Monday news: CRS, ACMs and a wild week ahead!

Bucky Covington on stage in Indianapolis at the Murat Theatre; photo by the very kind Danna, who shares more shots from the night in her splendid Photobucket gallery. Thanks, Danna!

Edited to add a note from Beesims in comments: "One of Bucky's musical inspirations, Jeff Healey, passed away from cancer at the age of 41." Jeff was a truly beautiful and gracious man--he will be very much missed.

Dierks Bentley, Bucky Covington and Luke Bryan are off-stage--for now. The Throttle Wide Open tour may be taking a week or so off, but that doesn't mean things will be quiet--this week is pretty jam-packed! From Power Picks to awards announcements to the contest at Bucky's MySpace blog, there's plenty to keep Bucky Covington fans busy while radio professionals and artists shake up Nashville during CRS-39. Here's a quick overview of what's happening:

Today, Bucky's MySpace blog contest continues--your next chance to qualify for the grand prize of two concert tickets and a meet and greet with Bucky happens at 12:30 pm. ET.

On Tuesday, the nominees for the 43rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be announced by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, and we can see it live on CBS-TV's The Early Show at 8:30 a.m. ET. (Fingers crossed for Bucky!) Tuesday afternoon brings the first of Bucky's three CMT Power Picks matchups for the week; check out the full list of video choices here, then tune in and log on at 12 noon ET tomorrow to vote. Be sure to stop by Bucky's MySpace blog to wind up your day--the contest question will be posted at 9 p.m. ET.

Wednesday, Bucky's CMT Power Picks matchup will be the second challenge in the show--mouse-click him to victory there, then hop over to his MySpace blog and enjoy a victory of your own if you're the first one to answer the 12:30 p.m. ET question correctly.

Thursday brings the big news about the second-round nominees for the 2008 CMT Music Awards--did our votes get Bucky's "A Different World" video into the final four for the USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year? We'll find out that morning--and if he is nominated, we'll be back in voting mode immediately, since the balloting opens again the same day! Bucky's third and final CMT Power Picks matchup for the week happens on Thursday as well--see you there at 12 noon ET. You'll want to clear a little time for yourself in the evening, too, since Bucky's MySpace blog quiz question will be posted at 9 p.m. ET.

Friday is a very big day for Bucky--he'll be one of the five selected performers for this year's New Faces Of Country Music show at CRS. This year's New Faces are Luke Bryan, Jason Michael Carroll, Bucky Covington, Jake Owen and Taylor Swift, and as CMT.com notes, this is a huge honor and a very important, make-or-break chance for country radio programmers to see and hear what we've known for a couple of years now--he's terrific. All the best to Bucky, and congratulations!

Whew! With all that in mind, here's the rest of today's bits and bobs:

Chart news: "It's Good to Be Us" is of to a good start this week at #16 on the Mediabase weighted and Top 500 charts--we'll keep requesting! Opportunity's knocking all over the place, and we're in a great position to pounce--so if you've been shy about calling your local country station and requesting Bucky, now's a perfect time to come out of your shell. Remember those "Top X at X" countdowns and the nationally syndicated shows, too--every single request we make helps Bucky move toward those soon-to-be-open spots near the top of the chart.

Upcoming shows: After a pause for CRS week, the Throttle Wide Open tour starts up again with a party at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach on Thursday, 3/13; snag your general admission entry at Ticketmaster. Tickets for most of Dierks Bentley's Throttle Wide Open dates are available now at Ticketmaster--check Dierks' official website for details on non-Ticketmaster events. Seats for the Jackson, TN Dierks Bentley concert on April 3rd are available at the City of Jackson site.

Bucky Covington, Ducky Medlock and Steve Cook rock the crowd at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis; photo by the very generous Buckaholic. See more of her beautiful images at Photobucket. Thanks again!

On the tube and around the net: I'll come right out and say it--my American Country Music Writing Idol is Hazel Smith, who always offers fun and food for thought in her Hot Dish columns at CMT.com. Today's is a must read--Hazel speaks about the history, tradition and future of CMA Fest (originally Fan Fair), and she offers a frank personal perspective on the country fan/country artist relationship that should be fuel for quite a few discussions. If you'd like to talk about it, hop on into comments and let me know what you think...

Enjoy two beautiful concert shots by Happydays at The Covington Times today--she captured Bucky at the WSOC cruise and Rocky at the Carolina Grill beautifully. (There's also an excellent chart related question posted at the Times--if you have the answer, leave them a comment and share your genius!) At Midask9's It's Good to Be Us blog, you'll find a fun tribute to Bucky's powerful (in all senses of the word) managers Don and Ron Harris, complete with terrific photos. And Nikki's Simply a Bucky Fan has a brand new look, as well as her great chart info and request resources in the sidebar.

On the tube, catch Bucky's video for "It's Good to Be Us" at 6:10 PM ET on GAC, then stick around for a blast from the past with "A Different World" at 7:13 PM ET.

Vote for Bucky: A busy start to a busy week--but so worth it! Give "It's Good to Be Us" some lovin' at GAC Top 20 Country Countdown, at CMT's Top 20 Countdown and at CMT's Pure Country Pure 12-Pack.

More very soon--have a good Monday!