Entertainment, Music - Air Force Times

‘Idol’ voters keep sailor another week

Perhaps not since the Battle of the Philippine Sea, when Adm. Ray Spruance and the 5th fleet routed Imperial Japan’s carrier forces in the Pacific, has the U.S. Navy notched such a commanding victory — voters advanced Navy singer Phil Stacey on “American Idol” Thursday night.

The viewers of America’s most popular television show said they liked the chrome-domed musician third class, stationed with the Navy Band in Jacksonville, and he was among eight male contestants who get to stay on the show.

For now.

The tension was immediate when host Ryan Seacrest called on Stacey first of all the male singers in a segment where they learned, one by one, who had been voted off. The sailor said nothing as Seacrest recalled Tuesday’s comments from judge Simon Cowell, who had dismissed Stacey as a “karaoke singer,” but nonetheless predicted he’d be kept on the show.

And so he was.

Stacey, 29, will sing again on March 6, when viewers will again call and text-message votes that will determine whether he endures.