IN: 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.

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 other shows has he been on?
IN: Namdev, also transliterated as Namdeo and Namadeva, (traditionally, c. 1270 - c. 1350) was a poet-saint from Maharashtra, India who is significant to the Varkari sect of Hinduism. He is also venerated in Sikhism, as well as Hindu warrior-ascetic traditions such as the Dadupanthis and the Niranjani Sampraday that emerged in north India during the Islamic rule. The details of Namdev's life are unclear. He is the subject of many miracle-filled hagiographies composed centuries after he died.

The literary works of Namdev were influenced by Vaishnava philosophy and a belief in Vithoba. Along with the Jnanesvari, a sacred work of Jnanesvar, and of Bhakti movement teacher-writers such as Tukaram, the writings of Namdev form the basis of the beliefs held by the Varkari sect of Hinduism. He was thus among those responsible for disseminating the monotheistic Varkari faith that had emerged first in Karnataka in the mid-to-late 12th century and then spread to Pandharpur in Maharashtra. Namdev and Jnanesvar used the Marathi language to convey their beliefs rather than using the traditional Sanskrit language that was essentially a buttress for the pre-eminence of the Brahmin priests. Namdev's style was to compose simply worded praise for Vithoba and to use a melodic device called samkirtana, both of which were accessible to common people. Shima Iwao says that "He taught that all can be saved equally, without regard to caste, through devotion (bhakti) to Vithoba" and that he greatly influenced groups of people who were forbidden by the Brahmin elite from studying the Vedas, such as women and members of the Shudra and untouchable communities. The earliest anthological record of Namdev's works occurs in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scriptures compiled in 1604, although Novetzke notes that while the manuscript records of Namdev mostly date from the 17th and 18th centuries, there exists a manuscript from 1581 that presents a rarely recounted variant version of Namdev's Tirthavli, a Marathi-language autobiographical piece. It is evident that the Guru Granth record is an accurate rendition of what Namdev wrote: the oral tradition probably accounts significantly for the changes and additions that appear to have been made by that time. The numerous subsequently produced manuscripts also show variant texts and additions that are attributed to him. Of around 2500 abhangs that were credited to him and written in the Marathi language, perhaps only 600 - 700 are authentic. The surviving manuscripts are geographically dispersed and of uncertain provenance.
QUESTION:
Did anything else come out of Namdev's teachings?