Slow news blues...

Bucky and the rest of the Idols must be very hard at work rehearsing for the tour behind closed doors--this is about the slowest news time since late April, and it looks like we're not the only ones who've noticed. (When a topic carries a heading like that one, you know it's time to take a break.)

There is one update, though; the Rita Cosby Live and Direct page now contains this sidebar note:

Rita asks your ‘Idol’ questions

Rita Cosby will be in Hollywood for a special on “American Idol.” Send her your questions for the contestants at rita@msnbc.com.

(Nothing can top "Mama Tee's" warm and witty sit-down Bucky interview at Bucky Covington Online, of course. But something tells me Bucky's fans haven't run out of good questions for him just yet...)

While the singers are busy putting the finishing touches on the show, it might be a good time to take another look at the tour and ticket scene.

We Bucky supporters had no way of anticipating what a massive draw this Idol tour would eventually turn out to be (and in retrospect, those presales were a blessing, indeed.) If you didn't get a seat you really love--or if you didn't get a seat at all--a bit of detective work might be in order. Upgrading and/or last-minute concert ticket buying can be a test of patience, as well as a game of skill and chance. Here are a few ways to increase your odds of sitting closer to Bucky this summer:

If you're not checking Ticketmaster every morning, start doing it now! Even the most hardcore "sold out" venues occasionally have tickets pop up suddenly--credit cards get declined, promo holds get released. It's more likely to happen closer to your chosen concert date; nonetheless, a quick check everyday (or even more than once a day if you're obsess...er, determined) can pay off bigtime.

If you're upgrading your seats (buying better ones to replace the so-so seats you have now) and you've already offered first dibs to your board friends and offline buddies, make sure your eBay account is in good order, and try to recoup the money on your old tickets by running an auction. (Even nosebleed seats are selling respectably there at the moment; you may not make a huge profit, but at least you won't have a pair of very expensive souvenirs giving you guilt trips every time you open the desk drawer.) As always, be safe--if you're buying on eBay, look for sellers with a high feedback rating, and use a credit card and/or PayPal (with a credit card, rather than your PayPal balance), to give you some protection from shenanigans.

Doing the broker thing? Prices have come down a little bit in the past couple of weeks, but they're still pretty astronomical. The other trend to note is that the first and second row seats, even at those prices, are becoming a little harder to find. Many of the brokers you see online are drawing from the same pool of tickets. (You've probably noticed that quite a few have big blocks of seats available in the same ok-but-not-wow section; that's why.) The variations in pricing? Different brokers charge different handling/service/whatever fees--this can cause your total to be quite a bit higher than the price you see listed next to that pull down box. If your chosen show has the same seats available from just about every online broker, don't hesitate to shop around for the lowest extra charges. (Hey, if you're paying $800 a pop, you deserve a break somewhere...)

Good luck! I'll be checking Ticketmaster (and the boards) too; if I come across any news about releases, I'll post it here.

More later--or sooner, if the news whirl picks up some much-desired speed!