Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times

Singing sailor praised for latest performance

Phil Stacey turned in his best Sting on “America Idol” Tuesday night, belting out The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” and continuing his bounce back from three weeks’ worth of panned performances.

Stacey, a musician third class with the Navy Band in Jacksonville, Fla., drew accolades from his customary nemesis, bad-cop judge Simon Cowell, who has had little praise for the sailor’s performances this month.

“This may surprise you, but I thought that was very good,” Cowell said. “It was the only time I felt you were actually taking this seriously, that you were trying to do well in this competition.”

Good-cop judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul were at least as positive in their comments, and had none of the criticisms that have plagued Stacey.

Also praiseful of Stacey was Tuesday’s “celebrity coach,” Southern California songstress Gwen Stefani, the ex-frontwoman of No Doubt famed for her ska skills, pop prowess and penchant for melting male hearts.

When Stacey rehearsed his song for her, Stefani said she was “pleasantly surprised.”

“I didn’t know it was gonna be that good,” she said.

Also performing Tuesday was national laughingstock Sanjaya Malakar, who forgot the words to No Doubt’s “Bathwater” when he was rehearsing for Stefani, and then performed with his kinky locks tied up into a ludicrous super-Mohawk.

But at this point in the show, “Idol’s” producers are clearly in on the joke. “I don’t think it matters anymore what we say,” Cowell told him. “I think you are in your own universe, and if people like you, good luck.”

Cowell’s disclosure and Stacey’s unexpectedly strong performance went against conventional “Idol” wisdom as it stood before airtime Tuesday. Though the novelty had long dried up from such pronouncements, “Idol” observers said this would be the last week for Stacey or Malakar. Tuesday afternoon, they were odds-makers’ co-favorites to be eliminated, according to the betting Web site Gambling911.com.

Whether or not the contestants feel any pressure, the clock is certainly ticking for a woman who calls herself “J,” who, in the spirit of Mahatma Ghandi, has vowed to fast until viewers cut Malakar from “Idol.”

“J” would be satisfied if Stacey won the contest — she praised his “smooth” R&B style — but as of Tuesday wrote that she had gone 10 days without eating to protest Malakar’s endurance on the show.

It’s difficult to know what Stacey thinks of all this.

Navy Times has attempted to contact him, but Fox publicists say he is “unavailable.” The network keeps stringent controls on access to “Idol” contestants, and more details came to light this week about the extent of its public-relations stranglehold: On Sunday, Wichita Eagle columnist Denise Neil reported that Stacey is kept at almost all times in a hotel room, has a curfew, can’t have any overnight guests — even his wife, Kendra — and is completely forbidden from speaking to reporters. Neil’s source was Kendra’s best friend, Miranda Rice, who attended high school at the same time as Phil and Kendra Stacey in Wichita, Kan., and has flown to Los Angeles several times to be with Kendra with her kids.

And Jacksonville’s Florida Times-Union newspaper reported Tuesday it has been offered conference-call interviews with Stacey and “Idol’s” executive producer in past weeks, but that at the appointed times, neither one showed up.

“We guess if you’re the most-watched show on TV, you can get away with it,” reporter Roger Bull wrote on the paper’s Web site. “But, jeez ...” Stacey, Malakar and the other contestants will find out whether they will stay on “American Idol” another week Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

Multimedia:

Watch highlights from Tuesday’s episode

Discuss:

Does Stacey have what it takes to be the next American Idol?