Trystin' the night away

The latest on tonight's gala event comes from Norm's Vegas Confidential column in today's Las Vegas Review Journal:

Paula Abdul will have an "American Idol" support team in town tonight when she receives the "Woman of the Year" award at the Nevada Ballet Theatre's Black & White Ball.

I hear the "Idol" posse has grown to almost a dozen, with fellow judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson joined by host Ryan Seacrest and several "Idol" alums.

The former contestants include Chris Daughtry, Bucky Covington, Paris Bennett, Anthony FedOrov, Lisa Tucker, Mandisa and Melissa McGhee. Daughtry will perform at the after-party at Tryst, after the gala in a Wynn ballroom.

Sounds like a good time--we'll keep an eye out for photos! (Hopefully a few will be taken at the ultra-fabulous Tryst...)

CMT gave Bucky a brief mention in today's news article about this week's country charts; he, Josh Gracin, Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler are spoken of as examples of how American Idol has "become a farm team for Nashville labels". (And another reminder--if you'd like to hear Bucky's new single, "A Different World", in its entirety, CMT's Single Listening Party is still in progress.

Bucky performed an acoustic version of his debut single at the Cure for Kids Radiothon in Asheville, North Carolina yesterday, and Happydays has some great photos from the scene! Check out her gorgeous Photobucket gallery--and be sure to catch that lovely picture of Bucky's proud grandparents. Thanks so much, Happydays! And if you're looking for audio goodies from that afternoon, check out the BuckyCovingtonFans MySpace, where Friday's radio interviews--and many others--are available for your listening pleasure.

(By the way, the Radiothon may be winding down, but you can still contribute to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation--here's the online donation form.)

More soon--enjoy the evening!