Thanks to the very kind elf who passed this news along: Bucky Covington will be one of the artists at the the truTV™ Fan Fair® Hall during the 2008 CMA Fest. (As of now, his name isn't on the Music Schedule page, but bookmark the CMA Fest site at http://www.cmafest.com/2008/ , or better yet, sign up for their newsletter--updates and changes are happening all the time, and if you're planning to be there, you'll want to keep up. Have fun!)

American Idol takes a trip to Tennessee this week as the top rated show catches up with several of its favorite former finalists. Airing Wednesday, April 2nd at 9:00pm EDT on FOX, Bucky Covington will return to American Idol in a taped interview from his new hometown of Nashville , Tennessee where he updates the show's 30 million viewers on the latest happenings since competing on season five, including the release of his debut CD. The segment also features fellow AI alums Phil Stacey and Bo Bice.

In the same week that Bucky returns to "American Idol" he is also excited to celebrate his second consecutive top 10 hit as "It's Good To Be Us" jumps four spots to #9 on the Country Aircheck/Mediabase chart. The song's music video includes a cameo by freestyle motocross champion Cowboy Kenny Bartram and is currently on CMT and GAC's Top 20 countdown shows.

Click for more on the 2008 CMT Music Awards at CMT.com. Bucky Covington 's self-titled CD released in April 2007 and opened at #1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart with the biggest first week sales for any debut country artist that year. He wrapped 2007 as Country Aircheck's #1 New Artist based on the strength of his top 5 first single "A Different World" and his current hit, "It's Good To Be Us." In addition to competing on the fifth season of American Idol, Bucky's national television appearances have included Live with Regis and Kelly, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Good Morning America and Fox & Friends. Bucky is currently on tour with Dierks Bentley on the singer's "Throttle Wide Open" tour.

Bucky Covington's "It's Good to Be Us" is now #9 on the Mediabase weighted listings and #11 on the Top 500. That's the perfect way to start the new week! We'll keep the requests going--single digit territory sure feels sweet.

Bucky's got a few days off before the Throttle Wide Open tour starts up again in Jackson, Tennessee on April 3rd (last-minute seats might be available at http://www.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=1... ), and that American Idol segment with Bucky, Bo Bice and Phil Stacey airs the night before, on April 2nd. An exciting week is ahead--hang on...

Finally, here's a sweet treat at YouTube to wrap up the weekend--enjoy Lisa/Judge's beautiful montage of concert photos set to "It's Good to Be Us" at http://youtube.com/watch?v=sPY2pvPoDec. Lots of great images we haven't seen before--thanks to Lisa and the Florida fans for sharing!