Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

photo: Ian Gavan/Getty ImagesYou know, sometimes the Internet really delivers. There are countless Glamberts all over the world who would've loved to have been in Kiev, Ukraine's Independence Square Saturday night for Queen's first full concert with very special guest frontman Adam Lambert--but now at least those fans can almost feel like they were there, as the entire concert has been posted online for everyone's viewing enjoyment, excitement, and amazement. Thanks, Internet!

So switch off whatever stupid cute-cat YouTube video you had queued up, pour yourself a Big Gulp-sized espresso, clear your schedule for the next two hours, two minutes, and one second, and watch the full "Queenbert" concert right now.

Considering that Didi Benami, who placed 10th in Season 9 of "American Idol," was portrayed as that season's token emotional mess (she was often shown sobbing or breaking down), it's amusing that hard rock band Theory Of A Deadman just cast her as an emotionally messy "fallen Idol" in their new music video, "Hurricane." Didi does a fantastic job, and now it seems like she's having the last laugh.

photo: Derick TortorellaMost "American Idol" champs hit the promotional treadmill hard the morning after the finale, but since winning Season 11 of "Idol" in May, Phillip Phillips has been laying low and staying out of the public eye, undergoing and then recovering from a serious kidney operation that he had postponed during his "Idol" run. But Phillip came out of hiding this week to play a rare acoustic performance of his winning song "Home" for Yahoo! Music, assisted by his guitar-shredding brother-in-law, Ben Neil. And the Idol was looking like his old self, humble and likable as ever. It was fantastic to see him doing so well.

"It's still weird for me [that I won]," Phillip admitted later to Yahoo!'s Reality Rocks. "It hasn't all kicked in, because I have been recovering and I'm still in my little bubble. I never took anything in until the finale, and that's where it all hit me, like, wow."

photo: Derick TortorellaWhile some naysayers have theorized that Phillip's kidney stone condition earned him sympathy votes on "Idol," in

Mercy! Looking good, Kelly!For those of you who forgot, "Duets" is still on the air.

But this Thursday it finally went live, and it was clear that in the time since the season's previous episodes were taped, a few things had changed. Sure, host Quddus and celebrity judge Robin Thicke were as smarmy and awkward as ever, but Kelly Clarkson was blonder and sleeker, Jennifer Nettles was pregnant-er, and four of the five remaining contestants had definitely upped their game. (That fifth contestant, Olivia Chisholm, was still terrible. Well, at least the girl is consistent.) I'm not exactly sure why the "amateurs" were, for the most part, a little less amateurish than they had been before. Maybe they'd been practicing since they'd last (dis)graced the "Duets" soundstage, or maybe now that they were competing for the public's votes, instead for the biased judges' unexplainable algorithmic scoring system, they felt newly invigorated. All I know is, for the first time this season, this really seemed like a competition here.

I'm still not loving "Duets," but I wasn't hating it this week. Baby steps...

Cake + SYTYCD + Zooey = Best. Celebration. Ever. (photo courtesy of Fox)"So You Think You Can Dance" celebrated its monumental 200th episode this week, with a "Meet The Top 20" special so incredible, there better be at least 200 more episodes in store for this wonderful series. Because "SYTYCD" once again proved that it is the best competitive reality show on television. I hope the Emmy voters were watching...

Anyway, before the 200th episode taped, Nigel Lythgoe, the staff of "SYTYCD," and totally adorkable guest judge Zooey Deschanel rolled out a ceremonial cake for the occasion. Of course, none of the actual top 20 dancers, all of whom looked like they'd been thriving on a diet of nothing but organic kale and Simon Cowell's special quail-egg vitamin smoothies all their lives, ate a single fluffy, frosted bite. But of course, the moment was still very, very sweet.

The top 10 girls dance a Travis Wall routineThis Wednesday, the "So You Think You Can Dance" Season 9 semifinalists were finally revealed on "SYTYCD's" landmark 2ooth episode, in a manner that has quickly become the best tradition of any "SYTYCD" season: the annual "Meet The Top 20" non-competitive special. This is the show on which the contestants simply get to do what they do best, dancing in their specialty styles (as opposed to, say, being forced to do Russian folk or gumboot stepping), and it's the perfect way to get viewers all jazzed, no pun intended, about the season to come. I know I'm excited, after watching the amazing top 10 girls and top 10 guys dance this week.

While I am a little saddened that Megan Branch didn't make this year's cut--and I was disappointed to see a couple girls, like Aubrey Klinger and Mariah Spears, get axed in Vegas last week--I am still thrilled overall with the phenomenally talented top 10 girls this season. They're an incredible bunch, and their totally Emmy-worthy Travis Wall contemporary

The top 10 guys dance a Sonya Tayeh routineThis Wednesday, the "So You Think You Can Dance" Season 9 semifinalists were finally revealed on "SYTYCD's" landmark 2ooth episode, which also happened to be the "Meet The Top 20" episode, my favorite part of any "SYTYCD" season. This year we have an amazing bunch of male powerhouses, perhaps the most diverse bunch ever, representing every dance genre from stepping to martial arts to ballet to animated popping. I was utterly wowed seeing them perform in their specialty styles this week, and I can't wait to see how they tackle styles outside of their comfort zones in the weeks to come.

This year's top 10 American Idols are in the middle of rehearsing for this summer's big Idols Live Tour, which kicks off July 6 in Detroit, but they recently took some time to chat with reporters at the rehearsal scene in Los Angeles, dropping some hints about their concert setlists and discussing what's next for them after the tour. Up first were DeAndre Brackensick, Heejun Han, and Erika Van Pelt, then Skylar Laine, Elise Testone, and Colton Dixon, and now, finally, are fourth-placer Hollie Cavanagh, third-placer Joshua Ledet, and runner-up Jessica Sanchez. (Winner Phillip Phillips, who recently underwent major kidney surgery, didn't do interviews that day, but you can see him hanging out on the scene with the other nine Idols in this adorable clip.)