An article about AI and country music

the 6th season of American Idol was considered ho-hum by many but one bright spot may have been the Navy’s Phil Stacey. Following in Gracin and Covington’s footsteps, Stacey was signed to Lyric Street Records in late 2007 and released his debut single in a week ago. “If You Didn’t Love Me” is a country/pop song co-written by label mate Gary LeVox (of Rascal Flatts). While Stacey has yet to prove that he’ll continue to American Idol’s streak of placing finalists within the Top 40 of the country charts, he certainly is further proof that American Idol would be smart to ‘focus’ more on the country/country-pop artists who show up on the show in season 7. And while it’s true a ‘traditional country’ guy or girl has never managed to made it to the Final portions of the show, the fact that country continues to be the most popular radio format for music (talk radio is #1), bodes well for American Idol’s continued support of country. After all, the show has produced more successful country artists than they have any other genre.