3/14, "Superstition"

(Apologies for my cheesy little screencaps! I'll replace them with better images as soon as I can find some.)

Admit it--you were nervous about last night, weren't you? Granted, it's American Idol, which means that anything from "disco night" to Manilow Mania" can happen. But last night's theme was especially nerve-wracking for us Bucky fans. (Buccaneers? Buckaroos? BuckyBunnies? The whole "fan-naming" silliness deserves a blog entry all its own, methinks.)

The two questions on everyone's minds were a) how on earth is this decidedly Southern-rock dude going to approach the Stevie Wonder songbook, and b) what the heck were the stylists going to do to him?

As it turned out, we shouldn't have been worried about the song choice at all. As for the stylists? Well...

It started out in the usual Idol fashion; an interview clip in which an unstyled Bucky spoke honestly about his unfamiliarity with Stevie's work, name-checked Elvis (smart move), and thanked Mr. Wonder for his constructive criticism. Then he stalked out on stage with a brand-new, seriously fluffy 'do and--dare I say it--made a Bucky-style, Southern-rock version of "Superstition" fun. Really fun. It was so much fun that I was beaming at the screen like an idiot by the time it was over, both for the way he worked all sides of that stage like a combination runway/pulpit (preach it, brother! Superstition ain't the way!) and out of relief that, even for those less smitten than I, this was an undeniably entertaining performance. There seem to be two kinds of Idol singers--those who make it all about them--their ambitions, their dreams, their incredibleamazingundiscoveredvocalbrillanceblahblahblah, and those who actually appear to care about making sure the audience has a good time, too. Bucky pretty much established himself solidly in the second group, with bonus points for taking a tough theme and making it work for him.

Now about that hair. I'm tempted to use small font here, but ...um, I honestly didn't think it was so bad. Of course I don't--this is the exact style I've been rocking for about six months now, more or less. (I am a brunette girl, just for the record.) I have a feeling Bucky's do will be a bit less...I don't know, arranged?--tonight, but the slightly shorter length looks fine. (No shorter, though, people. Don't make me come out there.) Simon said it was Jessica Simpson-esque, but I flashed back to Behind the Music legend/70s pop star Leif Garrett, who sported a similarly luxurious golden mane about the time that Bucky was born. (Is someone at the Idol beauty parlor a closet Leifette?) Bucky himself had a good giggle over it. Pretty ironic that a guy's hair can actually be too good for showbiz, isn't it?

All in all, an enjoyable--and encouraging--evening. I still voted like a madwoman for the entire two hours (and I hope you did, too), but the after-show online conversation indicates that people were generally impressed. We'll know for sure tonight...

Buzz on the boards: Even those who weren't rooting for Bucky had a good time with this performance last night.

My take: See you next week, Bucky!

What did you think? Please leave a comment and let me know...