4/17, "Regis & Kelly" and "Ellen"

Well, it almost felt like Tuesday...minus an over-amplified band, indifferent judges and agreeably cheesy Old Navy commercials. Bucky sang "Superstition" (his song on the upcoming Idols' CD) on the syndicated Live With Regis and Kelly and Ellen shows today, with only a piano behind him. And for the first time in weeks, his soulful vocals were front and center on national television. (Kelly Ripa and Ellen DeGeneres called Bucky's voice "beautiful" and "cool and distinctive", respectively--nothing you didn't know already, but a nice break from Simon Cowell's opinion.)

And speaking of Simon Cowell, the faint controversy over an out-of-context snippet of Bucky's post-Idol interview had to be gently but firmly addressed on both shows. (Just for the record, the whole teleconference interview is posted here at FoRT; the AP-edited version omits some important information. Bucky was in the process of defending teenaged contestant Paris Bennett, among other things.) Hope this entire quote helps to put it all in perspective:

Q: Bucky, the judges keep saying the same thing over and over again; I’m sure you’ve notice this. They say, “Be true to yourself. Make it your own. Pick better songs.” When you guys get together after a show and after that kind of stuff, do you like look at each other and just laugh about it and sort of in your own way make fun of it? Do these comments that the judges make, are they really seriously taken by the group and by you?

A: I think everybody, yes, we do laugh about it and everything else, but I’m sure some people take it to heart more than other people, but you have to look at it. You have to look at the judges. Like Simon, a lot of times he signs boy bands and stuff like that, so for him to like somebody like me or Taylor, it’s out of the question. It doesn’t matter what we do, he’s not going to like us, because we’re just not his thing. So when he gives me advice – it seems like he used to give advice, but now he doesn’t so much give advice as he does try to just put you down and make the show, “Oh, I can’t believe you said that,” which makes people talk the next day.

Like he told Paris, “Weird.” What is that supposed to mean? That tells her nothing. You did not help her none with your comment. You should have just kept your mouth shut. I don’t mean to sound rude about it, but you can help and then you can just sell the show. He does a good job of selling the show, because he knows exactly what sells and he does it and does it well.

Oddly enough, many of the the hardcore Idol fans out there feel that Bucky has a point.

So how did he sound? Raspy, soulful, and best of all, relaxed. The Ellen performance seemed somewhat more relaxed than the Regis and Kelly one to our ears, although both were a pleasure; we even got a bit of that cool "Real Good Man" slide-dance on the Ellen segment. Kelly Ripa got an encouraging bit of info from Bucky--after complimenting him on his beautiful voice and asking about his future plans, Bucky replied that they'd be going home for "a day", then heading to Nashville to "chase a couple of opportunities." Hmmmmm...

Could there be even more news out of Nashville soon? We'll stay tuned.

In the meantime, remember to catch Bucky on Geraldo at Large at 7:00 p.m. Eastern in most markets; and word has it there's a short Bucky clip on tonight's Inside Edition (syndicated; check your local listings.) And if you missed today's shows, be sure to head over to IDF for info, links and goodies. Finally, a kind poster at the official boards shared her fun in-person Regis and Kelly studio story in this thread--she didn't get a ticket to the show, but she did get an autograph and a hug...

More later!