Saturday Night... Live?_Simpson Says She Would Never Lip Synch

Angry Country.com ^ | 10-24-04 | Michael Allison

[My Favorite Headache]

News and Views: Added: 10/24/04 Saturday Night... Live? By Michael Allison - AngryCountry.com Staff Writer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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. - Ashlee Simpson in Lucky Magazine

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Saturday Night Live was not as "Live" as people expected last night. Musical Guest Ashlee Simpson poorly lip-synched her first song, and then a technical glitch or mistake led to the wrong vocal track being played for her second performance proving her fraud as she stood there confused while her recorded voice filled the airwaves . Simpson's band picked up the slack, attempting to save the show as Ashlee walked off the stage. Just a minute in (on a musical segment usually four or more minutes long) SNL pulled the plug, cutting quickly to a commercial.

Also this week it has been suggested that the vocal performance of "God Bless America" by a very talented country artist during the Major League Baseball playoffs was also pre-recorded, though having watched that game myself I am not certain that it was not just an audio delay in that case. I can say that I have attended concerts where it seemed that at least some of the performance was taped, and I routinely see performances on TV where the lip movements of the artist doesn't match the sound.

Lip-synching is nothing new (Remember Milli Vanilli) but for some reason it has become more accepted, especially for television shows and special events. But is it fair? Is it fair to the fans who tune in to see a LIVE performance, for them to instead be presented with a living puppet acting out a CD track? I don't think so. And more than unfair, I think it's a fraudulent act. Tricking people into believing they are watching a live performance should not be allowed.

My solution is a simple one... but it will not be popular with the untalented artists and unscrupulous promoters of the world: Concerts and television broadcasts should be required to specify when a performance is not LIVE both vocally and visually. I've been sitting here for twenty minutes trying to figure out a politically correct and kind phrase to serve as the disclaimer for this new rule, but so far I've come up empty. No one is going to warn viewers or concert attendees that their performance is going to be lip-synched. Perhaps they could label it a "dramatic performance" which would at least admit that they are 'acting' like singers, without actually singing.

Obviously this wouldn't apply to scripted television (such as sitcoms) and movies where the audience expects to see acting and special effects, but when someone gets on stage at a concert or televised show (SNL, award shows, Variety shows, etc) there is an expectation of a genuine musical performance.

Live should mean Live, and if it's not live be honest about it!

[gcruse]

One of my all time favorite vocalists is Nana Mouskouri. Seeing her in concert was... alarming. Like Enya, she records multiple tracks of herself singing, a task so difficult to reproduce live that onstage performances are like listening to someone wholly other.

[LiberalBassTurds]

She said (with an incredibly goofy look on her face and wild arm movement)...."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 ho down. I'm sorry, live TV things happen."

The video is funny if you haven't seen it. She dance around briefly after she realizes she's been busted then bails out leaving the band on stage. :^)

[A CA Guy]

It's supposed to be 2.7 meg and only 870K downloads, sigh!!!

[truecons]

This whole incident is a case study in media manipulation. It's entirely based on a sham career of a sham "musician" who isn't even a good enough singer to belt out a piece of crap teen-tune without fudging. Then she has the nerve to blame it on her band.

 

As a musician, I can say it is probably embarrassing enough to have to go on national TV and play the kind of pap the music industry foists on the pop music culture, let alone be blamed for somebody else screwing it up.

 

Daily Recycler has a version of the video that includes her lame excuse at the end. She says "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 hoedown."

 

1. If I was a member of that band I'd tell her to stick it where the sun don't shine (and, coincidentally, it would probably meet her talent going the other way).

 

2. Good call, though...when things fall through, stick to what you know.

 

You can bet what went on in the control room between the debacle and the end of the show. Her manager, seeing his whatever-figure-it-is-it's-too-much salary about ready to go down the commode, instead of doing nothing and hoping nobody noticed, or actually being honest and admitting his client has no talent, choses to do the absolutely least admirable thing: blame innocent people.

