Problem: Background: Phillips was born in Albany, Georgia, to Sheryl (Jacks) and Phillip LaDon "Donnie" Phillips, Sr., and moved to Leesburg, Georgia when he was 12. He has two older sisters, LaDonna, the eldest, and Lacey. Phillips grew up in Sasser and Leesburg, and attended Lee County High School. He graduated from Albany Technical College with a major in Industrial Systems Technology, but missed the graduation ceremony due to his obligations to American Idol.
Context: Phillips auditioned in Savannah, Georgia. He sang "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder. The judges then asked him to perform a second song with his guitar, and he performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller." He advanced to the Hollywood rounds, and later to the Las Vegas round. On February 23, 2012, Phillips was chosen as one of the Top 25 semi-finalists, and was then voted into the Top 13. His performance style on the show has been compared to Dave Matthews, and he covered one of his songs, "The Stone," in the competition. When asked about Phillips' imitation of his style, Dave Matthews said: "More power to him, I don't mind," and added "He should kick my ass, [then] maybe I can retire and he can take over my band." Mentor Stevie Nicks said Phillips would have been good enough to join Fleetwood Mac back in 1975, after his performance of Jonny Lang's Still Rainin, which he received a standing ovation from the judges. After the Top 13 performance night, Phillips was taken to a doctor for possible kidney stones. He had eight procedures while he was on Idol, and considered quitting the show due to the pain. For his Top 3 performance, Phillips sang Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonight." For Top 4, he did a cover of Damien Rice's Volcano - which has been heralded as one of the best American Idol performances of all time. As the sole contestant who was never in jeopardy of elimination in any week of the competition, Phillips became the winner on the finale against Jessica Sanchez after a record-breaking 132 million votes were cast. His coronation song, "Home," was released after his performance, and had the biggest digital sales week for any Idol winner's coronation song. ^Note 1 Due to the judges using their one save on Jessica Sanchez, the Top 7 remained intact for another week.
Question: What was his childhood like?
Answer: Phillips auditioned in Savannah, Georgia. He sang "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder. The judges then asked him to perform a second song with his guitar, and he performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller.

Problem: Background: Grandaddy is an American indie rock band from Modesto, California. The group was formed in 1992, and featured Jason Lytle, Aaron Burtch, Jim Fairchild, Kevin Garcia and Tim Dryden. After several self-released records and cassettes, the band signed to Will Records in the US and later the V2 subsidiary Big Cat Records in the UK, going on to sign an exclusive deal with V2. The bulk of the band's recorded output was the work of Lytle, who worked primarily in home studios.
Context: Unhappy with the efforts of Will Records, the band signed a worldwide deal with Richard Branson's V2 Records in 1999, their first release on the label being the Signal to Snow Ratio EP in September that year. In May 2000 they released their second album, The Sophtware Slump, to critical acclaim. NME later placed it at number 34 in their "Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade", and The Independent described it as "easily the equal of OK Computer". The album reached number 36 on the UK Albums Chart, and the band's fanbase increased, including celebrities such as David Bowie, Kate Moss and Liv Tyler. By early 2001 the album had sold 80,000 copies worldwide. The first single from the album, "The Crystal Lake", became the band's first UK top 40 single when it was reissued in 2001. Around the time that The Sophtware Slump was released, Grandaddy was invited to open for Elliott Smith on his tour for Figure 8. On some nights, Smith would join Grandaddy onstage and sing lead vocals on portions of "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot". The band later opened for Coldplay on their US tour in mid-2001. Also in 2001, the band's version of The Beatles' "Revolution" was used in the film I Am Sam. Their third album, Sumday, recorded in Lytle's home studio, was released in 2003. The band promoted it with a pre-release US tour with Pete Yorn followed by a three-week European tour (including a performance at the Glastonbury Festival) and a larger US tour. Lytle described the album as "Grandaddy influenced by Grandaddy ... the ultimate Grandaddy record". In 2004 and 2005 Lytle recorded Just Like the Fambly Cat, which was released as a Grandaddy album, although by then the band had decided to split up. The title is a reference to Lytle's desire to leave Modesto, a town which he complained "sucks out people's souls". Lytle created the album over a year and a half in his home studio in Modesto, "fueled by alcohol, painkillers for his body aches and ... recreational drugs", with only Burtch from the remainder of the band playing on it. At the same time as working on the album, Lytle created the EP Excerpts From the Diary of Todd Zilla, which was released first.
Question: What was V2 record deal about?
Answer:
Unhappy with the efforts of Will Records, the band signed a worldwide deal with Richard Branson's V2 Records in 1999,