Happy Birthday Phil Stacey!

No one can say Phil Stacey didn't put forth effort to audition for American Idol, as he ended up missing the birth of his second baby girl, McKayla, to make the Memphis tryouts! Thankfully, he was given the golden ticket and able to quickly join his wife and family. His efforts definitely paid off, as he made it all the way to the sixth spot on "Idol." He was ultimately eliminated on the same day as Chris Richardson due to no one being voted off the week before for "Idol Gives Back." There was a point after the show that Phil wasn't sure he'd be able to tour with his AI peers, as he wasn't sure if he'd be called to active duty in the Navy. Luckily, he was able to do the extensive 55-city tour. Phil also reported to Reality TV World that, despite some initial ribbing from his Navy friends, they were actually quite supportive. As he stated, "I got a lot of support from my Navy buddies. Up front, they made fun of me because I went to the auditions to begin with. They joked about how I was wasting my time and everything. Of course at the same time, they said they believed in me and everything. When I got on the show, there was just nothing but every single week they would text me little messages like, 'Phil you're my Idol,' you know, that kind of stuff. It was really sweet actually. Really nice of them." Despite being off the "Idol" tour for only about six months, Phil has been amazingly busy. He appeared as a special guest at Carnegie Hall with the New York Young People's Chorus. Along with AI peer Melinda Doolittle, Phil was a featured soloist at Scott Hamilton's annual ice skating benefit. He also helped to raise close to $100,000 for Kansas tornado victims by performing at a benefit concert. To boot, he has sung at two different NFL games. Phil was also the grand marshall of the Gator Bowl and sang the national anthem on New Years day. On top of his many singing appearances, Phil Stacey has picked up and moved his family to Nashville to work on his country music career. He has already released his first single, "If You Didn't Love Me," and the entire debut album is due out on April 15th! The album is produced by Grammy award winner Wayne Kirkpatrick. Happy 30th Birthday to Phil, who was born on January 21st, 1978! Check out this pic of Phil hanging out with the rest of the season six gang in this Behind-the-Scenes photo presented by Coke. Come back next week to view our exclusive interview with Phil!