Saturday news: chartwatching, the long and short of it , and more...

Bucky Covington (and his shorter new style) appeared on Fox & Friends Friday morning for an interview and a performance of his hit single, "A Different World"--you can enjoy the video on the Fox site today. 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.

Edited to add two don't-miss links today: be sure to check out Sunscreen's latest and greatest updates to the Bucky Truck Stop at Rawkhands, and click here for a sweet lead-off photo at Kathy's Team Covington blog that's guaranteed to inspire an "awwwww"...

Charlotte is the place to be tonight--Bucky, Rocky, Don, Shaun and Hans are set to rock the Knights Stadium this evening for a post-game concert featuring fireworks and an opening performance by the lovely Melissa McGee. You'll find Knights Stadium at 2280 Deerfield Drive in Fort Mill, S.C.; the $7-$12 admission covers both the game and the show. Call 704-357-8071 or stop in at www.charlotteknights.com for more info. (Wish we could all be there--have a great time! Bucky's tour schedule is posted at his official site--hope the bus pulls into your city very soon.)

On the charts, the fireworks are starting this morning--Bucky's single, "A Different World", has switched places with superstar Tim McGraw's latest and is now #12 on the Mediabase weighted chart, while it holds steady at #11 on the Top 500. Yep, we could see a brief wrestling match on the way to that Top Ten spot--but a quick look at the chart shows that the road ahead is still pretty clear. Keep requesting Bucky at your favorite local and streaming country stations--and keep voting for Bucky's video at CMT's Top 20 Countdown and GAC's Top Twenty Country Countdown , too.

A happy medium: Bucky's mid-length hair in a great screencap by Sunscreen of the Bucky Truck Stop at Rawkhands. Click the image to visit the Truck Stop.

Bucky's appearance on Fox & Friends yesterday has caused a little buzz online and offline this weekend--not about the mellower version of "A Different World" that he and Don, Hans, Shaun and Rocky performed on the show (it was lovely), nor about the matching "I Love New York" emergency stage gear (it was fun and surprisingly endearing--we all can relate to lost luggage before a big event!) Nope, as you might have guessed, the buzz was about...Bucky's hair. Three of my offline buds brought Bucky's new look up, spontaneously, yesterday--a sure sign it made an impression, since they wouldn't be considered hardcore fans by any stretch of the imagination. And as far as the hardcore fan opinion goes, there's a thread in progress at the CMT boards...


The long view: Bucky sported a shoulder sweeping style on Regis and Kelly earlier this spring. Fuzzy screencap by me.

Now, in the grand scheme of things, Bucky's still a relatively long-haired dude--but for those of us who "met" him last year via Idol, that's the shortest hair we've seen him sport since...well, ever. And the simplest explanation is usually the best--one of my long-haired boyfriends once told me that the first summer he spent working outdoors was the only time he ever considered a buzz cut. There's a lot to be said for a breezy short 'do when you're standing in the hot sun for hours on end...

Suffice it to say that we'd find him appealing and a terrific singer whether he decides to grow his hair waist length or shaves it off in the classic Chris Daughtry/Phil Stacey manner. This sure won't be his only change in style over those twenty or thirty hitmaking years he says he's aiming for! Something tells me we'll all be along for the ride no matter what angle the scissors take.

As for me? I still really, really miss the hat.

More later--enjoy your Saturday!