Friday news: Viva Las Vegas, more Atlanta memories, and a beautiful poll...

Bucky Covington on the Grand Ole Opry stage, March 9th; photo by the generous Honeygirl. Thanks! (You can enjoy more of her great shots here.) Bucky's debut CD is in stores now, and his music video is now available for online viewing at CMT.com and Yahoo Music. You can buy Bucky's album at Amazon, Best Buy , iTunes and Target, hear the full version of his single "A Different World" at CMT and GAC, preview his entire CD at Clear Channel Music, or enjoy samples of songs from the CD at Bucky's official MySpace. An autographed copy of Bucky Covington can be ordered while supplies last at his official site or via his official fan club.

Tonight, Bucky Covington and Sawyer Brown take the stage at the Boulder Station Casino, and if you've seen either in concert, you know this will be one energetic show! Bucky's got two more appearances with Sawyer Brown coming up soon--one tomorrow at the SUU Centrum Arena in Cedar City Utah (click here for ticket information) and another May 10th at the Wildhorse saloon in Nashville, to benefit the Second Harvest Kids Cafe. Here's a list of all of his confirmed tour dates--be sure to catch Bucky, Rocky and the band near you this spring and summer.

And here's good news for those with flexible schedules who'd love to see this winning combination up close--there's still a pair of second row center seats for tonight's Las Vegas show available, via a kind Bucky fan with a change of plans. (The tickets have been spoken for--thanks!) Good luck--I hope you'll be there for the concert...

Bucky's big beautiful #1 debut on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart is still making a media splash--Access Hollywood gives him a mention in their latest online update, and the Washington Times ran a somewhat de-snarkified version of the Zap2It article today. There should be some more chart news in the next few days, since "A Different World" is as closeasthis to the Top 20 on the Mediabase Top 500 and weighted charts. (Ah, the suspense!) Keep requesting, y'all--the weekend syndicated shows and your local radio station are all well-aware of Bucky's album-chart triumph, and many of those holdout stations have finally gotten around to adding the song. It should be easier than ever to catch Bucky on the radio these days...

Bucky's video for "A Different World" took a leap upward on this week's CMT's Top 20 Countdown--it's currently #8. There's no voting there, of course, but CMT's Pure Country Pure 12-Pack video countdown and GAC's Top Twenty Country Countdown would sure love to hear from us! Bucky's a big part of today's CMT.com front page--his "CMT Outsider" videos are spotlighted on the link to CMT Loaded, and his album is the second most popular URGE download.

CMT's also got a bit of fun for us on the Interact page--today's poll reads "Carrie Underwood is on People magazine's annual '100 Most Beautiful People' list. Which of these newcomers is most likely to make the list next year?" Hmmmm--you might want to share your opinion on that one...

And if you need a visual aid or two to help you make up your mind, our friend Buckyflowers shared her gorgeous photos from Atlanta on her Fox profile yesterday. Enjoy her great shots of Bucky, Rocky and the band on stage at that very cozy private Kicks 101.5 show. (We're still waiting for Rodney Ho's take on the event at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Idol Blog--keep checking back.)

We'll close for now with a bit of "vintage" video you might have missed. GAC's Video Center is a fun way for those of us who don't yet get the channel to enjoy a taste of what we're missing, and Bucky's funny Sound and Speed interview with Suzanne Alexander is archived in the Still Rollin' section. (If only he--and we--knew then what we'd be celebrating now...)

More later today--see you very soon!