October 24, 2004
Schadenfreude Alert! Ashlee Simpson Sprung On SNL
If you’re a lip synching pop star, watch out! Elton John recently unleashed fury on Madge for miming during her ultra-expensive concerts, and now Ashlee Simpson has been sprung big time on Saturday Night Live over in the States.
If you would like to witness this actually quite painful display of public humiliation, right click and download this. You’ll note the smirks on the band members as they continue playing, which is understandable I suppose. What isn’t understandable is the rather odd dance Ashlee does. Perhaps she was hoping the entire thing was a bad dream and an Irish jig would put everything back in order?
Now, I’m not against pop stars miming. I mean, c’mon - they’re not deep singer-songwriters, they’re not about looking sincere and meaningful and expressing emotion through gentle cracks and endearing flaws in their voice. Pop stars exist solely to dance, mime, energise the crowd, snort cocaine and shag hookers. If they didn’t, we’d be disappointed in them!
The pop stars out there who manage to kick arse in their live shows without miming, I give the appropriate kudos to. Those who do choose to mime, well- I really don’t mind. I’d prefer it if all “live” performances were actually done “live” but hey, let’s put things in perspective. No one goes to a Britney concert expecting a life-changing revelation through intense performer-audience vocal contact now, do they? If I turned up to a Ryan Adams\Smiths\Ani DiFranco\Fiona Apple\Kate Bush\Badly Drawn Boy\Von Bondies\You Am I\The Tea Party etc concert and discovered the folks on stage were miming, I’d be disappointed and surly and possibly rather violent. But bona fide pop stars? The entire world of pop is about spectacle and showbiz. Anyone who turns up to a concert should already know what they’re getting themselves in for.
That said, Ashlee Simpson deserves all the grief she will inevitably get for several reasons. Firstly - she made the huge mistake saying the following to Lucky Magazine (via stereogum comments)
AS: I’m totally against it and offended by it. I’m going out to let my real talent show, not to just stand there and dance around. Personally, I’d never lip-synch. It’s just not me.
Can’t find a link for that interview anywhere on the web, but if it’s true - Ashlee Simpson, you’re a silly, silly girl. I know you’re young and eager and wanting critical acceptance, but if you say something like that you’d better ensure you never, ever mime or even get sprung singing in a karaoke bar. Statements like that always come back to bite you in the bot-bot (see Spears, Britney - “I Will Always Stay A Virgin”)
Secondly, and this really is bad form, she blames the band for the entire fiasco at the end of the episode. Right click and save here. Oh, that ought to earn you back your cred, dollface.
Probably the most interesting thing to emerge out of this is the power of the web. Ashlee’s daddy and manager Joe Simpson seems to have pulled enough strings to ensure that by the time the episode filtered through from the East Coast of the States to the West Coast of the States, the buggered up vocals which revealed that Ashlee had been relying on a backing tape had been muted, and it just appears as though the band have screwed up and Ashlee decided to dance all the way to her dressing room in reasonable disgust.
Unfortunately for Joe, within an hour of the entire thing happening in New York, video after video of the debacle had been posted online ensuring that pretty much everyone will know what really happened. God bless you, Mr Internet.
Shall we write this entire incident off as yet another example of The Curse Of The Bum-Chin? People should look on the bright side - she didn’t mime at the VMA’s and she was quite dreadful. I know what I’d rather.
Story via stereogum
Posted by Jess at October 24, 2004 08:00 PM— Filed under Common
Comments / Trackbacks (URI)
I downloaded an mpg earlier in the day. Oh my God, SO HILARIOUS. It’s the funniest thing I have seen in so long.
The dance!!! What WAS it? WAS it an Irish Jig? A hoe-down? Monkey dancing??
That, coupled with the band members smirking, just made it the most hysterical thing ever.
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I almost felt bad for her. That dance, it was so sad! Then she blamed her poor band, who were obviously trying to cover for her, and all sympathy vanished.
By the way, you were in my dream the other night which is REALLY WEIRD as I have no idea what you look like! In fact, bloggers have been appearing in my dream for the past week. I wonder if my subconscious is getting stressed out or something about the Grogblogging shindig?!
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Speaking of which, will there be karaoke?
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I really really want there to be. Nothing says “bonding” more than tequila shots and group renditions of “Bat Out Of Hell”. But I don’t think the pub selected does karaoke. Perhaps we’ll all end UP at karaoke?!
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Maybe! It would explain your search for cock rock songs!
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the faces her band members were making made me think that they were happy that happened and that they didn’t liker her… which i find very understandable
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Republitard
Dear Lauren,
Great blog you’ve got there.
Curl up and die.
Cheers,
Tillops
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Ha! HAHAHA! I didn’t even notice!
As far as who to vote for… who do you really think God would want in office? I can guarantee God cares more about the killing of innocent babies, even in the name of “science,” than he does about the economy. God cares more about preserving the sanctity of marriage than he does about homeland security. There is just more to life than money. Vote for the important issues, whichever way you lean on them, don’t just vote on someone so you can make more money. This is a very important election. Many things will be determined in the next four years, so it is incredibly important to make sure that your voice is heard and the right man is in office
Fuck me dead, how can ANYONE think Bush is the right man? Christ almighty. I assume the “innocent babies” her God cares about happen to be white babies that whorish women getting abortions are murdering happily, rather than the “innocent babies” belonging to stupid towel heads who deserve to be bombed for oil.
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Maybe she did an Irish jig to try to conjure up a leprechaun to magic the whole thing away - and/or give her some Irish musical talent.
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THANKYOU! This made my day!