Quick Wednesday news: Awards buzz, chart gazing and more...

By request, some CMA Fest memories--here's Bucky Covington at an autograph signing session. Visit Music City Update for lots of fantastic Nashville event photos by Aaron Crisler. (Photo by Aaron Crisler/ Music City Update.com.)

Today's biggest news came at us yesterday in a double dose! Bucky Covington was nominated for the 2008 CMT Music Awards, which will be televised April 14--this is the biggie with the belt buckle trophy and a lot of repeat airings--and Bucky won a "golden mouse" in the separate but very cool CMT Online Awards, a fun affair that's over now but available online for your enjoyment at CMT.com. (Hit the "Watch Online" link on this page to see the Online Awards ceremonies.)

The 2008 CMT Music Awards are fan-voted, and there's only one vote per registered CMT user. So once you've had your say, point your friends and neighbors in the direction of this CMT registration page, and encourage them to put in a good word for Bucky. There'll be a lot more info about the voting whirl coming up here very soon--come on back.

In the meantime, here's what's happening:

Chart news: Bucky's hit single, "It's Good to Be Us", remains at #17 on both the Mediabase weighted and Top 500 charts this morning, but both of those bullets seem to be visibly plumper than yesterday. Definitely a move in the right direction! Keep requesting--and be sure to let your local country station know that you're proud of Bucky's award-worthy music, too...

Upcoming shows: No "new news" here, of course--but the old news is worth repeating. Tickets for Dierks Bentley's Throttle Wide Open tour (Bucky Covington and Luke Bryan are his special guests) are on sale now at Ticketmaster, and Bucky's solo headlining gig at The Machine Shop in Flint, MI on 2/22 is bound to sell out fast--get your ticket now at www.etix.com.

Bucky Covington, Rocky Covington (left) and Ducky Medlock (right) rocked the crowd at their daytime CMA Fest performance; photo courtesy of the very kind Happydays. You can enjoy more of her beautiful CMA Fest photos here. Thanks, Happy!

On the tube and around the net: Be sure to catch the CMT Online Awards at CMT.com today--looks like two TV airdates are planned for next week, as well. You can enjoy both of Bucky's videos on GAC today--watch "A Differerent World" at about 4:17 this afternoon and "It's Good to Be Us" at 7:11 and 10:02 this evening. And of course, that "encore" Riverfront Concert Series special with Bucky and labelmates Sarah Buxton and Trent Tomlinson is a must-see! Check it out on GAC Friday, 2/8 at 10:30 p.m.--several repeats follow.


Online, hop on over to The Covington Times for two beautiful concert photos by Rachel and a link to a fun "Sweet Home Alabama" clip by Kathy of Team Covington fame. The very kind Ogopogo sent a resized smaller version of the "vote for Bucky at the CMT Music Awards" graphic in our sidebar, for use at the AmericanIdol.com boards. Thanks so much, Ogopogo! Click here to see her graphic gift--you can link to it directly or upload it to your Photobucket, whichever you prefer. Finally, be sure to hit the CMT board for the awards--Lisa/Judge has started a congratulations thread for Bucky, if you'd like to hop over and put in a kind word or two!

Vote for Bucky: Naturally, the huge news is the 2008 CMT Music Awards voting, but there's still lots more opportunity to give Bucky a boost out there-- the Country Weekly "Country's Hottest Bachelor" survey is chugging along nicely. (This is yet another "one vote per mail address" poll, so pass that link to a friend or two!) This week's "Idol Madness" playoff round at Idol Thoughts is still in progress and you can vote for Bucky right here.

We'll wrap things up for now with those handy video voting links--give "It's Good to Be Us" some love at GAC's Top 20 Country Countdown, at CMT's Top 20 Countdown and CMT's Pure Country Pure 12-Pack. (Today's the last day for the latter, and even with the ongoing tech glitches, it does appear that votes are getting through. Keep on clicking...)

More very soon--have a wonderful Wednesday!