Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Saturday at Southern California's Coachella music festival was a day of surprise collaborations, including Solange Knowles lending guest vocals to British indie band the xx's cover of Aaliyah's "Hot Like Fire," and an unbilled John Legend joining Italian DJ Benny Benassi in the dance tent for a performance of their brand-new joint single, "Dance the Pain Away." But there was no Saturday surprise collaboration as truly surprising as the one that took place on the Main Stage during French alt-pop band Phoenix's headlining set, when they were joined by…R&B lothario R. Kelly.

Yes, that R. Kelly. This actually happened.

Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs [photo: Debi Del Grande]Southern California's desert musicfest Coachella began in earnest on Friday, bringing highlights like a mini-set of Smiths songs from Morrissey's better ex-half, Johnny Marr; a Britpop double-header of Blur and Stone Roses; fantastic live sets by Beach House, Jake Bugg, Divine Fits, and Foals; and a Daft Punk album-preview commercial that bizarrely generated more buzz than many of the day's actual performing artists. And along the way, some random radness ensued. Here are five cool observations from day one in the desert.

all photos by Debi Del Grande - click to enlargeDespite taking place in Southern California's sun-baked Indio desert, Coachella 2013 felt a lot more like Glastonbury 1992 this Friday, when the first day of the musicfest was co-headlined by recently reunited Britpop bands Blur and Stone Roses. (Spoiler alert: Not to start a new Britpop war, a la the infamous Blur-vs.-Oasis years, but Blur were the far better of the two.) "For those of you who are unfamiliar with us," quipped Blur frontman Damon Albarn, "we're from England, and we've just had like four months of gray weather. A lot of our songs are informed by our bad weather, so it's nice to enjoy your sunshine here."

all photos by Debi Del Grande - click to enlargeRumor has it that the Smiths have been repeatedly offered whopping seven-figure sums to headline the Coachella music festival in Southern California's Indio desert, but so far, that longed-for Smiths reunion has been a no-go. However, fans of the legendary Manchester post-punks still got a dose of (Morrissey-free) Smithery at Coachella this year--when the band's seemingly ageless ex-guitarist, Johnny Marr, performed no less than three Smiths classics during his Friday afternoon set in the Mojave Tent.

The last man standing leaves the showEvery season of "Idol" has a controversial contestant whose cockroach-like tenacity and inexplicable ability to outlast more talented singers stirs the outrage of the "Idol"-viewing public. For instance, Season 3 had John Stevens, Season 7 had Kristy Lee Cook…and of course, who could ever forget Season 6's Sanjaya Malakar? And Season 12 had Lazaro Arbos, who practically made those former "Idol" villains seem like Adam Lambert. But please note my use of the past-tense word, "had." Because after outstaying his welcome for several weeks and gradually transforming from America's sweetheart to "American Idol's" punching bag, Lazaro finally went home in sixth place this Thursday.

So now, in an unprecedented and historical (or herstorical) "Idol" development, the top five are ALL FEMALE. Finally the show's honchos got that "girls' season" they'd been wanting for years. And now it's a given that Season 12's champ will be a girl, the first female "Idol" winner since 2007--accomplishing what poor Jessica Sanchez, Lauren Alaina, and Crystal Bowersox could not. How fitting that this all went down on a night when the most awesome "Idol" girl ever, Kelly Clarkson, performed on the results show and was as adorable as ever.

Last night, the "American Idol" top six show ran the gamut from AMAZING (Candice Glover) to amazingly awful (Lazaro Arbos, surprise). And today, my "The Day After" cohost Matt Whitfield and I address all the obvious burning questions:

Does Candice's "Lovesong" rank among the best "Idol" performances of all time? Will Lazaro go home tonight? Or did Lazaro's fans, galvanized by the brutal (if brutally honest) critiques that Laz received for his "Close To You" debacle, SuperVote to keep him safe? And if Lazaro isn't eliminated tonight, will the judges use the Save on whichever girl is unjustly in jeopardy? We discuss all this and more...

Sarah Sellers [photo: Justin Goode]Season 10 "American Idol" alum and cool food blogger Sarah Sellers has been posting her viewing-party snack recipes in Reality Rocks for two "Idol" seasons now, and she's back this year to get your mouth watering every night of Season 12.

Tonight, one of the themes for the top six "Idol" finalists was "Songs I Wish I'd Written," so Sarah's theme this week is "Recipes I Wish I'd Thought Of First." Enjoy!

(Phil McIntyre/SYCO, Ken Bunt/Disney, Beatrice Miller, Simon Cowell, Mio Vukovic/Disney)Beatrice Miller didn't go nearly as far on "The X Factor" Season 2 as she should have, mainly due to her misguided mentor Britney Spears's penchant for dressing her in hobo rags and making her sing some of the most depressing, age-inappropriate song choices in "X Factor" history. But now the precocious, impossibly awesome New Jersey teen has found a label that ought to understand her: Hollywood Records, home to teen-pop sensations Bridgit Mendler, Selena Gomez, and returning "X Factor" judge Demi Lovato.

It was excitingly announced Thursday that, in a new partnership with Simon Cowell's Syco Records, 14-year-old Beatrice has signed with Disney's Hollywood label. This is the first signing via the Hollywood/Syco Records collaborative arrangement, which implies that there will be other joint signings in the future. (Might I suggest Lyric 145, Jennel Garcia, or recent "X Factor U.K." winner James Arthur?) But Beatrice seems like the perfect launch artist for this new venture. "We are