Ashlee Simpson: you're no "singer"

[cookie]

This b**** pisses me off:

Ashlee Simpson's dad blames acid reflux for gaffe

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By David Bauder

Oct. 25, 2004 | NEW YORK (AP) -- If Ashlee Simpson's stomach was upset Saturday night, imagine how she's feeling now. Busted for a "Saturday Night Live" lip-synch gone awry, her manager-father said Monday his 19-year-old daughter used the extra help because acid reflux disease had made her voice hoarse.

"Just like any artist in America, she has a backing track that she pushes so you don't have to hear her croak through a song on national television," Joe Simpson told Ryan Seacrest on Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM. "No one wants to hear that."

He insisted it would be Ashlee's live voice alone during her appearance on NBC's "Radio Music Awards" Monday night.

And he said she's never used the extra help onstage before.

"The whole situation was a bummer," Ashlee Simpson said in an interview on MTV's "Total Request Live."

Simpson had performed her hit single "Pieces of Me" without incident earlier on "SNL." When she came back a second time, her band started playing and the first lines of her singing "Pieces of Me" could be heard again.

She was holding her microphone at her waist at the time. Simpson looked momentarily confused as the band plowed ahead with the song and the vocal was quickly silenced.

A flustered Simpson made some exaggerated hopping dance moves, then walked off the stage.

She told "TRL" that she and her band didn't know what to do. "I think all of us went into a state of shock," she said.

The incident exposed what many consider an obvious secret: that some singers who appear onstage aren't singing live at all, or at least have their voices augmented by backing tracks. And it's happened before on "Saturday Night Live," too, executive producer Lorne Michaels told the Associated Press.

"She was mortified and in her dressing room, but (producer) Marci (Klein) got her to come out for goodnights and explained that it wasn't the end of the world. It wasn't her fault," Michaels told AP Radio.

"Every artist that I know in this business has had vocal problems at some time -- from Celine on down," said Joe Simpson, also father of Jessica Simpson. "So you've got to do what you've got to do."

He said it was his decision to use the tapes when it became apparent that acid reflux disease had swollen Ashlee's vocal cords. After consulting Wayne Newton's doctor, she received a cortisone shot to get her ready for the "Radio Music Awards," he said.

It was the band's drummer who pushed the wrong button onstage, he said.

Michaels corroborated that, adding: "If she were a more seasoned performer then I think that she would've taken charge and said, `No, let's start this over again."'

To add to Ashlee's indignity Monday, eBay.com was auctioning off her private cell phone number, which it said had been inadvertently, and briefly, posted on her Web site.
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You know what? I have acid reflux and had vocal problems too. Know how I overcame it? Prilosec and good technique.

"Just like any artist in America, she has a backing track that she pushes so you don't have to hear her croak through a song on national television," OH, PUHLEEZE. Just like "any" artist? What a maroon this father sounds like. REAL vocal artists as opposed to these Barbie doll arena trash queens don't have to lipsync.

What a crock. If this b**** wants to call herself a singer, it might help if she could actually sing. All the "artist" crap in the article made me want to puke. Ashlee Simpson's no "artist." She's a little girl with some big connections.

We all know that she's a joke anyway, but this bulls*** beats all.

[jesus marion joseph]

Fucking drummers.

[kedoane]

That's the problem with these pop stars who find their fame on MTV: they have the so called style to fit the current trends but no substance. I haven't watched MTV for a long time and from what I see doesn't appeal to me.

[hearsay]

We can all take solace in the fact that she will be considered a joke after this. She's done.


btw- I posted about htis yesterday on a thread called "Are you ready for some lip-synching", there is a link to a clip of it there too and a quote of her saying she would never lip-synch.

Oh my FUCKING goodness!

Sadly, I fell asleep during the show, so I missed this little gem.

How pathetic.

Milli Vanilli, indeed.

"Girl you know its
Girl you know its
Girl you know its
Girl you know its
Girl you know its
Girl you know its..........."

[mke]

The two funniest things in the video are: her dancing (if you can call it that) and her band smiling to each other after she walked off stage.

[tippy]

It was clear to me from her first song, the smooth production quality of her voice, that it wasn't a live performance, plus she was hiding her mouth with the microphone. I think if she really had no voice to work with, she should have canceled, but the smart thing to do would have been to pull something from repertoire that she could have worked with. They also could have let her perform just one piece in the context of the show.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

My daughters listen to Simpson's "Autobiography" CD all the time. It really isn't that bad for today's pop world. I would agree that her hit "Pieces of Me" is getting waaaay too much play time but the song itself is pretty good. Simpson and Avril Livigne both make some pretty good music by todays' pop standards. Hell, it's not like there's a lot of good stuff out there.

I don't see the big deal here. The reports out there are that vocal "enhancement" tracks are played all the time. A few weeks back is where she really screwed up by saying she would never do it. If she hadn't said that, this would be funny.

Later,
Kevin

[Nefertiti]

I saw a clip which not only showed the missed second song, but also the beginning of the first song.

During the first 10 seconds of the track, it can clearly be heard that she sings (rather badly) over a pre-recorded vocal track, then her mic is faded out of the mix and the rest of the performance is "perfect".

[mke]

The dance, people, the dance!

[Enforcer]

This hits me at two levels.

1) The only ones who get ridiculed for this kind of thing are the ones who get caught. Let me tell you something: There are sh**loads of "singers" who are relying on recordings to make them sound good. Just because someone only gets busted every few years or so doesn't mean that a good portion of the industry isn't also getting away with it on a regular basis. People are naive.

2) Everything gets blamed on the drummer.

