So I’m reading this editorial about Ashlee Simpson’s disasterous performance at Tuesday night’s Orange Bowl game, when I read this:
When Ashlee came on and began to perform, though, I literally dropped my fork. Then I cupped my hands over my ears, but it didn’t help. Ashlee’s singing sounded like a cross between a political prisoner being tortured and a test of the Emergency Broadcast System.
…
I happened to look out the window and noticed that some of my neighbors were running down the street, their hands over their ears, screaming for help. I wanted to help them, I really did. Yet I was gripped by horror and disbelief. I was practically catatonic. For their sake — and for mine — all I could hope for was a swift end to the halftime show.
Okay, I’m sure she was awful, and as far as I can tell, there’s no logical reason for her to be famous in any way — she’s certainly not a looker (she seems to me like a cross between Barbara Streisand and Joan Jett). But that’s just plain mean.
I don’t think it’s mean at all. She sucks–hardcore–and she doesn’t seem to realize it. The only way I think it’s going to get to her is if people bluntly and harshly point it out to her.
I think the reaction was over the top. The crowd was there there because they wanted to see a football game, so they can’t exactly complain that they paid money to see an artist they didn’t like.
I don’t think her music is that bad (I even bought her album on iTunes). If you watch the MTV show, you see she actually writes a lot (all?) of her lyrics, which is more than a lot of artists can say for themselves.
Perhaps her problem is that she doesn’t perform well on stage?
I will grudingly admit that I like a few of the songs on her record. Do I think she wrote those songs, even with the MTV Cameras Catching It All? Nah, maybe half of them, with real producers and musicians filling out the important parts. She may have added a few lines about teenager angst, you never know.
I will also freely (and quickly) note that she is a by product of Rock Star Makers, Inc., and subsequently buckles (like a belt!) under the pressure of performing.
She made an ass out of herself on SNL, on the American Music Awards (which I saw and she performed live…and she should’ve been lip synching), so I can’t imagine how much better she has gotten in the meantime.
Meanwhile, this site is hilarious and takes jabs at least once a week:
http://fuggingitup.blogspot.com