Prayer service for injured pastors
Spotted: Concert for a Cure
Concert for a Cure
'Idol' finalist has Fairfield ties
Monday, March 19, 2007
HAMILTON — Remember, you saw him first in Butler County.
Phil Stacey, 29, is making new fans each week on television as an "American Idol" contestant. But he started getting noticed many years ago as a child singing at the Tylersville Road Church of God.
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A preacher's kid, Stacey sang in the youth choir where his father Gary K. Stacey served as pastor until the early 1990s. He learned to play trumpet and performed in choir and musicals while attending Fairfield City schools from kindergarten through eighth grade.
"He always seemed like he was the ignition. He was always on fire. You could tell that something special was going to be happening in his life," said Gary Lewis, former Tylersville Road Sunday School superintendent.
The Fairfield resident said Stacey and his siblings, Keith and Rebecca, often sang at the church. Later the three refined their singing talents as members of the Lee University Singers in Cleveland, Tenn.
Adrell Stacey said singing has always been a part of her youngest son's life.
"He was singing as he was learning to talk. He enjoyed singing from the time he was just a baby," she said. "He started singing in church and loved the attention."
Encouraged by his friends to audition for the Idol competition (seen locally on Channel 19 Tuesdays and Wednesdays), Stacey got his ticket to Hollywood in October after gaining the judges' favor in Memphis.
He became comfortable singing before audiences as a child when he performed at Church of God camp meetings held at the Tri-County Assembly of God. He developed those skills further at Lee University and today is a member of the elite Navy Band SouthEast, which travels throughout the state of Florida and the Southeastern United States. He recently sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at an Atlanta Braves game.
His mother is his first and biggest fan. The Miami University-Hamilton graduate has this message for her Butler County friends: "A big hello from us, and vote, vote, vote!"
Stacey is not the only current Idol contestant with local ties. Although contestant Melinda Doolittle calls Brentwood, Tenn., her home, her father, Steve Doolittle, is a graduate of Garfield High School. He now lives in Schaumberg, Ill., after graduating from Miami University. Melinda also has cousins still living in Hamilton: Andre, Karla and Andrea Doolittle.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2169 or pmccracken@coxohio.com.
