Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

There have been some pretty major mentors on American Idol over the years: Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, and Burt Bacharach, just to name a few. But there's never been a bigger superstar mentor than the ultimate diva and Randy Jackson's BFF, Mariah Carey...who uncoincidentally is releasing her new album, E=MC2, this week. Ryan described the woman as "unstoppable," and while that's not entirely true--that Glitter fiasco stopped her pretty good, for a while--she is no doubt a positive role model for anyone who's had to overcome adversity. Because being in the bottom three ain't nothing compared to what this lady's been through.

But anyway, as I mentioned in my previous blog about this season's mentors, usually when an Idol contestant tackles a Mariah song, it proves to be a very, very bad decision. Because the finalist is inevitably--and almost always unfavorably--compared to Mariah. So the finalists seemed set up for failure tonight--and naturally, I steeled myself for

Last night Miss Rap Supreme debuted on VH1, and I already know it will be viciously battling for precious DVR space with my other favorite shows.

Created by Ego Trip--the geniuses behind last year's televised search for the "next Eminem" called The White Rapper Show (click here to see what that program's instantly obscure winner, $hamrock, has been up to)--Miss Rap Supreme is a TV talent hunt for the next Missy Elliott, Lil' Kim, Salt and/or Pepa, Yo-Yo, etc. Yo-Yo is in fact one of the Miss Rap Supreme judges, along with The White Rapper Show's host, MC Serch of 3rd Bass.

Well, among the "Femme C's" in the running for the Miss Rap Supreme title is a woman named Khia. Yes, that Khia. The Dirty Southern belle behind the raunchy 2002 hit "My Neck, My Back." If you don't remember Khia's classic filthfest, you're probably more sheltered and clean-living than the nuns that Khia and her competitors auditioned for on last night's show. But just in case you've supressed that memory, here's

Leave it to Miley to upstage Madonna. Madge is finally back on the scene, following up her recent Justin Timberlake-inducted appearance at the 2008 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony with a hot new video starring Justin and Timbaland, "4 Minutes." But now another Divine Miss M--and a pop star less than a third her age, yet--is already stealing Madonna's thunder.

Yes, Miley Cyrus and her hanger-on BFF, Mandy Jiroux, are extending their four minutes of fame the new-fashioned way--on YouTube--with the  latest installment of their viral video series, "The Miley & Mandy Show." And webisode #15 features M&M getting into the groove to Madonna's new hit, vogueing up a storm all over the Cyrus household.

Sure, lots of teens make silly amateur videos in their bedrooms...but only a teen with a Montana-sized paycheck could make a home video complete with professional battling backup dancers, sequined dance-crew costumes, graffiti-splattered sets, and ninja fighters.

Compare and contrast

We may all remember the "skinny Elvis or fat Elvis?" debate that raged when The King got his likeness placed on a U.S. postage stamp. But now the new dispute among philatelists (and Idol-ists) will likely be "Carrie or Kelly?"

Yes, Fox just announced a partnership between American Idol and Photostamps.com to release limited-edition postage stamps of all six past Idol winners (yes, even Taylor Hicks), along with a stamp of this season's eventual champ.

Which makes the recent elimination of Michael Johns even sadder for his ladyfans, who undoubtedly would've relished the chance to give the heartthrobby Aussie rocker a good thorough lickin' (sorry, couldn't resist).

This week's featured Kelly Clarkson stamp can already be purchased HERE, although I did find the stamp-sheet pic on this page a little confusing. See, upon closer examination of the shirt-and-tie stamp, I did realize it was Kelly from her famous "Natural Woman" performance...but for a minute there, I actually mistook that

Last year, Poison singer Bret Michaels--the man aptly credited with "vocalizin' and socializin'" on his band's debut LP--reared his bandanna-swaddled head in pop culture once again, following his star turn as Nashville Star's wisecracking center judge with his own reality show, a televised search for the heavy-metal hoochie of his rock 'n' roll fantasies called Rock Of Love.

Well, after wading chaps-deep through a murky sea of big-haired, big-implanted groupie girls, Bret narrowed his lurid lovehunt down to two prospects: a magenta-haired ice queen named Jes, and a brassy-tressed, brass-balled, gold-hearted Vegas stripper named Heather. Heather seemed like the perfect match for him (well, she could match him tequila shot for tequila shot, at least, and she had enough abundant, Aquanetted hair to compensate for whatever might've been lacking under his everpresent bandanna). But even though Heather proved her undying adoration for Bret by tattooing his name on her deeply spray-tanned

Last season, the AmIdol producers decided to keep in the spirit of Idol Gives Back by not eliminating anyone that particular week. (Remember? They claimed it was going to be the "most shocking elimination ever," then it turned out the shocker was that everyone was safe.) But this season, after all the warmness and fuzziness of Wednesday's charity special, it was back to the nasty business at hand, with a specially scheduled Thursday elimination night.

However, after weeks of speculation surrounding a supposed wild-card competition during this year's Idol Gives Back week, I was hoping that not only would last year's noble non-elimination tradition continue, but that Idol would "give back" in another big way: by giving a previously ousted semi-finalist another chance. Yes, I simply refused to let this wild-card dream die.

So after a hokey allstar lipsynch montage to the Monkees' "I'm A Believer" so bad that the show's producers should be eliminated for even coming up with such a

Man, Beyonce can't get a break these days. First she gets upstaged by an American Idol RUNNER-UP in what was supposed to be her big movie, Dreamgirls, and then Tina Turner steals her thunder at the Grammys. And now Beyonce's rumored wedding to her boo, Jay-Z, has been overshadowed too. Hmmm...is she not so "irreplaceable" after all?

Oh, we kid, we KID!!! Seriously, it seems like in the case of her nuptials, which reportedly took place last week, Beyonce was more than happy to go unnoticed. She and her man have in fact never officially acknowledged that they're even an item, after all. So naturally, they did their best to keep their supposed wedding (which they still have not confirmed actually took place) on the DL. However, the minute the crazy-in-love couple was spotted taken out a wedding license in Scarsdale Village, New York, the paparazzi were ringing the alarm.  

And when crates of cream-colored orchids and oversize silver candelabras were seen being carried by crew members in

Don't hate Julianne Hough because she's beautiful. Or because she has the endless legs and seamless moves to win two back-to-back Dancing With The Stars championships. Or because she got to log hours upon hours of rehearsal time practicing the samba in the rugged arms of hot athletes like Apolo Ohno and Helio Castroneves. Or because she's so hot herself that (untrue) rumors ran rampant about her alleged affairs with Apolo and Helio.

Man, come to think of it, there are a lot of reasons to hold a jealous grudge against Julianne. The latest reason is the fact that along with her many other talents and assets, the girl can SING.

Yes, just when you'd thought she'd suffered a setback after her left-/lead-footed partner Adam Carolla got her voted off Dancing With The Stars this week, thus ruining her chances of a DWTS threepeat...Julianne is already bouncing back with a country music career. And UNLIKE other reality-TV starlets like Heidi Montag and Paris Hilton, this girl actually deserves