Monday, Monday...

The tour rehearsals--and with any luck, some leaked details about the staging, set lists and songs--should begin in a few days, thank heaven. In the meantime, Bucky's hometown supporters have a little snippet of fun news to share at the official boards. (Speaking of hometown news, that possible insider thread about Bucky's future recording prospects is still going strong--might as well bookmark it and linger a while...)

And it sounds as though the talented Vinman is still working on that Country Fever Fest footage. Patience is a virtue--the end result will probably look and sound terrific. Wonder if "Some Girls Do", one of the tunes Bucky's said to have performed that night, will be part of the summer tour's delights?

The July 27 and 28th "Rocky Rally" is growing bigger by the second--by the looks of this thread, there's going to be a huge crowd at Hugo's for the Rocky Covington and Caddy Wampus performance that weekend. (The link goes to the most recent page of the long, long thread. Edited: the Fox moderators nixed the party-planning thread, citing safety concerns. If you're making a spur-of-the-moment decision to hit the Rocky Rally, hop over to the Bucky Country boards, where the discussion continues. And have fun!)

A few posts back there was a link to USA Today's "Idol Chatter" blog, in which readers posted their best/worst performance lists, and the paper's blogger mentioned that he'd tally up the results and post his own choices. Well, the votes are in. (Drum roll, please!) According to USA Today, Bucky's best and worst performances were:

Readers' choices: Best -- Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen); Worst -- Oh Boy ('50s)
USA Today critic's choice: Best -- Best I Ever Had (Country); Worst -- Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen)

Have to admit that I was a bit surprised by the choices--I do think "Best I Ever Had" was one of the best (and most underrated) American Idol performances ever, so I suppose that particular pick wasn't a shocker. But who could have guessed that "Fat Bottomed Girls" would have turned up at the opposite ends of both lists? (Just for the record, here's the recap from that night. I still say it was just totally fun...)

And also just for the record: USA Today critic's choice for Kevin Covais: Best -- Part-Time Lover; Worst -- When I Fall in Love.

Finally, if you haven't hit the gallery at Bucky Country lately, be sure to pop in there soon--it's grown to a truly impressive size, with plenty of great photos you might have missed.

See you later--have a lovely Monday!