#113 Bucky Covington

Next on my American Idol finalist countdown is my number 113 finalist, country singer-songwriter Bucky Covington. He is my least favorite finalist of season 5. He came to fame when he got eighth place on American Idol season 5. In December 2006, he was signed to Lyric Street Records. His self-titled debut album, which was produced by Mark Miller, a member of the band Sawyer Brown, was released on April 17, 2007, during the time of American Idol season 6. He was ranked at number 45 on The Los Angeles Times American Idol power rankings list.

William Joel "Bucky" Covington, III, was born in Rockingham, North Carolina, on November 8, 1977, alongside his identical twin brother Robert David "Rocky" Covington. Bucky is the nickname derived from his grandfather Buck. He graduated as a member of the class of 1996 from Scotland High School in Laurinburg, North Carolina. When he was fresh out of high school, he worked at Covington's Body Shop in Hamlet, North Carolina.

At the age of 18, ten years before his stint on American Idol, Covington learned to play the guitar and began to perform at clubs. He is also a bassist, drummer, and a songwriter. Over the years, he evolved talentwise in both the country and rock genres. Sometime thereafter, he elected to record and perform both original songs and cover songs in a cross-genre fashion. His twin brother Rocky is also a musician and is the former lead singer of the local band called Swamp Cat.

In 1998, the year I graduated from high school, when the Covington twins were 20 years old, they were in a minor automobile identity mishap. Bucky allegedly pretended to be Rocky, and were arrested for confusing law enforcement. The plaintiff could not identity whether it was Bucky or Rocky driving, since the twins were identical.

In the fifth season of American Idol, the Covington twins individually auditioned in Greensboro, North Carolina. Of the two, only Bucky advanced to the voting rounds. Bucky Covington made the top 12 after a performance of "Wave on Wave" by Pat Green. On March 22, 2006, he was in the bottom 3 with Lisa Tucker and Kevin Covais, who was eliminated that week. On April 12, 2006, when he was in the bottom 3 with Ace Young (who was eliminated right after Covington) and my season 5 favorite Elliott Yamin, he was eliminated at eight place.  During the top 8 results show of season 6, he appeared on one of the front rows.

After his stint on American Idol, he bought a house near Franklin, Tennessee, near Nashville, which he shared with Rocky and his wife Terra. Rocky also joined Bucky's band as a percussionist. On February 23, 2007, he and his wife Crystal, whom he married before his stint on American Idol, separated from each other, but he recently got engaged to his girl friend of three and a half years, Katherine Cook.

In April 2010, Lyric Street Records went belly up, but Covington was transferred to record label affiliated with Disney Music Group.

Next up is my number 112 American Idol finalist, who auditioned for season 8 in Phoenix, Arizona, and was an oil rigger before his stint on American Idol.