Monday news: Top Ten and the beauty of momentum...

Bucky Covington looked radiant on stage at the Charlotte Knights stadium, 7/7; photo courtesy of the very gracious Happydays. You can enjoy more of her lovely Charlotte shots right here. Thanks again, Happy! Bucky Covington's debut CD is in stores now, and his music video is available for online viewing at CMT.com and Yahoo Music. You can buy Bucky's album at Amazon, Best Buy , iTunes, WalMart Music and Target, hear the full version of his single "A Different World" at CMT and GAC, 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.


First things first--the party's still going on at Mediabase, where Bucky's debut single "A Different World" starts off the day in the stunningly beautiful (hey, let's be honest) #10 spot on both the weighted and Top 500 charts. We've got the momentum, y'all! Keep requesting Bucky at your favorite local and streaming country stations--and remember those local "Top X at X" and national syndicated country music shows, too. Bucky's got two major superstars just behind him on the charts, so this week, every request means a lot.

We're looking forward to an official Top Ten spot on the weekly Billboard-owned Radio & Records/BDS singles chart, and every day of airplay will help that happen. So call, email, or IM your local DJ and your favorite national show and let your hometown--and the whole country--enjoy a taste of Bucky's first big, big hit.

And while I'm in nagging...er, "encouraging" mode, CMT's Top 20 Countdown and GAC's Top Twenty Country Countdown want to hear from us, too. Even though "A Different World" is off the CMT countdown (it's still looking good at GAC), our votes let both channels know there's major interest in Bucky Covington--a reality that is being backed up pretty nicely by the Mediabase rankings. And by voting for his first video, we're doing his next video a favor, too. So as long as "A Different World" is on the video ballots--vote for Bucky! (Hey, you see what all our Idol-honed voting skills have accomplished so far--and this ride's only just beginning...)

The live version of that wild ride was a big hit at the Charlotte Knights stadium on Saturday evening--Bucky, Don, Shaun, Hans and Rocky rocked the house, by all accounts. An "unknown" friend posted an excellent recap of the night on Bucky's thread at the Fox boards, and here's an extra link to Happydays' great photos from the show. There are also a few lovely shots posted on Flickr today (our kudos to the very kind photographer), and the Bucky Truck Stop has a sweet collection of images. Word has it that even more Charlotte photos should be popping up online soon. Stay tuned!

Bucky's next scheduled stop is the Kosciusko County Fair in Indiana on Tuedsay--he and the band will take the stage at the grandstand at 7:00 p.m. local time. For more info on Bucky's summer concerts, be sure to hit the tour page at his official site.

The Hits Daily Double album sales estimates will crank up again for the week at approximately 7:30 a.m. Pacific, with the final estimates posted tomorrow afternoon. Last week, Bucky's CD held on to its #11 spot on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart for the second straight week--it'll be fun to see what this week has in store. Did Bucky's charming Fox & Friends appearance inspire some extra new CD sales? We'll know tomorrow...

Finally, a quick question for everyone--honestly, could we be any prouder of this guy? Congratulations, Bucky!

More later--have a magnificent Monday!

Edited to add a fun TV notice from comments--GAC's Backyard Bash special (airtimes here) features the hosts from the channel getting together for a "BBQ party" and playing their favorite videos. Suzanne Alexander (who also writes a terrific blog) chose Bucky's "A Different World" as her pick for the show. Enjoy! (Thanks to a kind anon for the tip.)