Blog Posts by Lyndsey Parker

"X Factor U.K." wondertwins Jedward, aka Ireland's John and Edward Grimes, may have tragically lost Eurovision this weekend, but they're still winners to me and to millions of other devoted Jedheads. So the double divas of Dublin have wasted no time in moving on with their (only temporarily thwarted plans) for world domination, posting a big pot of pop gold on YouTube--in the form of seven previews from their forthcoming third (yes, THIRD) album, Young Love.

Adam Lambert has just pod-hatched his new sci-fi thriller video for "Never Close Our Eyes," and I imagine that if Duran Duran and Russell Mulcahy had had access to advanced technology (and access to RCA's advanced budgets) during their Seven & The Ragged Tiger video era, then their clips for "Union Of The Snake" and "Wild Boys" might've looked a little something like this.

"American Idol" Season 10 contestant Stefano Langone's first music video, for "I'm On A Roll," is the pretty much THE cheesiest thing I've seen since I took a tour of that cheese factory in Wisconsin. And keep in mind that I'm a woman who watched every single Ford Music Video this "Idol" season.

photo: ABCThe confetti had barely been swept up from the Season 11 "American Idol" finale floor before the original Idol, Kelly Clarkson, hit the airwaves with her own singing competition, ABC's "Duets," on Thursday night. Now she and her co-stars (John Legend, Robin Thicke, and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles) definitely have their work cut out for them, fighting the ongoing singing-competition fatigue that affected even "Idol's" ratings this year. (Thursday's "Duets" premiere was not a huge ratings smash.) But the show does offer enough of a twist on the old talent-show formula to possibly keep viewers engaged this summer.

I actually think the BIGGER challenge will be faced by Kelly's two amateur duet partners. I had previously assumed that being affiliated with Kelly, arguably the biggest pop star on the show, would be a huge advantage on "Duets"--but oddly, the opposite seems to be true, at least based on how this week's premiere turned out. But more on that in a bit.

Everyone loves a good TV feud, of course. And now that Adam Lambert's neon-painted claws have so thrillingly come out during a recent Bravo interview, when he was grilled about fellow "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken, I can't wait to "watch what happens" next, as Bravo's copywriters would say.

So Adam appeared on Bravo's chatfest "Watch What Happens" Thursday night, and host Andy Cohen put him on the spot by ordering him to "say three nice things about Clay Aiken," as part of the show's "Plead The Fifth" segment. Adam, who is nothing if not honest (his bluntness gets him in trouble sometimes, but hey, I love him for it), answered, "Can't think of any."

"Want to plead fifth?" Andy asked. "No, I just can't think of any nice things!" Adam answered with a laugh.

"So You Think You Can Dance" returned for a ninth season this Thursday--although, sadly, this will be the last time we'll be seeing "SYTYCD" on Thursday for a while. You see, next week, the show will settle into its regular Wednesday night timeslot...and it'll only be on ONE night a week, instead of its usual two. So remember all those awesome "SYTYCD" Thursday night results shows, the ones featuring amazing wheelchair dancers and amazing Wade Robson group numbers and amazing career-launching performances by Lady Gaga and Christina Perri? Yeah, well, those days are over. Apparently the Fox network would rather have "SYTYCD's" Emmy-nominated Cat Deeley host some cockamamie spinning-chair dating show called "The Choice," instead of having, say, prestigious Alvin Ailey company dancers perform on Thursday nights. Really??? Boo, Fox, boo!

However, "SYTYCD" made the most of its sole two-hour spot this week, premiering with a slew of typically brilliant auditions in New York and Dallas. And with both a female winner and a male winner planned for the Season 9 finale in September, even more talent has the potential to be rewarded this year. Yay, Fox, yay!

Don and Phillip Phillips at their Georgia pawn shop [photo: Fox]Newly crowned "American Idol" winner Phillip Phillips, who has a long history with kidney stones, underwent painful surgery earlier this "Idol" season to install a stent in his kidney. However, he didn't let that keep him from becoming a frontrunner in the competition: Incredibly, only six days after that operation, he delivered a solid performance of "Hard To Handle" on the "Idol" stage, and he eventually made it all the way to the winner's circle, never once even landing in the bottom three. But when Phillip started noticeably sitting out the show's Ford Music Videos, fans worried if another health scare had derailed him. And only now is it coming to light just how serious Phillip's medical problems were this season, as his father, Don Phillips, told People this week that his son underwent no less than eight surgeries while he was on "Idol" to remove a build-up of kidney stones.

Last night, Phillip Phillips was crowned the Season 11 "American Idol" champ--a controversial result, of course, but one that my "The Day After" co-host Matt Whitfield and I are totally okay with. Besides, there's SO much more to talk about today than that whole "WGWG" phenomenon: catsuits! Mantasia/Fantasia! crazy Jennifer Holliday faces! wigs! Neil Diamond! David Webb Jewelry!