Ironworks Gaming Forum - Ashlea Simpson on SNL

Here's some background info on her "hoedown", taken from Tiny Mixtapes:

Ashlee Simpson Does "Hoe-Down" to Cover Up Her Enormous Talent

In one of the most embarassing moments in recorded history, Ashlee Simpson and her hired band committed quite the blooper on Saturday Night Live. Simpson's first performance (of the shit single "Pieces of Me") went without a hitch, but her second performance didn't quite go as planned.

Originally scheduled to perform "Shadow," according to her official website, the drummer is heard instead playing "Pieces of Me" again, while the guitarists are playing "Autobiography," albeit an extremely slow version since the drummer set the tempo originally to "Pieces of Me." But things got much worse when Ashlee Simpson's pre-recorded vocals for "Pieces of Me" began playing through the PA speakers, loud and clear for the disenchanted studio audience.

Consequently, Ashlee Simpson is reduced to the most horrendous dance steps that would make even Merce Cunningham upchuck. While the guitarists eventually conform to the drummer's insistence on a "Pieces of Me" encore, Ashlee roams about the stage, trying out new dance moves and looking pretty much like a fool until she stumbles off stage. The rest of the band continues to play the "Pieces of Me" reprise, while SNL promptly cuts to commercial.

So how does Ashlee respond to the fiasco? Of course, she blames it on the band: "I feel so bad my band started playing the wrong song and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoe-down. I'm sorry." Meanwhile, her label, Geffen, blamed a computer glitch. And the laughs keep on coming!

In an interview with Lucky Magazine, Ashlee Simpson once said: I'm totally against [lip-syncing] 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-sync. It's just not me." Ha! Truthfully, I think the question of whether or not Ashlee intends to follow in the footsteps of lip-synching luminaries, Milli Vanilli, is moot. Who could blame her anyway? I mean, those of you who follow this plastic pop must've seen how horrible her singing was at the MTV VMA's pre-show. So, whether she lip-synced or not is irrelevant. What does matter is that this "singer," who had the advantage of being related to Jessica and had a 30-minute TV show/commercial on MTV hyping the album, who sang a simple hook that was marketed down our throats until 3 million albums were sold, still managed to let it all crumble.

Simply put, while marketing and advertising can certainly create the illusion of a musician to millions of people, it can't buy respect, dignity, or talent. Ashlee is a product of just another bunch of corporate boardroom directors looking to cash in on a younger, "punkier" version of Jessica. Yes, you're at Tiny Mix Tapes, so surely this rant is annoyingly famliar. But meanwhile, there's an overt trend to like mainstream pop music simply because it has a good beat or simply because it's catchy. People are starting to take music at face-value and ignoring the underlying narrative. If the KKK wrote catchy songs, doesn't mean you have to like it.

In happier news, this performance, ironically enough, was the funniest thing SNL ever broadcasted.