Singer of Queen tune bottoms out, voted off

4/13/2006

Another one bites the dust on American Idol, as America sent 28-year-old Bucky Covington packing last night.

Contestants rocked out to the music of Queen on Tuesday with Covington of Rockingham, N.C., opening the show with "Fat Bottomed Girls." But America found somebody else to love and voted him off the popular Fox talent contest.

"I didn't realize how hard Queen's songs are to sing," said judge Paula Abdul, reflecting on the songs each contestant chose to sing on Tuesday.

Judge Randy Jackson said he thought Covington's performance was a "nice way to start the show, dog" even though he acknowledged there were some pitch problems.

Abdul said she liked that Covington stuck to his roots by making "Fat Bottomed Girls" more of a country song.

Even though judge Simon Cowell agreed that the song choice was good, he said it was too big for Covington and classified it as "mediocre."

Joining Covington in the bottom three for the second week in a row was 27-year-old Elliott Yamin from Richmond, Va., who sang "Somebody to Love" on Tuesday. Jackson said last night that he didn't understand why America didn't give him more votes. "They must be confused because this boy can sing, dude," he said.

Ace Young, 25, of Denver, Colo., rounded out the bottom three after singing "We Will Rock You," which Cowell said on Tuesday was "a complete and utter mess."

All eight remaining contestants opened last night's show with a Queen medley as the audience watched clips from the audition rounds of the show from late last year.

Then the contestants were given the opportunity to watch videos of their loved ones wishing them luck during the rest of the competition.

Covington's dad told America that his son was "just putting a whole new life on everybody" in Rockingham because they have been showing their support for him with signs all through town.

Five were spared from the bottom three this week, and now just seven contestants remain. They'll be crooning to the classics of Rod Stewart on Tuesday as they attempt to stick around another week.

One contestant will be voted off each Wednesday until the new Idol is chosen on May 24.