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Posted on Sun, Feb. 25, 2007 Singer's ties to Wichita run deep BY DENISE NEIL Lots of towns are trying to claim "American Idol" finalist Phil Stacey at the moment. There's Jacksonville, Fla., where Stacey, 29, lives with his wife and two small children. There's Cleveland, Tenn., where Stacey attended college and started his singing career in earnest. And technically, Nashville, Cincinnati, Denver -- even Shawnee, Okla. --could lay claim to a piece of him, too. But Wichita, his friends say, is where Phil Stacey became Phil Stacey. It's where he first took to the stage. Where he graduated from high school. Where he met his wife. Where he started a doo-wop quintet called "Sexual Chocolate." Where he survived a carjacking at gun point. And where he still has a large group of friends and acquaintances cheering him on. "When 'American Idol' first came on, I thought to myself that if I knew one person who could make it on that show, it was Phil," said Darren Schopf, one of Stacey's best friends from his days at Northwest High School. "I didn't ever think he'd do it, though." But Stacey, a 1997 graduate of Northwest, did do it. Prompted by years of friends telling him he should audition for "Idol" -- and by the fact that his impending 29th birthday would make him too old to try out in the future -- Stacey traveled to Memphis last fall to audition. He made it though the first round, and then another, and another. A few weeks ago, friends who had heard about Stacey's possible inclusion on the show found out the rumors were true. He was featured as part of the Memphis audition special on TV when producers learned that he had missed the birth of his second daughter while waiting to audition. Not long after, friends watched as Stacey advanced to the pool of 24 contestants who would compete for viewers' votes. Last Thursday, Stacey made it through the first round of eliminations after judge Randy Jackson praised his vaguely rocking performance of Edwin McCain's "I Could Not Ask for More." Stacey, who is prohibited from talking to the news media during competition, will continue to compete this week. He sings on Tuesday night, then attempts to survive another round of eliminations on Thursday. For his friends in Wichita, the experience has been suspenseful and more than a little surreal. "It's weird," Schopf said. "You don't expect to turn on 'American Idol' and see one of your old buddies on there." Son of a preacher man Schopf and Stacey became good buddies during high school. The son of Church of God pastor Gary Stacey and his wife, Adrell, Phil Stacey was born on the first day of 1978 in Kentucky and attended grade school in Cincinnati. When Stacey was an eighth grader, his father got a job at the Rolling Hills Church of God near Maple and Tyler. Stacey attended Wilbur Middle School for a year before moving with his class to Northwest High. That's where Schopf met Stacey. Both were involved in the school choir, and they quickly fell into a group of five close friends -- all with singing talent -- who eventually formed a five-part doo-wop group they called "Sexual Chocolate." Stacey's talent was evident even at that age, Schopf said. He joined the drama club and was one of the star members of the Northwest High Madrigals. He also was popular, partly because of his good looks. Even though he keeps his head shaven now, Stacey had a full head of black hair in high school, and girls were always chasing him, Schopf said. Classmates also were drawn to Stacey's crazy sense of humor. His friends never quite knew when he was telling the truth and when he was spinning a fantastical tale. Schopf remembers when Stacey came to school one day saying he'd been carjacked at gun point in front of his house near Maple and Tyler. "We didn't believe it at all, but then we found out he didn't have a car, and then they caught the guy," Schopf said. "He always liked to tell stories. He was in drama, and I think he got a real kick out of pulling the wool over your eyes." Boy meets girl After graduation, Stacey headed to Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., to pursue a degree in vocal music. When he went home for the summer after his freshman year, he hung out with Schopf and Schopf's twin brother, Damon, who was dating a girl from Goddard. That girl was Miranda Rice, whose best friend was Kendra McIntosh -- the pretty, popular and ambitious student body president from Goddard High. Rice and Damon Schopf introduced Stacey to McIntosh, and the two were instantly inseparable. She scrapped plans to attend Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, instead opting to follow Stacey to Lee. That was in August. By December, the two were married. Rice was McIntosh's maid of honor, and the four other members of Sexual Chocolate, including the Schopf twins, served as Stacey's groomsmen. The couple returned to Lee. They traveled the world as members of the Lee Singers, a prestigious singing group. They lived for brief periods in Denver, Nashville and Shawnee, Okla., before Stacey enlisted in the Navy. He needed to pay down school loans, his friends said, and he saw an opportunity to continue his musical career as a member of Pride, a Navy rock 'n' roll band that serves as a recruiting tool. Stacey is the lead singer of that group. The couple, now based in Jacksonville, Fla., has a 3-year-old daughter, Chloe, and the baby born during the audition process, McKayla. So surreal When Rice talks to her best friend these days, Kendra Stacey describes her life as surreal. Kendra has temporarily relocated to Oklahoma, where her parents live, while her husband continues his "Idol" journey. Her plan is to fly to Hollywood whenever she can to support Stacey from the audience. She's appeared on camera several times this season already, smiling supportively from her seat. Stacey's superiors have granted him a temporary reassignment to Los Angeles, and the Navy released a statement expressing its support for Stacey's "American Idol" activities. Meanwhile, Stacey's friends are e-mailing as many people as they can, encouraging them to vote for him. And although it's strange to see him finding success on the country's most popular television show, they always knew he was headed for big things. "It's weird and it's crazy, but it was only a matter of time," Rice said. "That's what a lot of people say who know Phil. We knew it was going to happen for him. We just didn't know when." source: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/special_packages/american_idol/16778282.htm