Bucky Thanks Simon for Being 'Mean'
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"Because of him being mean, millions of people watch that show," Covington, 29, tells the Associated Press. "So I say 'thank you' for being mean. You turned on a lot of people to this show, and because of that a lot of great things happened to me."
The Rockingham, N.C., native also refutes recent observations that this season Cowell and fellow judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson have become even more critical than before.
"I didn't see them being really nice to me – no pushovers, you know," he says. "I never knew Simon to be nice. If you said, 'Hey, Simon is being nice this year,' you would have caught my attention. But being mean is just what I expect. It's what he does. It's his job."
Covington – whose self-titled debut album on Lyric Street Records will be released April 17 – said his Idol experience was a positive one.
"I didn't really think I was going to win it. I wanted to be heard and get noticed," he said. "The most stressful thing for me was after this show is over, what's next? Is it back to painting cars? Is it playing clubs? Or is it a career starter?"
