Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

The Astronomical KidAstro, aka the Astronomical Kid from Season 1 of "The X Factor USA," released his new mixtape, Deadbeats & Lazy Lyrics, today via DatPiff.com. I still think this teen MC could be a huge hip-hop star, and I am so glad to see that he didn't give up after he was eliminated from "The X Factor" in seventh place. Astro sounds young and fresh--yet he traffics in an old-skool style that could appeal to hip-hop fans of a certain age who miss the halcyon '80s/'90s days of "Yo! MTV Raps." And he just spits talent, literally.

Let me preface this article by stating that I think Dr. Drew Pinsky--the addiction medicine specialist behind "Loveline," "Lifechangers," and most notably VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" and its spinoff shows, "Sex Rehab" and "Sober House"--does some fine work. Many celebrities that he has treated, like Mackenzie Phillips and "American Idol's" Nikki McKibbin, not to mention countless non-celebs, have been greatly helped by the good doctor. But Dr. Drew is not a miracle worker, and a (somewhat exploitative) reality show about addiction treatment is certainly no instant cure-all. And never has this been more apparent than it is now, in light of the suicide of troubled country singer Mindy McCready. Mindy, a veteran of "Celebrity Rehab" Season 3 who famously suffered an on-camera seizure when she was on the show, is the fifth "Rehab" alum to die in just the past two years.

Casey James has become one of the biggest success stories from "American Idol's" otherwise troubled ninth season, signing to Sony Nashville; touring across the nation with the likes of Sugarland; and being embraced by the Nashville community, just like fellow non-winner country Idols Kellie Pickler, Bucky Covington, and Josh Gracin. Last year, the guitar-shredding Texas rocker released his self-titled debut album, and he has been touring nonstop pretty much ever since. So when Casey's never-ending road travels took him through Los Angeles recently, naturally he stopped by Yahoo! Music headquarters to fill Reality Rocks in on what he's been up to, how far he's come since he competed on "Idol" three years ago, and what's in store for him in 2013.

Last night, this season's "American Idol" top 40 were revealed, and today, my "The Day After" co-host Matt Whitfield and I have mixed feelings about the result. While we're extremely excited about some of this year's hopefuls (namely Angela Miller, Candice Glover, the zany Zoanette Johnson, and, speaking for myself, JDA and Charlie Askew), we're disappointed by a few glaring omissions, like the once-again-robbed David Leathers Jr. We're also puzzled by this season's overall uneven editing, which has left us with many unfinished, dangling storylines and even more nearly unrecognizable names on the top 40 list.

courtesy of Shanachie EntertainmentIt's a pretty good time to be Crystal Bowersox right now. First came the delightful news that the Season 9 "American Idol" runner-up just signed a new record deal with Shanachie Entertainment and will release her sophomore album, All That For This, on March 26.

Reigning "American Idol" champ Phillip Phillips broke all sort of sales/airplay records and made "Idol" history with his triple-platinum single "Home," the most successful "Idol" coronation song of all time. "Home" shows no signs of slowing down--it's still charting at radio, and it's still soundtracking various TV commercials--but it looks like we'll soon have two P-Squared singles on the charts, now that Phillip has released the video for his similarly Mumfordian follow-up, "Gone, Gone, Gone."

Zoanette Johnson has arrived!A couple weeks ago, on what was THE weirdest episode in "American Idol" history, a bug-eyed, big-haired, booty-poppin' lady named Zoanette Johnson delivered perhaps the most controversial televised National Anthem performance since Roseanne Barr's...and somehow, against all odds and logic, she was granted a golden ticket to Hollyweird. And this Thursday, zany Zoanette wowed America again, when she shockingly advanced to this season's top 40.

Yes, dear readers, Zoanette Johnson is now only one round away from making it to the live shows. All she has to do is sail through Vegas--where she'll fit right in, I am sure--and it's a done deal.

Last night, "American Idol" Season 12's girls had their shot at Hollywood Week, but despite Ryan Seacrest's repeated, sometimes borderline-desperate declarations that this episode would feature some of THE best female talent in all 12 "Idol" seasons, my "The Day After" co-host Matt Whitfield and I were left feeling underwhelmed. Yes, some of the girls stood out, but most of them just fell apart. And hardly any of them could even remember all their lyrics, despite covering themselves in Sharpie-scrawled cribnotes for the group round! Simon Cowell would've never tolerated this sort of amateurishness (lyric-flubbing was always his biggest pet peeve on "Idol"), yet the new judges frequently turned a blind eye (or a deaf ear) to such embarrassing behavior.