Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

Many singing-show judge castings have been controversial, or at least eyebrow-raising (Nicki Minaj on "American Idol" and Britney Spears on "The X Factor USA" come to mind). But the latest reality-casting news thundering Down Under just may be the oddest yet. This week it was mind-bogglingly announced that the new judge for "The X Factor Australia," replacing former panelist (and original "Australian Idol" winner) Guy Sebastian, is...Redfoo.

Midas Whale vs. Patrick DoddThe third Battle Rounds episode of "The Voice" Season 4 aired this Monday, and while Shakira used up all her Steals last Monday like a giddy kid opening all her Christmas presents on December 1st, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Usher still had Steals in play this week. And those three coaches came ready to do some serious poaching. They were stealing and dealing all over the place. By the end of Monday's show, Blake and Adam had given away their last Steals, while Usher, who hadn't stolen anyone yet, finally snagged one of Shakira's castoffs for his own team. Some of these coaches' decisions made sense. Others, not so much. And some, not at all.

Here's what went down during Monday night's surprising Battle Rounds:

TEAM USHER: Jessica Childress vs. VEDO
Usher pitted two of his best R&B singers against each other, which wasn't exactly the shrewdest move. Why would he want to give up either of these contestants--or run the risk of having one of them stolen away by a rival coach and used

Who is that masked Shields man?Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," which came out last week to much Spotify-server-crashing fanfare, is basically The. Most. Awesome. Song. Ever.

The Shields Brothers, from Season 2 of "The Voice," are one of the most awesome "Voice" acts ever.

photo: New York Daily News ArchiveRichie Havens, the renowned New York folk singer who will forever go down in history as the man who opened the Woodstock festival, died of a heart attack Monday at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was 72.

Back on August 15, 1969, Havens was originally slated as the fifth act on the opening day of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, which took place on Max Yasgur's farm outside Woodstock, New York. But Havens was enlisted to be the emergency festival-opener when the first scheduled band on the day's bill, Sweetwater, got stuck in traffic. Havens, along with two other musicians who were already on the festival grounds, helicoptered their way to the Woodstock stage with two conga drums and two guitars, kicked off the show, and performed a legendary three-hour set while other artists were still en route. After Havens ran out of encores, he improvised a song based on the old spiritual "Motherless Child," which became "Freedom." And the rest was history.

Khloe is out, Mario is in for "The X Factor" Season 3 [photo: Fox]First L.A. Reid jumped the Titanic-esque sinking ship that is "The X Factor." Then Britney Spears jumped--or maybe she was pushed. And way before that, Season 1's Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger, and Steve Jones were all shown the Fox exit door. And now it has been confirmed that last year's co-host, Khloe Kardashian--arguably the least loathable Kardashian, who was presumably drafted by Simon Cowell to boost the show's ratings (but didn't)--will not be coming back to "The X Factor" after her one-season run.

Christina Amphlett in 2007 [photo: Matt Jelonek/Getty Images]Christina "Chrissy" Amphlett--frontwoman for the Australian rock band the Divinyls, whose "I Touch Myself" went to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1991--died Sunday at her home in New York. Amphlett was 53 years old.

photo courtesy of Mount Analog"Saturday Night Live"/"Portlandia" star Fred Armisen was out in full force to celebrate Record Store Day in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 20, playing an impromptu set of punk covers and engaging in a fan Q&A at Highland Park's all-vinyl/cassette indie store Mount Analog.

Nick Cave at Apogee's Berkeley Street Studios [photo: Larry Hirshowitz]Last year, when Southern California's Coachella festival expanded to two identical consecutive weekends, the musicfest's participating artists were faced with a conundrum: what to do with themselves during their days off in Cali between weekends one and two? But this year, Los Angeles's KCRW solved that problem for three of Coachella's top-draw acts, when the tastemaker radio station hosted private "mini-Coachella" showcases at famed engineer/mixer Bob Clearmountain's refreshingly air-conditioned, no-sunscreen-required Apogee's Berkeley Street Studios.