Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

Nashville Star premieres next Monday, the 9th, and I for one am pretty excited. I've already had the privilege of meeting the top 12 contestants and watching them perform at the pre-taped premiere at Nashville's Acuff Theatre last Monday, and of course I have wasted no time in picking my early favorites.

But before I get to that, here are some of the top 12 introducing themselves in the Acuff Theatre green room (please note I mostly got footage of the male finalists, since the majority of the ladies were still busy getting beautified in the hair and makeup station):

OK, so two of my favorites are the wacky Las Vegas trio Third Town, who almost didn't make the Nashville Star cut at all (see a future blog of mine to hear their entire story), and octave-of-five mom-of-five Melissa Lawson. Here's a clip of the Third Town boys showing their Vegas roots by declaring they're willing to bet good money that Melissa will win the whole thing:

Two more finalists near and near to my heart, so

A lot of people visiting NBC's website are wondering why there's a giant, Family Feud-style X across the face of a woman with a PERFECT name for a career in country: Charla Corn. The show hasn't even aired yet, and Charla's already been pulled from the competition? What, for Corn's sake, did she do? Were racy, Antonella Barba-esque pics of Charla unearthed on MySpace? Did she pull a Corey Clark and have an affair with John Rich? WHAT???

Well, the truth is a LOT less scandalous--this is Nashville, not Hollywood, after all, and Nashville Star is a family-friendly show. No, the more G-rated story is that Charla just "couldn't cut it." The OFFICIAL story is her vocals were giving out, thus making it impossible for her to compete...but the unofficial, TMZ-disseminated story is that at the last minute, N-Star producers realized Charla was simply out of her depth. Either way, she was sent packing the night before the show started taping, and at the 11th hour--LITERALLY--another alternate

There are some weeks when several stories battle for the #1 spot on the top 10 list below. Which will come out as the week's top headline? Amy Winehouse's latest booze bender? Britney Spears's most recent court no-show? The latest secret-wedding or baby-bump tabloid rumor? The mind boggles...

But then there are weeks when it's abundantly clear what the top story will be. And this week, the top story became obvious as early as Monday, when rock 'n' roll pioneer Bo Diddley passed away from heart failure. He was 79.

While some people reading this might be too young to be aware of Bo's influence, there's a chance many of the modern-day rock stars that regularly appear in this column wouldn't be around if it weren't for this legendary Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer. Everyone from Buddy Holly to the Rolling Stones to the Who to Bruce Springsteen to Elvis Costello have cited Bo as an inspiration, and Hall Of Fame assistant curator Howard Kramer once declared Bo's Chess Records releases as

Hardcore reality addicts might remember that I was the official blogger for seasons 3 and 5 of the country music talent competition Nashville Star (see my season 5 blogs HERE). Some readers didn't dig my typically outspoken opinions all that much (one even went to the effort to create the messageboard alias "lyndseyparkersux"...which I of course took as the ultimate compliment). But oh well. The show is back, and so am I. And hopefully we're both better than ever!

Yes, Nashville Star is returning for a sixth season on Monday, June 9. And it is new and--from what I've witnessed so far--improved. First, it's moving from the USA Network to NBC, which means a whole lot more viewers--many of whom are still seeking to fill the gaping void in their hearts and DVR hard-drives recently vacated by American Idol--are going to watch it this time around. Second, the competition has opened up to include not just the expected hat acts but also duos, trios, rock/gospel/soul/country hybrids, et al. And

A seventh season of American Idol has ended, and more than a week later, all I'm still hearing around the ol' Yahoo! watercooler is, "Oh, it's no big deal if David Archuleta/Michael Johns/Syesha Mercado/Chikezie/insert-runner-up's-name-here did not win. Surely they'll be offered record deals and become huge stars anyway. It doesn't matter who wins!"

Well, you know...people were saying the same thing about Vonzell Solomon after season 4.

Yes, sometimes it does matter who wins. Because not every runner-up can be the next Jennifer Hudson or Chris Daughtry. Some of them just become the next Scott Savol or Anthony Federov, never to be heard from again.

Other runners-up ARE heard from again...they're just, sadly, not heard by that many people. These coulda-been-contenders put out records of varying quality--sometimes on majors, sometimes on indies, sometimes out of the trunks of their cars--but unfortunately, most AmIdol viewers are already too preoccupied with the new season's Hollywood

As if there weren't enough reasons to heart David Cook, here's another: His LOL-tastic skit on possibly the best Best Week Ever ever: 

Celebrity bumpwatching has become something of a national pastime in America. Seems nowadays if a pop starlet so much as drinks a bloat-inducing soda or embraces a new fashion fad that involves empire waistlines, every blog and celebrity tabloid races to publish paparazzi pics of her "pooch" and announces that she's well into her third trimester. And pretty much the instant any it-girl is spotted in public canoodling on a first date, gun-jumping gossip columns predict that she and her new love interest will be registering at the Right Start any day now. (Frankly, we're surprised such rumors have yet to surface about American Idols David Cook and Kimberly Caldwell, who went out to dinner ONCE and are now supposed an "item.")

And then, when celebs like Jennifer Lopez or Christina Aguilera do officially announce that they have buns in their ovens, the media goes into pregnancy-patrol overdrive, detailing everything from these A-listers' $2,000 Bugaboo strollers, designer maternity wear,

No, this is not another story on that pregnant man. But it's just as astounding.

According to TMZ, Clay Aiken is going to be a FATHER.

TMZ is reporting that Clay's late-fortysomething producer/roommate/"best friend" Jaymes Foster-Levy (yes, Jaymes is a woman, in case you were confused) was successfully artificially inseminated with Clay's sperm, and is now carrying Clay's baby.

I honestly don't have much more to add here. I'm as speechless as Simon Cowell during Fantasia's recent performance.

But a rep for David Foster, Jaymes' famous producer brother, is a little less tongue-tied. The rep has confirmed TMZ's earlier report in a statement to The Insider: "[Jaymes] looks great, glowing, and very happy. She and Clay have been good friends for a long time."

Is this the "measure of a man" Clay was singing about? Hmmmm.

Maybe this song ought to be Clay's next single.