Slowly but surely...(quick update and photo links, 9/16)

Bucky in L.A.; photo by HeatherLovesAI of IDF

Our connection's still down...I'm on the slowest dial-up ever! I apologize for the glitch and hope to get back on the DSL track as soon as I can. Thanks, y'all...--W

(Edited to send you to Team Covington right now for a link to some fresh photos from the Huntington, WV concert--a friend of Kathy's was there and got some excellent snaps. Enjoy!)

First things first--yesterday's news has inspired a very informative thread at the Fox boards (link goes to middle of thread). Kathy of Team Covington fame posted some interesting details from a contact with Lyric Street Records, and many of the generous fans there are gathering information, too. The bottom line? We're still waiting for an official label announcement, but there's reason now to expect that that'll be coming very, very soon. Stay tuned to that thread for further developments--good news travels fast.

Saturday also brings this fun bit from the Daily Press reviewer's look at last night's Hampton Roads, Virginia show. The author spoke with two of Bucky's youngest fans:

But around the corner, 5-year-old Elizabeth Ann McGlaughlin testified to her love of Bucky Covington, the long-haired North Carolina crooner.

"Yea, Bucky! I'm a big fan of Bucky!" she said. Her 3-year-old brother, Ben chimed in, "I'm a little fan!"

The two McGlaughlin kids came to the show from Hampton with their parents, Kristy and Earl. Their mother said "American Idol" represents good television for youngsters. "Compared to some of the reality programs, it has better messages, it's more family oriented."

Elizabeth naturally gravitated toward Bucky, with no coaching from her parents. "He wears cool clothes, I like the kind of shoes he wears," she said. "His hairstyle. I like the way he sings. He's really cool. That's all."

(One of the sweetest parts of going to the Idol shows is seeing the "littlest" Bucky fans--they're not shy about cheering and dancing and having a good ol' time when Bucky's on stage. Awwww...)

And as you might have guessed, the Mark Miller announcement is still causing quite the happy buzz! The post about it at MJ's Big Blog sparked a flurry of congratulations, well-wishes and even a few "I don't own a lot of country CDs, but I'll buy his." (Actually, there have been a fair number of posts along those lines this whole season; for some, Bucky's journey on American Idol has been a catalyst to take a second look at current country music--and some of us have really, really liked what we've heard. Pretty cool, that...)

And we'll wrap it up for now with a bit of eye candy--a kind Katharine McPhee fan shared some nice photos of Bucky before and during the Atlanta concert in his thread at IDF. (This one's fun!)


See you later today...on a faster connection, I hope. Have a stellar Saturday!