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Stacey, ousted, relaxes but unsure what next

Phil Stacey could be the most famous Navy man in America — depending on how many 14-year-olds know the name Adm. William Halsey — but for as much as he enjoyed his squid years, he said, the singing sailor doesn’t plan to go career. In fact, he isn’t sure about most things in his immediate future.

Stacey, a musician third class with the Navy Band in Jacksonville, Fla., was one of two contestants eliminated on Wednesday’s episode of “American Idol.” What he does know, he said Thursday, is that he plans to take off his uniform when his hitch is up.

“I can’t say a single bad thing about the Navy,” he said. “I’ve loved every thing about it, but I didn’t enlist with the idea of a career in mind. I wanted to do my duty and be part of what was happening in the war against terror.” Still, he said, “[w]ith this kind of exposure, I could do a lot more.”

Stacey talked to Navy Times and other newspapers in a wide-ranging conference-call interview that touched almost all points of his background and his meteoric rise.

Stacey said he’s almost positive the Navy will allow him to join the other nine “Idol” finalists on this summer’s “American Idol Live” concert tour, but he doesn’t know exactly what will happen after that. He’s scheduled to get out in October 2008, and although he says he won’t ask to leave early, he also doesn’t know what kind of assignment he could get when the tour ends.

For the moment, on the day after host Ryan Seacrest told him he’d been voted off, Stacey said he was tired and disappointed, but he’ll enjoy getting off the weekly “Idol” grind and being able to see his wife Kendra and his young daughters Chloe and McKayla.

“I wanted to win, but there is a taste of goodness in the midst of this,” he said. “I’ve had a good past few weeks, I was able to go out on a high note. Inevitably the bubble could’ve burst had I stayed any longer, but I’m excited about spending time with my family. I miss my girls really bad.”

Stacey hasn’t been able to really see them during his almost three-month “Idol” appearance. He and his fellow contestants were kept constantly busy, sequestered in a hotel room away from the world, and had only a few hours to themselves each night, between midnight and around 3 a.m., he said.

“The schedule is grueling, but at the same time it’s once in a lifetime opportunity, and your body knows that and gives you enough adrenaline to keep going,” Stacey said.

His new showbiz prominence is one reason why he doesn’t know what his next official assignment will be. In his old gig as a Navy Band singer, Stacey performed in a lot of high schools, he said, but he’s gotten so famous that he said there could be “security concerns” about the crowds that could turn out if he went back to that kind of work.

And as far as the crowds he’ll face this summer, Stacey said, he hasn’t decided what songs he’d like to perform for his portion of the “Idols Live” tour. He said he wants it to be in keeping with the “Idol Gives Back” charity spirit, and also to represent his Navy connection.

“One thing I’d like is to be a positive influence on people and a role model of sorts. I think as a Navy guy I’d like to do something patriotic like, “God Bless the USA,” he said, referring to Lee Greenwood’s 1984 patriotic country standard. “Idol” judge Randy Jackson told Stacey at least once that he thought the sailor could have a productive career in Nashville. If and when he records, Stacey confirmed, country would be his genre of choice, although, as the son and brother of ministers, he also said gospel would be a natural choice.

He wouldn’t handicap the chances of the four remaining “Idol” contestants. He had only compliments for each of them and said he thought “it was anybody’s ball game at this point.”

And as for his own tenure on “Idol,” Stacey said he was surprised at his recent bounce in the critics’ responses. When he performed “Where the Blacktop Ends,” on April 17, which signaled his return to the judges’ good side, he had no idea that the song would portend his upswing, he said.

“I was so accustomed to getting critical feedback so that when [judge] Randy [Jackson] was like, ‘Dude you were good this week,’ I was like, ‘really? Sweet!’”

Idolatry

Commentary: On the ‘Idol’ beat

Story: Singing sailor cut from ‘Idol’

Story: Stacey vows ‘glory’ in exit

Story: Fox releases Phil Stacey tour dates

Video: The moment Stacey was cut

Video: Stacey performing Bon Jovi’s ‘Blaze of Glory’