3/21 "Oh Boy"

(More of my cheesy little screencaps--oh joy! I'll try to get better images later.)

Who doesn't love Buddy Holly? (Besides Simon Cowell, of course, but we'll get to that later.) In the Idol song-choice sweepstakes, "Oh Boy" has a lot to offer a singer like Bucky Covington--a certain cadence that makes a Southern accent a decided advantage, and a definite rave-up, rock and roll beat. Rockabilly isn't exactly the style that comes to mind when you think of Barry Manilow--tonight's guest legend/guru--but Bucky and Barry pretty much made it work. Or at least, most of us thought so.

Simon Cowell? Well, maybe not so much.

In the interview portion, we watched as the "repetitive" structure of the song got a bit of a tweaking from Barry; a key change added, a brass section pumped up. (Whether the new arrangement took it out of the realm of "rockabilly" and into the realm of "Vegas" is a question best left to purists on both sides.) On stage, it worked well enough for Idol. However, on a second and third listening, it seems to me that sticking with an authentic Crickets-style arrangement (twangy guitars, male backing vocals, slightly faster beat, no brass) would have brought out Bucky's beautifully rootsy voice better, and kept it safe from Cowell's "pointless karaoke" charges.

Having said all that, Bucky was delightful on stage, as always--no fancy lighting, no smoke and no cool 360-degree camera work, but he entertains brillantly even without Idol gimmicks. (And we totally dug that nonchalant mic-twirl...certain kinds of cool just can't be faked, you know? This guy absolutely needs to be on that tour. Did we mention that already?)


The post-song comments were extended, and interesting; Randy Jackson suggested he "find the song that's going to give you your best vocal performance"--always good advice, anyway. (Those who've been to the blog page at Bucky Covington Online know firsthand how chill-up-the-spine, evocative/good even his rawest vocal performances can be. Unfortunately, I don't think the singers are permitted to do original compositions on Idol.) Combine the right songs--and non-cheesy arrangements--with his audience pleasing performance style, and watch out.

In the end, Paula Abdul said it best. "People love you, Bucky!" Stay tuned.

Buzz on the boards: The tour would be duller without him. Save Bucky!

Our take: See Paula Abdul's comment above. Hey, it's sure true here...

(Disclaimer--I didn't like this arrangement of "Oh Boy", but I like Barry, Bucky and Buddy. )