Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

Last night, "The X Factor" aired its final auditions, and while my usual "The Day After" co-host, Matt Whitfield, isn't here to share his final thoughts before Season 2 moves on to Bootcamp, one of my favorite Season 1 "X Factor" semifinalists, Christa Collins, is here to offer the unique perspective of someone who's been through Simon Cowell's reality wringer. (Watch Christa's "No Surprises" performance from the Season 1 Judges' Houses round HERE.)

Check out our extended, in-depth conversation about Season 1 versus Season 2, "The X Factor" versus "The Voice," and what it's really like to be on a so-called "reality" show like "The X Factor."

Hot on the (platform, stiletto) heels of her announcement that she is taking a hiatus from "The Voice" next season to refocus on her pop career, judge Christina Aguilera has released her comeback video, "Your Body," in all its trashy, tawdry, Technicolor glory. And man, the girl is looking killer, literally, as she portrays a femme fatale on the lam who leaves a trail of destruction and slain suitors in her wake. (Don't worry, a pre-video disclaimer assures viewers that "no men were harmed in the making of this video.")

Freddie Combs [photo: Fox]The final "X Factor" auditions of Season 2 had their expected share of comedy--a tween boy getting jiggy to an age-inappropriate LMFAO cover, a pigtailed girl with a "pink glitter" fetish who showed up wearing what looked like Britney Spears's old "Hit Me Baby" costume, and at least one cold Cowell critique that involved a comparison to dying cats. But the standout singer of Thursday's episode was one with a sad but ultimately inspirational story, 41-year-old minister Freddie Combs.

Freddie, weighing in at 540 pounds, was wheeled onto the stage by his loyal "angel" wife and caretaker of 16 years, Kay--and while his arrival amid the show's usual shorts-shorted teen girls and Bieber-haired boys was a shock at first, when he revealed that he used to weigh 920 pounds, and that he almost died in 2009, the judges and crowd were totally on his side. "Give a fat boy a chance," Freddie self-deprecatingly joked--and once he sang, the stunned audience immediately did just that.

Last night, "The X Factor" headed to San Francisco and Providence, where we found some familiar faces (Gene Simmons's daughter Sophie, Season 1 InTENsity castoff Arin Ray); some crazy faces (Tara Simon, Jaime, Changy, the zombie-eyed ONE4FIVE); and Britney's usual array of facial expressions that defy description. My usual "The Day After" co-host, Matt Whitfield, isn't here to provide his own facetime to today's chat, but a special guest, esteemed "X Factor" expert Richard Rushfield, is filling in for Matt today. And of course, Richard and I have plenty to discuss:

Sophie Simmons with her famous parents at "The X Factor" [photo: Fox]The recently cancelled "Gene Simmons's Family Jewels" has barely been off the A&E airwaves long enough for fans to reset their DVRs' season passes, but already Gene-Gene-the-self-promoting-machine is back on the reality-TV circuit. This Wednesday, the KISS tongue-waggler made a "surprise" appearance on "The X Factor," supporting/upstaging his auditioning daughter, Sophie.

Nineteen-year-old Sophie Tweed-Simmons (who capably sang "At Last" at her parents' televised wedding on the sixth season of "Family Jewels," and was shown recording a pop song called "Take Me Away" on a 2009 episode of that series), actually auditioned in San Francisco this past Father's Day. And Gene reportedly chartered a private jet at the last minute to be there in person, refusing to spend the holiday without his precious child (or, perhaps, refusing to miss an opportunity to promote himself and his precious Simmons empire).

Last night, "The Voice's" Season 3 Blind Auditions continued at a positively glacial pace, with only a measly four contestants making it through during the entire hour-long episode. However, the game did change this week for coach Blake Shelton, who until recently seemed to have the weakest team of the season, but--thanks to last night's recruitment of soulful smog technician Charlie Rey and Hey Monday frontwoman Cassadee Pope, and the previous night's recruitment of awesome Austin music teacher Suzanna Choffel--is now fully back in the running.

Watch me, my co-host Matt Whitfield, and our Cee Lo-inspired mascots chat all about Charlie, Cassadee, and the other "Voice" contestants who auditioned on Tuesday, all in our latest "The Day After" chatfest below!

"The Voice" Season 3 Blind Auditions continued at a snail-crawling-through-molasses pace on Tuesday, with frustratingly little progress made by the episode's end. Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera only scored one new team member apiece, and Adam Levine somehow managed to get through the entire episode without recruiting a single singer. Only for Blake Shelton was Tuesday's episode any sort of game-changer. But what a game-changer it was! In the course of just one hour, Blake went from being this season's most disadvantaged coach, with the weakest team, to someone with a real chance of winning this whole thing for a second season in a row--when he snagged two new valuable team members who are likely to become Season 3 frontrunners.

photo: Ian Dittbrenner"American Idol" Season 8 winner Kris Allen may have just parted ways with his record label of three years, BMG/RCA, but he's staying strong and moving on, with a solid fanbase behind him and good things ahead. So what better time for him to debut his latest triumphant cover song, an acoustic version of David Guetta & Sia's empowerment electro-anthem, "Titanium"? When Kris sings lines like "I'm criticized, but all your bullets ricochet / You shoot me down, but I won't fall / I am titanium," the lyrics really resonate now.

And the fact that he mashes the song up with the Police's "Every Breath You Take"? Well, that just ups the awesomeness factor, of course...