Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

Sarah in the kitchen [photo: Justin Goode]Diehard "American Idol" viewers will likely remember Sarah Sellers as the geek-chic food blogger who made it to Hollywood Week in Season 10, after impressing then-judge Steven Tyler with her full, rather Tyler-esque lips and impressing Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson with her lovely voice. (Watch her audition here.) Since leaving "Idol" prematurely, Sarah has been whipping up snack suggestions for "Idol" viewing parties and posting them here exclusively in Reality Rocks--and she's back to get your mouth watering on every night of Season 12, starting tonight.

Following the gladdening news that "American Idol" runner-up Crystal Bowersox just signed to Shanachie Records and is planning to release an album in March 2013, her Season 9 co-star, winner Lee DeWyze, has announced via a video to his fans that he too has inked a new record deal, with Vanguard.

photo: Sparrow Records/19Colton Dixon's seventh-place elimination on Season 11 of "American Idol" was one of the most shocking "Idol" cuts of all time--before that jaw-dropping night, Colton had never been in the bottom three before, and he seemed to have all the total-package elements of a potential "Idol" champion. But all was not lost for Colton, who wisely refocused his eye on another prize: recording and releasing an album right away. "I started writing immediately; I knew I wanted to put out a record as soon as possible," Colton recalls. "I wrote something like 13 songs in 13 days. It was just nuts. I wrote about 50 songs for this record, since I was eliminated. I kept myself busy and kept myself working toward the end goal."

The result: Colton's debut full-length, A Messenger, which comes out January 29 but is previewing right here, right now!

Oops, she won't be doing it again: An "X Factor" insider has confirmed to Yahoo!'s Reality Rocks that, after just one season, Britney Spears is not returning to judge "The X Factor" this fall. (Fox had no comment.)

A source close to production said: "Simon [Cowell] and the producers have already been discussing this year's new judging lineup over the holiday, and they have a plan for who they would like already, but Britney has never played a part in those discussions.

"The reality is that toward the end of last season, the main players at the production companies knew they wanted to replace her. She was always a gamble, and a second season always seemed unlikely. She and her team knew it was unlikely that she'd be asked back."

Nicki Minaj at the 'Idol' Season 12 premiere [photo: Jonathan Leibson/WireImage]"American Idol" Season 12 doesn't officially begin until January 16, and it remains to be seen if this upcoming season will uncover/discover a new singing superstar of Clarkson- or Underwood-esque proportions. But judging from a 45-minute "Idol" preview that screened in 11 locations across the nation on Wednesday, January 9--a full week before the Fox network's premiere--Season 12 may already have a breakout star: the one and only Her Minajesty, Nicki Minaj.

Nicki was in fact so watchable, and so unexpectedly likable, that I almost wondered if the whole reason behind that much-hyped Nicki Minaj/Mariah Carey "Idol" feud was Mariah's, well, jealousy. You see, Mariah may've claimed that Nicki once threatened to shoot her, but maybe Mariah really felt threatened by Nicki's massive, scene-stealing, scenery-chewing presence. Because honestly, when Nicki was on the screen this Wednesday, I barely noticed that Mariah, or anyone else, was even sitting at the judges' table. It was totally "The

photo: FoxThe golden boys of last year's "X Factor," Emblem3, have made it official: They've signed to their mentor Simon Cowell's label, Syco Records, via Columbia. This makes them the first act from Season 2 to land a record deal--aside from winner Tate Stevens and his much-ballyhooed $5 million contract with former judge L.A. Reid's Epic Records, of course.

photo: Kimberly Allen's Twitter2013 got off to an emotional start for Season 8 "American Idol" winner Kris Allen, who was involved in a head-on automobile accident on New Year's Day. His wife, actress Katy Allen, and Internet-famous dog, Zorro, were also in the car at the time. According to tweets from Kris's mother, Kimberly Allen, Katy and Zorro are "pretty beat up" but doing fine; however, Kris broke his arm and will undergo surgery on January 2.

On the happier side, though, shortly after his accident, Kris used his non-broken arm to tweet that Katy is pregnant with their first child. "Thank you @ford for equipping me with a car that kept my whole family @katyallen @ZorroPup and the little one we have on the way safe," he tweeted. "Yes I got in a really bad wreck tonight and yes I'm having a lil baby. #gonnabeadaddy"

Happy new year, everyone! It's been quite a year for Reality Rocks, what with two seasons of "The Voice" going up against "American Idol" and "The X Factor"; great new albums from Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, Phillip Phillips, Haley Reinhart, Casey Abrams, Paul McDonald, Chris Mann, Vicci Martinez, and many other singing-show alums; a touch-and-go season for "So You Think You Can Dance" (thankfully renewed for 2013, hurray!); and multiple TV feuds (Mariah vs. Nicki, Adam Levine vs. the Roxy, Christina Aguilera vs. Tony Lucca, L.A. Reid vs. the Over-25's, etc.).

And of course, there were all those judging-panel switchups. "Idol's" Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler getting replaced by Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban; Randy Jackson almost getting demoted to "Idol" mentor; "The Voice's" Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera taking a hiatus while Usher and Shakira temporarily fill their spinning chairs; L.A. Reid and possibly Britney Spears leaving "The X Factor"; Howard Stern joining