Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

Original Idol Kelly Clarkson played a free, fans-only club gig at L.A.'s 500-capacity Troubadour Wednesday night to promote her upcoming fifth album, Stronger, out next week. But one of the special show's highlights actually wasn't a song off the album, or even a Kelly song at all, but a cover of a ballad by the other biggest Idol in the game, Carrie Underwood.

Kelly explained to the elated audience that she was inspired to cover Carrie's Carnival Ride cut "I Know You Won't" after hearing Carrie sing it at last month's IHeartRadio festival in Vegas (where both Idols performed). "I thought, 'Isn't that song so pretty?" she recalled. Kelly then invited a cellist onto the Troubadour stage for the acoustic Carrie cover, and even seemed a little nervous. "I need a swig of water, hold on," she said. "I don't want to mess this up! I like this song!"

Well, of course Kelly didn't mess it up. Since when has she ever messed up any song? Her rendition was in fact so stunning, it'll probably

Following Tuesday night's announcement of "The X Factor's" top 17 contestants, the show's stylists got right down to work. And judging from some of the resulting stunning makeovers, these people really know what they're doing when it comes to building the perfect pop beast. In fact, a few of the contestants practically look unrecognizable from their humble first auditions, and they definitely look like superstars.

Fox released the official promo photos of the top 17 on Wednesday morning, and they're a major improvement over those usual generic, blue-background "American Idol" pics that look like they were shot in some kiosk down at the local mall. Some of these new pro shots even look like they could be the cover art for the albums that these contestants obviously hope to release shortly after "The X Factor" is over.

You can check out all of the contestants' promo pics HERE, but below are the most dramatic makeovers of the bunch. Do these photos have the X factor?

RACHEL CROW

At her

Last night, on a very controversial and hotly debated "X Factor" episode, the final 17 contestants were picked for the "X Factor" live shows--and anyone who has been watching recent "Day After" conversations between and my Yahoo! colleague Matt Whitfield already knows that we are FURIOUS about some of the judges' cuts.

A few of our favorite contestants--like Caitlin Koch, Christa Collins, Tora Woloshin, Jazzlyn Little, and James Kenney--were sent packing last night, while others (like, um, everyone in Paula Abdul's groups category) undeservedly stayed. Additionally, Simon Cowell got to keep a bonus fifth contestant for himself (hence why it's a top 17 instead of the expected top 16), while the other judges didn't have that same privilege and had to let some very worthy singers go.

It's no wonder that Matt's so mad today, and that I'm so sad that I've taken my Rachel Zevita "Idol" mouring veil out of its dusty hatbox to grieve the loss of Christa et al today.

Watch Matt and I

In a very timely tidbit of news following this week's controversial "X Factor USA" results, TV's most hated, the one and only Simon Cowell, has been voted "the most punchable celebrity" in a poll conducted by the British fitness center Gymbox. And in celebration of this finding, the London gym is offering a new "Human Punchbag" workout, in which gym members can go a couple rounds with a live Simon lookalike.

"It's no surprise that Simon Cowell was ranked most punchable celebrity after his unceremonious dumping of national sweetheart Cheryl Cole from American 'X Factor' earlier this year," read a Gymbox statement. 

I personally wouldn't mind sparring with Simon like this. Considering how furious I am not only about his Cheryl Cole firing, but about his decision to eliminate Caitlin Koch and Tora Woloshin on "The X Factor USA," I think this would be a pretty motivating workout, and a good way to legally, harmlessly blow off some steam.

Incidentally, it seems that the British public

Tuesday night's very special episode of "The X Factor" was the season's most crucial yet. It was time to face the music, as the Fox slogan goes, as the final contestants who will perform for the public's vote were told their fate. And, more importantly/dramatically/soul-crushingly, the "X Factor" contestants who got X'd-out received their terrible news as well. And as is the case with any show orchestrated by Simon Cowell, there were more than few eyebrow-raising eliminations, cliffhangers, and twists. Remember when Josiah Leming didn't make it through on "American Idol" Season 7 and everyone in America freaked out? Yeah, it was kind of like that.

Melanie Amaro had seemed like a frontrunner from the beginning--literally, since she was heavily featured in pre-season Fox promos before the season even started. At her first audition, Simon had said contestants like Melanie are the very reason he started "The X Factor" in the first place. So Simon's decision to ELIMINATE Melanie, one of the

The "So You Think You Can Dance" tour is underway, and while the Season 8 kids are working hard, they're still taking a little time to sight-see at stops along their route. And judging from new Memphis footage of the S8 kids visiting Graceland, they're having a great time on the road, thankyouverymuch.

See the dancers visit Elvis's legendary home and discuss The King's influence on their performance styles (showboater Jess LeProtto seems particularly enthusiastic) in this adorable road-trip clip...and watch this space for more tour vlogs from the "SYTYCD" touring cast!

BUY "SYTYCD" TOUR TICKETS

Follow me on Twitter

Follow Yahoo! Music:   

After a couple of lame episodes packed with '60s-inspired musical numbers that made the entire show seem like a community-theater production of Hair, NBC's a cappella competition "The Sing-Off" triumphantly returned, and retuned, this week with its '80s/'90s-themed "Guilty Pleasures" night. And I don't feel the least bit guilty saying that this episode was, if I may lapse into '80s-speak, like totally rad. This was "The Sing-Off" at its bitchen best. Sure, it was still as cheesy as ever, but this was the kind of cheese I could really sink my teeth into.

For the first time this season, all of the teams competed on the same show, albeit still in their individual brackets (with one team apiece from bracket 1 and bracket 2 getting the boot). The eight teams that survived all belted out solid performances, but there were two crews that really made me want to moonwalk and cabbage-patch to their beatboxed beats. I would actually say that one of these performances, by Pentatonix, even tied

Last night, the rest of the top 32 "X Factor" contestants gave their poolside patio performances at the Judges' Houses, and among those contestants were some of this season's biggest frontrunners, like Chris Rene, Melanie Amaro, Jazzlyn Little, Marcus Canty, Tiah Tolliver, and Josh Krajcik. Simon, Nicole, L.A., and Paula sure are going to have their work cut out for them when they each pick their final four on Tuesday.

Which brings me and my colleague Matt Whitfield to the burning, elephant-in-the-room question: Why does Paula get to choose ANYONE??? It's clear than none of her groups are as worthy of a place in the top 16 as many, or ANY, of the solo acts in the girls, boys, and under-30's categories. And this seems horribly unfair. Quotas suck.

Watch Matt and I kvetch about that, and discuss our top 16 picks and predictions, in our latest "Day After" chat above...and feel free to post your own opinions on the message board below!

Follow me on Twitter

Follow Matt on Twitter