Weekend's here!

It's the weekend, and Tuesday's performance seems a long way away. You're in the mood to talk about Idol in general, and Bucky in particular, but there are no sympathetic souls around. (I feel your pain.) What's a Bucky fan to do? Hit the message boards, of course! Below you'll find a somewhat opinionated look at a few of the sites where people are buzzing about Bucky's quest for the Top Ten.

The most obvious stop is the official American Idol Message Boards at Idolonfox.com. Bucky's board is here, and the posters are enthusiastic, friendly and devoted--occasional pranksters excepted, naturally. (I won't even bother linking to the funny/weird "Is Bucky a British ringer" conspiracy theory which is currently being spammed all over--whoever came up with that one must have had a wee bit too much green beer yesterday.) The board requires registration to post, and is reasonably work-friendly, with censored text and smallish avatars. Our favorite thread right now (and a nice place to jump in) is the enormous and self-explanatory "Bucky Covington Fan Thread"--857 (!) pages as of this writing, yet every newbie gets a warm welcome.

If you're patient and have a sturdy browser, you'll enjoy Idolforums, where the crowd is young, casual and extremely Idol-savvy. For all their youth, the posters there appear to have followed Idol since it was only a gleam in Simon Fuller's eye, and their keen insights into the ups and downs of the show are well worth a look. Oh, yes, there's some emoticon abuse and OMG-ing there as well, but hey--how many message boards of any type are OMG-free? Idolforums is a delight for the eyes; most posters there have incredibly beautiful avatars (some animated and/or made with flash) , with banners and blinkies that would put most commercial artists to shame. The gorgeousness comes at a price, though--if you're on dialup, you'll find this a profoundly frustrating experience. (There is a lo-fi option available for those who are stuck at work or with a wobbly browser.) Bucky's sub-forum is here.

And if you're in the mood for a more serene atmosphere, the boards at Television Without Pity are completely image-free--making this a great choice for a quick catch-up at the office. The conversation here is grown-up, intelligent and generally witty, and Bucky's fans at his "Performers" thread in the Idol section are some of the most sincere and affectionate supporters he has online. This is a linear-format board (one long thread); the link will take you to the more recent posts. (It's probably best to start in the middle, read up to the current day and then catch up on old posts, if that makes sense.)

Last but not least, one way of knowing when an Idol contestant is moving up in the world is when boards pop up that are dedicated to him, rather than a sub-folder of an Idol board. We found a couple that are just getting started and look pretty promising: the Bucky-Covington.net boards are already hopping, and there's also a board at Covington's Crew (requires membership to view, apparently--we're not members yet, but we're sure it's a good one!)

The bottom line? There are a lot of people rooting for Bucky Covington out there. If you want to talk about it, you're not alone at all. (And if you want to talk to us, feel free to leave a note in the comments section below. We'd love to hear from you!)