 

Hmmm...taking an unqualified client and using propaganda to convince the masses they should be supported, then when the fraud is revealed blaming the underlings instead of taking responsibility themselves. Sounds like it was ripped from the front page on November 3rd.

 

 

[antceecee]

I saw her blame the band act also.... hmmmm maybe she is such a little phony it drove someone to set her up to look bad??

[LibertarianInExile]

"The answer can only be that there is some financial advantage to the network or the show's producers."

We have a winner!

[mylife]

Im not familiar with Nana.

I have nothing againt dubs. But dont call it a live performance.

Mike Oldfield is great.in that its all him thru dubbing. I really dont mind technology. I do dislike cheatery

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

John Lydon/Johnny Rotten did this deliberately on American Bandstand when he appeared with PIL. He also got the audience out of the stands to dance on the main floor while the band was out there. Johnny used the crowd to lose the camera man who was to follow him and keep him on while the song played.

He would deliberately hold the microphone at arm's length pointing away from him while the lyric played.

LOL! I remember seeing that - one of the great rock-n-roll TV moments IMHO. I was totally amazed at the time that Dick Clark would have PIL on his show!

[RobRoy]

For a long time, I thought Jessica Simpson was the character from The Simpsons.

Until today, I had never heard of Ashley Simpson...

[GOPyouth]

The Milli Vanilli situation was different because those dudes didn't even sing on their own records!

The Milli Vanilli situation is very similar. That whole fiasco first started during a performance in which the vocal track skipped and constantly played, "girl you know it's girl you know it's girl you know it's girl you know it's." That got the snowball rolling against them.

It was soon after that it was revealed that not only did they lip-synch their shows, but that it wasn't their own voices.

[gopwinsin04]

[gopwinsin04]

[Mrs Ian Thorpe]

I believe NBC owns her record label.

Trust me, careers will BURN over this, either hers or the band's or the techies.

[manic4organic]

I really have hated this lip-synch crap for a long time. From no-talent "singers" who use that gimmick, to other no talents that have to use pitch correction machines on their records and at live performances to hit their notes. My daughter is an artist with great pitch, talent, singing and songwriting ability, and she'll sing a Star-Spangled Banner version that'll bring tears every time. I'm sick of the crap the music industry peddles. Move over and let some real artists shine. Support independents!

[F16Fighter]

"It depends on what you thought of the Monkees."

I liked Mike Nesmith. At least HE was a legit musician/composer.

[Revolting cat!]

Simpson Says She Would Never Lip Synch

She does? I'm sceptical.

[A CA Guy]

The techs will be burned, the band are known to be innocent since her voice from a prerecorded device was playing and forced them to adapt to the situation.
The talent was proven to not be that talented and in blaming the band proved to be a little creep besides.

This much I know for sure, Simpson must NOT be able to sing, for if she could, why not sing live?
There is no way that what she was doing could be called dancing or anything that could cause her to have a need to lip synch.

She was outed as a no talent bum IMO!
The internet will keep her alive as a fake, so I think her career was done before she started.
Her dancing was pathetic, how could anyone with all those professional dance and choreography lessons be so crappy a dancer.

Look for her at a bar on a pole near you!

[MetalHeadConservative35]

actually alot of acts lip sync on SNL,you can easily tell

doesnt change the fact most of them suck anyway!

[LiberalBassTurds]

I saw her blame the band act also.... hmmmm maybe she is such a little phony it drove someone to set her up to look bad??

Could be antceecee. Her little performance made her look like someone you'd want to reveal. I'm sure the band's not thrilled with her right now. May see a repeat in the future. :^)

[theFIRMbss]

>As a musician, I can say it is probably embarrassing enough to have to go on national TV and play the kind of pap the music industry foists on the pop music culture . . .

Yeah, I agree, but
as a musician you know
pop tart backup guys

sometimes make big bucks,
because they have to carry
the musical load . . .

And part of that cash
is understood to cover
keeping the tart pure . . .

The celebrity
is the meal ticket and she
gets blamed for nothing . . .