it's his show, darn it. See you tonight at 8, when Carrie Underwood pays a visit and we endure another group sing.

-- Phil Stacey update: If you lend any credence to DialIdol.com (it is 7-for-8 this season), then you should be very afraid for our local Idol contestant. The site said he was last when the voting finished last night. The upside is that with the margin of error, all eight of the guys are vulnerable.

-- Cowellism of the night: "You little tiger. I thought we had a pussycat." Simon's praise for Doolittle echoed his "minx" label for Kellie Pickler last season. Except a tiger is a cat and a minx isn't. And Doolittle can really sing and Pickler ...

-- Click your heels and say ...: The judges were falling all over themselves to give Barba the kiss of death. What a coincidence - the stink over Barba's Internet photos grew this week when activists charged the show with racism because it forgave her oops but not Frenchie Davis'. Barba didn't help herself by botching Put Your Records On. Simon praised her stiff upper lip and blamed it all on the media. But he made sure to tell her "You've gone as far as you can go," and then for good measure, "I just wish you could sing better."

-- Most likely to go: About 10:30 p.m., DialIdol.com said uh-oh for Sabrina Sloan and Barba.

BEST PERFORMANCE WAS NOT BY ONE OF THE SHOW'S CONTESTANTS

Did you catch the sweet bass guitar work during Brandon Rogers' take on I Just Want to Celebrate? Seeing as how American Idol is a singing show, the fact that the best performance went to someone working for scale, well, it was not a good night. The woes even hit local guy Phil Stacey. He started his song rough again, this time missing the low notes on I Need You, did a few nice falsetto runs, then did an OK job of landing the thing. He'll be sweating out Thursday night's results.

-- The good news for Stacey: 1. Randy compared him to Journey's Steve Perry. 2. His sense of humor is intact; he promised to change his eyes by next week after Simon said they were strange. 3. He unveiled a Taylor Hicks-style appeal for votes: "Bring me back, baby."

-- Dig the dome? During the video intro to his song, Stacey said he chose his bald pate when he was required to get a short haircut for a choir performance. He may like it, but that didn't stop him from going for the Bing Crosby look on the show again.

-- Can't get enough reggae hip-hop: Blake Lewis was way ahead after his catchy, vigorous performance of 311's ditty All Mixed Up. How is it that at least two of the three judges had never heard the song before? The other decent performance was put in by Chris Richardson.

-- Cowellism of the night: "You need to work on coloring up your singing." Just kidding. That was Paula. I know, I'm stunned, too. She harshly assessed Jared Cotter, someone she never would have criticized in the past. And he did a passable job. Paula must have gone to the Wizard for some courage.

-- Most likely to go: Just after 10:30 p.m., DialIdol.com said Cotter and Sanjaya "Shake My Booty Hawaiian Style" Malakar were hurtin' for votes.

DOOLITTLE'S SHOWSTOPPER MAKES WOMEN'S RACE QUITE A BIT TIGHTER

Melinda Doolittle turned the women's competition into a race Wednesday night, meeting LaKisha Jones' challenge to uncork the showstoppers early. Simon was ready to hand the Idol crown to Jones last week, but this week Doolittle wrung every note out of My Funny Valentine to draw similar praise. Again, Savannah's Stephanie Edwards wasn't far behind the two front-runners. Tonight, Kellie Pickler returns for a visit and we find out if local guy Phil Stacey made the cut.

-- Girls who have a picture on the Internet that shows them on the can shouldn't throw ... : The photo controversy that has dogged Antonella Barber for weeks hasn't hurt her, and neither has her flat singing. As if trying Celine Dion's Because You Loved Me wasn't brazen enough, Barber dismissed Simon's criticism by saying he was wrong about Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson. A fierce, factual rebuttal followed. And still, Barber will advance. Ain't America great?

-- Cowellism of the night: "It was like Randy taking part in a 100-meter race." Alaina Alexander ran out of steam on Not Ready to Make Nice, and Simon called it.

-- Guest Cowellism of the night: "I wish I could sing like Celine Dion, too, but I can't." Randy landed a triple suplex on Barber.

-- Most likely to go home: As of 11 p.m., DialIdol.com said Leslie Hunt and Haley Scarnato were in the worst shape heading into tonight's elimination show.

-- Bonus material: To see a video recap of this week's performances, go to Jacksonville.com and click on "Network Video."