[Dr Dave]

She's 19. She has decades of talk shows and lurid tabloid stories ahead of her.

[A. Kingstone]

Is Acid Reflux the name of the band?


Vamp til cue dope.

[cookie]

I guess I'm pissed off because I know people who actually have to SING to put bread on their table and they don't do this pop star bullshit of not actually singing. No, Kevin, I'm not naive. I know it goes on. What I am is sickened. This dumb bitch gets on national television (at a pretty price) while lots of REAL singers starve. No, I'm not surprised. I'm just disgusted because once again, the music business shows its not about music at all. Every time something like this happens, it makes my blood boil because it is plain disgusting and unfair that these people have the exposure and make the money they do. Fuck 'em.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Originally Posted by cookie

I guess I'm pissed off because I know people who actually have to SING to put bread on their table and they don't do this pop star bullshit of not actually singing.

Well, that's the problem then, isn't it? It's not Ashlee Simpson's fault that good singing doesn't get any airtime, it's the buying public. I don't think it's fair to lay this problem solely on Simpson's shoulders. She's getting paid the big bucks to sing pop.

She also sang on 12 songs for her debut CD, "Autobiography". Saying she's "no singer" because she's singing pop ditties is throwing this out the window. Her getting caught using a vocal enhancement tape doesn't take away the fact that she sings for a living.

I'd rather more of today's young singers emulate Ashlee Simpson and Avril, who seem to actually sing than Brittney Spears, who seems to use digital mods on almost every track. Brittany is much less of a "singer" than many out there.

Later,
Kevin

[Noj]

How bout SNL lines up some acts whose target audience is not 11yo girls?

I want some wild free jazzers up there playing some noisy screams and squeaks and honks that will piss off all the non-jazz listeners.

[Underhound]

Originally Posted by Noj

How bout SNL lines up some acts whose target audience is not 11yo girls?

I want some wild free jazzers up there playing some noisy screams and squeaks and honks that will piss off all the non-jazz listeners.

Long ago SNL would not be afraid to feature musical guests such as Ornette, Miles, Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, The Roches.

Those days are gone.

[cookie]

Well, whatever Kevin. I think all the singers you mentioned suck. And yes it's the buying public who allow these so called "artists" to do that shit. It doesn't mean I have to like or support it because "that's how it's done."

I hope the Simpson girls, both Ashlee and her dumbass sister Jessica get their asses kicked somewhere along the road in life. And yes, I'm a meanass bitch. I just can't stand those two and they're EVERYWHERE. Avril at least writes her own music. Though I don't care for her stuff, I can at least respect that.

[Enforcer]

Jessica Simpson is even worse, IMO. I truly hate her, an emotion I usually reserve for people I've actually met or interacted with in some way. Acting stupid and undeservedly privileged just isn't something I find endearing, although I am apparently in the minority.

[mke]

Originally Posted by Kevin Bresnahan

I'd rather more of today's young singers emulate Ashlee Simpson and Avril, who seem to actually sing than Brittney Spears, who seems to use digital mods on almost every track. Brittany is much less of a "singer" than many out there.

That may be true, but Britney's tunes are far better.

[shrugs]

I want to see her Upper GI results. And then I'll believe the whole acid reflux thing.

[shrugs]

Originally Posted by Underhound

Long ago SNL would not be afraid to feature musical guests such as Ornette, Miles, Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, The Roches.

Those days are gone.

And I bet the long ago casts probably knew that music. Today's cast is vanilla.

[shrugs]

I thought all the rock/pop singers use mods to their vocal tracks.

Well, at least the band kicked ass!

I wonder how long they kept playing after they went off the air?

And yes, the band did seem somewhat pleased with the turn of events.

[stonemonkts]

I live in blissful ignorance of many of these pop artists.

Ashlee who?

Jessica Simpson? Isn't she the dish on the boat with Gary Hart?

The one and only time I ever heard a Spears song was while waiting for a slice of pizza. They played Oops I did it again or whatever the hell it's called.

What I believe is all these pop divas are making money off of young girls' puppy love cravings and teenage boys' masturbatory fantasies (maybe a few of us here e.g Tan)

But WTFDIK.

Oh and I agree about SNL being no longer relevant in terms of musical guests. The show has sucked for a long time, imo.

[cookie]

I did think the band looked pleased. Do you think they pushed the wrong button accidently on purpose? Maybe they wanted to take her down a peg or two. It was pretty apparent that they could actually play.

[cookie]

Oh, and Larry: I hear what you're saying. I don't know these young ladies, but they really make me angry and I feel like I hate 'em. I can't really, since I don't know them. But I certainly hate alot about them and their so-called "art."

A bass player who I love and admire told me that he thought Britney Spears had a good voice before she became THE Britney Spears. He thought that what she had done with it was a shame.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Originally Posted by Scott Dolan

Well, at least the band kicked ass!

I wonder how long they kept playing after they went off the air?

And yes, the band did seem somewhat pleased with the turn of events.

I wouldn't be surprised if they are all fired within the next few months. The reason they were up on stage (for better or worse) was because of Ashlee Simpson, not them. Showing up the "star" isn't too swift if you want to keep getting paid.

BTW, I thought the band kicked ass as well... it makes you wonder why they're playing for Simpson in the 1st place.

I was reminded again of one time when I saw Stanley Turrentine at the Regattabar in Cambridge. Guitarist Henry Johnson was on fire this night. His solos were just smokin' and the crowd was eating it up, cheering loudly. After about the 3rd tune, right after he played another great solo, I saw Stanley giving him the "tone it down" hand signal with a big frown on his face. From that point on, Johnson played like he was on autopilot.

Later,
Kevin