Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

Wednesday is lovingly known as "Hump Day" to most, but is dreaded as "Dump Day" on American Idol...for it's the day when one of the finalists sadly gets, well, dumped.

Now, the AmIdol producers COULD rip off the proverbial Band-Aid quickly and mercifully, by just gathering the remaining singers onstage, then having Ryan Seacrest cut to the chase. You know, Ryan could just point to one of them and say, "Yo, buddy, you got cut. Bye."

But then, of course, each elimination episode would be about 30 seconds long. And that wouldn't please advertisers like Ford and Coke, who expect plenty of bang for their buck.

And so, the show's producers draaaaaggggg out the contestants' (and the viewers') misery every week, peeling off that Band-Aid sllloooowwwly during the course of an HOUR-long episode. This means about 59 minutes and 30 seconds of filler. 59 minutes and 30 seconds generously padded with redundant recaps, dinner-theater musical numbers, "in the studio" segments (i.e., glorified

This season's American Idol dark horse-turned-frontrunner is quickly shaping up to be David Cook, largely due to his bravely and unexpectly rawkin' versions of traditionally non-rawkin' songs.

His most recent rocktastic rendition was last night's headbanging take on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," which was the highlight of an otherwise underwhelming episode. Last night David The C gave credit where credit was true, as Ryan Seacrest made note that David's "Billie Jean" performance was actually inspired by Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman's 2007 cover of the Jacko classic. That is, David admitted this was a cover of a cover.

See Chris's version here:

Blimey, there's something in the Thames water these days!

First Leona Lewis, the winner of the third season of Simon Cowell's British reality show X Factor, wowed America by going on Oprah. And now the winner of Simon's Britain's Got Talent competition--the similarly alliteratively named Paul Potts--is taking the States by storm as well.

This Bristol-born opera singer--who amazed Simon (and the rest of the U.K.) with his star-making performance of "Nessun Dorma" and soon earned the nickname "Pavapotty" by his many fans--delightfully stopped by the Yahoo! Music office today. And while, alas, Paul didn't sing for the Y! staff (trust me, I asked--but he was wisely preserving his pipes for his big show at L.A.'s Wiltern Theater tonight), this very nice bloke still charmed us all.

A movie based on Paul Potts' rags-to-riches Cinderfella story is now in the works with Paramount...but until then, you can get your small-screen Pavapotty fix with this little greeting to his fans

Well, tonight's show succeeded in making the Idol audience's older demographic feel positively Methuselah-ish, as the contestants sang songs from the years of their respective births--songs that more seasoned viewers probably vividly remember making out to in high school. Or their children making out to in high school. Eek! But hey, a good song is timeless, and a good singer is a good singer at any age (I personally have always been annoyed by the under-29 age limit on American Idol, for instance). So tonight's theme was a great playing-field-leveler if ever there was one.

So it seems 1987 was a very good year for Idol-birthin', since tonight's first three finalists all were born then. And hey, you know what else 1987 was a good year for? Songs. Yes, a lot of GREAT songs came out in 1987. But you wouldn't know it, from some of the song choices on Idol tonight. 

Please note that 1987 was the year of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine," U2's "With Or Without You," Depeche Mode's

Just when you thought it was safe to go on the Interweb...she's BAAA-AAACK!

Heidi Montag is back, that is. Apparently the Hills starlet took a break from sobbing over all the low-blow comments her "Higher" video received, picked herself up by her Manolo straps, and dared to record another song. A song ironically titled "No More."

Heidi is one brave girl.

While "No More" is unlikely to win any Grammys or wind up on any best-of critics' lists, I am relieved to report that it is better than "Higher." MUCH better. Not that that's saying much, of course. But really, it's considerably more listenable. Guess the wonders of ProTools will never cease.

So fire up Heidi's new song below--and if you are so inclined, close your eyes and imagine her flailing on a beach in a pink bikini, if that makes the overall listening experience more bearable:

HEIDI MONTAG - "NO MORE"

Oh, and while you're at it, since Heidi and her beau Spencer Pratt are apparently masochists, they're actually encouraging

You know how they say that when one door closes, another opens? Well, if there was ever any proof that this saying is true, it's the success story of Josiah Leming.

Yes, the American Idol door hit Josiah firmly on the behind on his way out during Hollywood Week, when he failed to make Idol's top 24. But now--according to a heartening report on Knoxnews.com--Josiah's kicked the door at Warner Bros. Records HQ wide open.

Yes, kids: Josiah Leming has reportedly landed a major-label record deal!

Josiah was back in Hollywood recently, playing the Hotel Cafe on March 7, and now it seems he was likely in town (with his newly acquired agent and lawyer) to start wheeling and dealing with Warner. Looks like Josiah's through to Hollywood now, for real.

Knoxnews.com even reports that Josiah, who famously once had to live in his car, just bought his father a new truck to celebrate this good fortune. How cute is that?

Bet Josiah's still crying his eyes out these days, but this time they're tears

Well, Tupac Shakur was sadly slain long ago, but just as the hip-hop icon somehow mysteriously continues to regularly release albums 12 years after his death, the rumors surrounding him are still very much alive and well. For instance, this week the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy/Puffy/P. Diddy/Sean Combs was tenuously linked to a 1994 attack on Tupac, as claimed in a Los Angeles Times online article written by staffer Chuck Philips.

According to FBI accounts cited in Philips' story, Tupac was pistol-whipped and shot four times by two Diddy-associated assailants at a New York recording studio in November '94. This attack purportedly took place during the height of the infamous East Coast/West Coast feud (a feud that eventually culminated in the murder of Diddy's comrade, the Notorious B.I.G.), and was some sort of retaliation for Tupac's alleged refusal to join Diddy's Bad Boy Records roster.

Anyway, this past Monday, Diddy spoke out, vehemently denying the L.A. Times report in

Fans of five to-be-determined ousted Idol contestants can rejoice! Because if rumors are true, the long-demanded "Wild Card" policy will soon be reinstated. Huzzah!

Yes, the last-gasp policy that once rescued Clay Aiken from premature obscurity may now save another gone-too-soon singer. See, according to rampant messageboard postings across this great Interweb of ours, five semi-finalists who failed to make the top 10 will return to the American Idol stage for the April 9th Idol Gives Back charity special....on which they will battle for a wild-card slot on this summer's American Idol concert tour!

Omigod omigod omigod omigod omigod...

Now, keep in mind that this hypothetical wild-card winner WON'T get to compete on the actual show again, which is a bit of bummer. But I'm sure Danimals like myself (and Danny Noriega's BFF, Ramiele Malubay), or fans of any of the other eliminated contestants, would still relish the opportunity to see their favorite reject hit the road with the