Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

Seems like everyone and anyone looking to boost their pop music careers has Justin Timberlake and Timbaland programmed on their speed-dials.

Duran Duran recruited Timb Timb for their most recent album, Red Carpet Massacre. 50 Cent got Justin to sing on "Ayo Technology." Andy Samberg became Saturday Night Live's star player after Justin co-starred with him in that Emmy-winning Christmas skit with the unprintable title. Gnarks Barkley even had Justin make a near-unrecognizable cameo in their latest video (see photo above).

And Timbaland is the go-to production guy for pretty much everyone nowadays, from Ashlee Simpson, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly Furtado to OneRepublic and even Bjork.

So it was only a matter of time before Timberlake and Timbaland got a call from the ultimate collaborator: Madonna.

Madonna's always been one to surround herself with top talent. She recruited relatively obscure electronic producers like Mirwais, William Orbit, and Stuart Price for her last few dancey

This week is Idol Gives Back week. So it probably wouldn't hurt if the finalists donate generously during tomorrow night's telethon, just to better boost their karma so they don't get ousted on Thursday's specially scheduled elimination night. Just a suggestion...

Anyway, because it's all about charity this AmIdol week, tonight the eight remaining contenders were supposed to sing "inspirational" songs. I honestly cringed at the thought of this, anticipating "You're The Voice" times eight. But luckily for me and my fellow viewers, the term "inspirational" is a relative one, so tonight wasn't an entire hour of "We Are The World"-style singalongs and hokey choir-assisted revamps of "I Believe I Can Fly." Phew!

For instance, Aussie rocker Michael Johns was inspired by Aerosmith. Wow! He chose to sing "Dream On," which he felt properly expressed the rock 'n' roll fantasy that he's chased all the way across the equator for so many years. While I preferred him being inspired Dolly Parton last

Some people who don't live in Los Angeles may not realize that the Kodak Theater is located inside a mall. So it's a bit odd to attend some big A-list event there, like the Oscars or the American Idol finale, and see all the celebs filing past the Sephora and Victoria's Secret and Forever 21 stores and Cold Stone Creamery and Starbucks franchises as they sashay down the red carpet. It sort of takes the glamour out of the proceedings, you know?

But it's even odder to attend Idol Gives Back, an event wholly centered around desperately poor people in need--people who can barely afford clean drinking water, malaria bednets, or mattresses to sleep on, let alone venti frappuccinos or Miracle Bras--in the middle of such a hub of conspicuous consumption.

It also felt weird, and frankly kind of wrong, to be backstage at Idol Gives Back at the Kodak on Sunday, April 6, in the press area--feasting on complimentary ciabatta sandwiches, brownies, and all the Coca-Cola I could drink--while me and

This was a week full of weird hospital scares, starting with the scariest of all: the ultimately fatal hospitalization of Sean Levert. The 39-year-old crooner, member of R&B trio LeVert, and son of O'Jays singer Eddie Levert died Sunday night at the Lutheran Hospital in Cleveland, after he was taken from Cuyahoga County Jail.

According to warden Kevin McDonough, Sean--who was just one week into serving a 22-month sentence for failure to pay child support--was strapped down in a restraint chair by prison guards after he had an uncharacteristic outburst, pounding on his cell door and breathing shallowly. He was subsequently taken to the hospital, where he passed away less than an hour later.

Sean reportedly suffered from high blood pressure and had been having hallucinations in jail, according to Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office spokesman Powell Caesar; Sean's autopsy results found no signs of trauma and ruled out foul play, but were otherwise been inconclusive. This means a final

Since the top 24 started singing for their proverbial suppers, I've been declaring that it's going to be a boy-on-boy finale come this May. From the Davids to Michael to Jason, the men have definitely been outshining the women all season long. So accordingly, things were looking pretty shady for the ladies this elimination night.

Kristy Lee Cook made her umpteenth appearance in the bottom three, and two other girls--Ramiele Malubay and Brooke White--finally got a chance to discover firsthand just how uncomfortable those three reject stools really are. Ouch!

Honestly, it was only a matter of time before Ramiele ended up in the bottom three. Surprisingly, she hadn't made it there yet--despite several lackluster performances that should have landed her on the chopping block weeks ago. So it was ironic that Ram finally bottomed out this week, just as she was starting to get her groove back. I personally thought her performance of "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?" last night was her best

We all remember little Ashley Ferl from American Idol season 6, the highly strung fangirl who was driven to tears by the very sound of Sanjaya Malakar's voice. (Although, then again, weren't we all?)

Well, Ashley has once again reared her blonde, tear-streaked head.

Yes, Ashley was back in the Idol audience last night. I'm not sure if she was actually crying...but if she was, it wasn't because Ramiele was wearing yet another pair of horrifyingly unflattering high-waisted shorts. (I do imagine a few stylists were crying over that bad fashion choice, however.)

No, if any tears were shed, they were shed for Ashley's new season 7 crush: Jason Castro.

See, People magazine is reporting that during one of the commercial breaks, when Jason sat down onstage for his interview, the Idol stage manager called out into the audience, "Ashley? Ashley, where are you? Are you crying?"

Apparently this girl has a thing for boys with interesting hair. But I can't blame her this time. I don't think there

Tonight's top nine American Idol episode was season 7's first mentor night, excitingly featuring larger-than-life legend Dolly Parton. Forget about Kellie Pickler...when it comes to busty blonde country queens, there ain't no one that can touch Dolly. I mean, the woman has her own theme park. A theme park! Think there'll ever be a Kelliewood? Probably not...

So after a completely lame April Fools joke by Ryan Seacrest that no one believed for a second (there was such a lack of post-punchline laughter in the theater, I swear I could hear crickets chirping), it was time for Dolly to show the top nine finalists how it's done. And this woman's no fool. The contestants had a lot to learn from Ms. Parton. Welcome to Dollywood, dawg!

Up first was Brooke White, doing what is probably my personal favorite Dolly ditty, "Jolene." But as much as I usually love Brooke--even when the judges don't, like when she warbled her unfairly maligned "Here Comes The Sun"--I so did not like Brooke's version of

USA Today and the Richmond Times-Dispatch (supplier of the photo at right) are sadly reporting that 65-year-old Claudette Yamin, beloved mother of American Idol season 5 runner-up Elliott Yamin, has passed away.

The cause of her death has not been revealed, although it is known that Claudette had been suffering during the past year, due to complications stemming from a hip-replacement operation.

Anyone who watched season 5 of Idol knows how close Elliott and Claudette were, and how proud Mama Yamin was of her son's accomplishments. I will always remember how choked-up she got while riding in her Elliott's homecoming parade, and I'm just glad she lived to experience that moment.

Please feel free to post your condolences to the Yamin family on the message board below.