Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

Last night, "The X Factor" moved on to Chicago and Seattle, and while there were definitely a few head-scratching (and ear-bleeding) moments, in general the show was looking up, up, up. Yes, my esteemed colleague Matt Whitfield was a hater last week, and not without good reason. But this week, both he and I found a few exellent contestants to get truly excited about. And so in today's "Day After" chat, we are celebrating with a fit-for-a-Cowell feast of blueberries and Josh Krajcik-inspired burritos.

Because, as our favorite new contestant Josh recently said, burritos are good.

Watch Matt and I dig into last night's "X Factor" epsiode in our usual opinionated manner above. And feel free to post your own opinions on the message board below!

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Just like those awesome times when the "Ace Of Cakes" pastry chefs baked a cake for alt-rock icons Pavement, Kings Of Leon's Caleb Followill was a judge on "Iron Chef," or Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme appeared on "No Reservations," the guest appearance this week by the Beastie Boys' Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz on "Top Chef: Just Desserts" was a rock 'n' roll recipe for reality foodie fabulousness. Ch-check it out...

During this totally sweet episode, the contestants cooked up sugar-smacking treats, to be served up at a hip-hop-friendly street art exhibit, using ingredients mentioned in the Beasties' tasty classic hits (including a 40-ouncer, pork-&-beans, cheddar cheese, ham, and hot butter). Some of resulting dishes sounded bizarre but decadently delicious, like winner Matt's cornbread-&-mashed-potato cheesecake with whiskey caramel and gravy foam. But others, like the pork-&-bean brownie, ham pecan brittle, and falafel panna cotta, seemed like they'd wreak some serious sabotage

Last week, The Hub TV Network's underage singing competition "Majors & Minors" premiered, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the dozen talented tweens who made the show's final cut. Pint-size powerhouses Grace Jeanette and Ashley Nicole Greene caught my ear and eye, but I was especially impressed by Nashville's shy 13-year-old piano girl Kennedy Noel, who's already composing her own (good!) songs, and SoCal eighth-grader Sabrina Lentini, who auditioned with an acoustic-guitar version of Jesus Jones's "Right Here Right Now," a leftfield song that's eight whole years older than she is.

This season "Majors & Minors," developed and executive-produced by hit songwriter Evan Bogart, will follow a 12 kids competing for a recording contract with Boardwalk/RCA. Along the way, they'll mentored by such A-list adults as will.i.am, Colbie Caillat, Avril Lavigne, and Sean Kingston, and even reality veterans like Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, Leona Lewis, and Adam Lambert.

Exclusive

This week, the Interweb nearly imploded upon making the latent but awesome discovery that "Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills" starlet Lisa Vanderpump once played the femme fatale in that classic early-MTV music video, "Poison Arrow" by ABC. But of course, Miss 'Pump is not the first actor (if she can be called that) to moonlight in a music vid. Many actual A-listers have also rocked the small screen this way, and while some of these appearances are well-known (Scarlett Johansson in Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around," Jennifer Love Hewitt in Enrique Iglesias's "Hero," Charlize Theron in Brandon Flowers' "Crossfire," Julia Roberts in Dave Matthews' "Dreamgirl", Christopher Walken in Fatboy Slim's "Weapon Of Choice"), other video cameos by stars like Katie Holmes never got such wide screenings back in the day. 

So here are the top 10 most surprising music video celebrity sightings in recent memory. Who knew that these respected thespians had so much in common with video vixens

Episode three of "The X Factor" was definitely an odd one. Maybe the wicked spell of teen ghosthunter Ashley Deckard or the full moon Marivana Viscuso spoke of last week finally took effect, as Simon Cowell and his cronies rode their giant "X Factor"-branded Mack trucks to Chicago and Seattle. For instance...

Cheryl Cole was back, without explanation, for a blip, and then poof!--she was banished back across the pond once again, in an instance of very dyslexic editing on Fox's part. 

L.A. Reid was uncharacteristically warm and fuzzy, wearing a yellow Cosby sweater for much of the episode and uttering Paula-like positive affirmations like "I like your spirit" and "I believe in you." Hey, what happened to the meanie L.A. who was barking stuff like "You made me want to slit my wrists" last week?

Simon became so desperate trying to keep one of his favorites in the competition, he started begging--yes, BEGGING!--fellow judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger to change their votes. And he

After a somewhat disappointing Season 3 premiere episode, "The Sing-Off" returned this Monday with eight more a cappella crews, and finally I had a reason to get excited about this show besides the participation of the always-awesome Ben Folds. This was a much better episode, with a few contestants who just might actually push the a cappella art form into that much-ballyhooed "Future" that Ben's always optimistically babbling about. And certainly when it comes to the near future, I think this week's hopefuls have better shots of making the "Sing-Off" finale than last week's batch.

(Side note: How amusing is it that My Chemical Romance's "Sing" has become THE unofficial vocal-competition anthem, used in "The Glee Project," the Season 10 "American Idol" promos, and now on "The Sing-Off"? Still, I'm just waiting for some reality contestant to tackle MCR's equivalent of "Bohemian Rhapsody," that is, the epic "Welcome To The Black Parade." Anyone who tries that has my vote.)

Anyhoo,

Season 7 finalist Brooke White was a true pioneer on "American Idol." Competing during the very first season on which contestants were allowed to play musical instruments, her acoustic guitar and piano covers of the Beatles' "Let It Be," the Police's "Every Breath You Take," and especially Pat Benatar's "Love Is A Battlefield" were all "AI" game-changers. It's no hyperbole to state that Brooke opened up the "Idol" competition to a whole new slew of singer-songstresses, especially the folky females who dominated Season 9, like Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami, Katelyn Epperly, and Lilly Scott.

Since placing fifth on "Idol," Brooke has busied herself with acting and hosting gigs and released one underrated solo album, High Hopes & Heartbreak. But now, as one-half of the cleverly named folk-rock duo Jack and White, she seems to have really founded her post-"AI" voice and fulfilled her early promise. Jack and White consists of Brooke and California singer-songwriter Jack Matranga (formerly

"American Idol" Season 10 screamer James Durbin was always adamant that he would never stray from his hard-rock roots while pursuing his post-"AI" career, and so far, he's a metal-man of his word. He covered the Heavy Metal theme and performed with Zakk Wylde and Judas Priest on "Idol"; he belted out Guns N' Roses and Muse tunes on the Idols Live Tour (and he wanted to perform songs by Skid Row and Dio); he landed a multi-page spread in the respected rock mag Revolver; he just signed to Wind-Up Records, label home of Evanescence and Seether; and now he's released a head-hammeringly catchy new track, "Stand Up" on the Official Gameday Music Of The NFL Vol. 2 EP, that's a promising sign of rawkin' things to come.

The hard-charging, fist-pumping anthem, complete with cranked-to-11 chorus, would certainly sound awesome booming from the speakers at any stadium--whether that stadium was hosting a football game or, well, a Durbin headlining concert. Fans of few-and-far-between modern