So, who watched SNL last night?

http://www.collegehumor.com/news/ashlee_snl.wmv

I haven't watched SNL with any regularity for many, many years. This story, however, has been burning up many of my daily cyberstops all day.

I confess to being amused by the incident. I'm certainly not scandalized by it on any level. SNL has a real edge once upon a time, but it strikes me as inevitable that as any media enterprise becomes more popular, it loses its edge. There is generally something to take its place.

As for Ms. Simpson, I'm only surprised that she didn't have the base skills to dig down and do anything else than wander off stage.

It also brings to mind the fact that sometimes on weekend mornings I will tune in one of the rare times that MTV or VH1 are broadcasting videos. There is a whole world of music that is much a mystery to me as my music is to many other people. That, too, is something I'm not so sure that I mind overmuch.

Now Playing: "Blue Moon of Kentucky" Bill Monroe Anthology (MCA)

What's the scandal? That she was lip synching? Or that she walked off stage when it became obvious that she was?

It reminds me of when I saw Madonna & the Beastie Boys in 1984 at the Universal Ampitheter, and Madonna ate sh.t on the stage when beding over to grab a bouquet of flowers during Like a Virgin, and dropped her mic. Of course, the lyrics kept rolling along for another five seconds before the engineer cut it off, and the band kept playing. This was several years before Milli Vanilli, but it was a little sad that you pay good money to see acts sings their songs, and they're incapable.

I always considered SNL pretty cool as far as their music went because you got some interesting live renditions of songs from new bands. (i.e., recently, the White Sripes, The Donnas, etc.) The fact that Ashlee can't sing live is sad, but no crime. The fact that she walked off?? Shows immaturity, but who are we talking about here, people?? A Simpson. Bubble-gum music. Does she matter enough to make it headline news? no... so enough of me.

hilarium...

i wish this would happen tomore commercial stars.like they had credibility before...but what bit they had would be even more damaged.

The fact is Ashlee Simpson should not have happened...at least her so called "singing" career...we should not even be talking about this...but i am glad it happend...it gave me a good laugh...cheers

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Originally posted by RayRay:
What's the scandal? That she was lip synching? Or that she walked off stage when it became obvious that she was?

The fact that Ashlee can't sing live is sad, but no crime. The fact that she walked off?? Shows immaturity, but who are we talking about here, people?? A Simpson. Bubble-gum music. Does she matter enough to make it headline news? no... so enough of me.

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I think part of the scandal is that she's not supposed to be "bubblegum"...she's supposed to be a quasi-punk reaction to bubblegum. Oh, the irony...

I don't find the first single too intolerable, but I saw her perform live on MTV once and it was HORRIBLE. She should stick to lip-synching...

60 MINUTES TO AIR SIMPSON SNAFU

It now turns out that a news team from CBS's 60 Minutes was shooting a feature about how NBC's Saturday Night Live is produced when the commotion over Ashlee Simpson's botched performance occurred. After Simpson's voice was heard singing the same song she had sung earlier in the show, Simpson danced for a few seconds, then ran offstage -- and into 60 Minutes' cameras, which recorded her reaction and show creator Lorne Michaels'. CBS said Thursday that reporter Leslie Stahl and the 60 Minutes cameras were also on hand during the dress rehearsal, when Simpson again ran off stage.

Waitaminute... what the heck was 60 Minutes doing there to begin with? They couldn't possibly have known this was going to happen... or could they?

EDIT:
Nevermind. I'm a moron who doesn't read things before posting responses to them.

I would hate to say that I told you so, but well I didn't because I don't think about Pop that much, but when I do, my mind always wonders as to how "Pop" music is about "The lowest common denominator" and that the artists only care about the money.

Neither of the Simpsons are my favorite singers...but, what burned me up most about Ashlee's SNL "accident"...was that she tried to blame it on the band, in front of the entire SNL crew and audience.

Walking off stage does show immaturity, but blaming it on the band when she was clearly lip sinking..come on now Ashlee!!!

Yeah, she just kept making excuses - including acid reflux - good try Ash...

I wonder how many other musicians just lip sync along to their music??

oh god...acid reflux...thats just...ugh, i can't even think of a word to describe that excuse!!

I remember watching live music shows like the MTV music awards...just for the sole purpose of looking for lip-syncers..

I found quite a few, and its not hard to tell...really, its not...

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oh god...acid reflux...thats just...ugh, i can't even think of a word to describe that excuse!!

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Check this out.... LOL!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6337579/

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An ad for Ashlee?

At least some people are pretty pleased with Ashlee Simpson’s lip synching debacle: the makers of medication for acid-reflux disease.

The teen crooner, explaining why she didn’t sing live on Saturday Night Live, said on the Today Show that her voice was hoarse because she had been suffering from “severe acid reflux.” And that makes marketers of acid reflux medications such as Nexium and Prevacid quite happy.

“Somebody of her high profile helps raise the profile of the disease,” David Albaugh of AstraZeneca — makers of Nexium, the widely advertised “purple pill” — told The Scoop. “Obviously, it’s good to have improved and increased awareness of acid reflux.”

“We believe that celebrities who talk about their experience with certain health conditions, such as acid reflux in this case, can help educate people on important health issues, as well as motivate people to talk to their doctors and get properly diagnosed and treated,” a spokeswoman for TAP, the company that makes Prevacid, e-mailed The Scoop in a statement. “We wish Ashlee Simpson the very best on her road to relief from acid reflux.”

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LOL, oh man..thats a good one!

The thing about this "severe acid reflux" deal is that its hard for her fans, or anyone else, to really know if that was the reason for her decision to lip-sync...

it could all be a lie just to hide the fact that she sucks at singing (in general)...

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it could all be a lie just to hide the fact that she sucks at singing (in general)...

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That exactly what it is. We all knew that these "Pop icons" are not exactly talented as others are. What sells their albums is:

1. The fact that they look good in a bathing suit
2. The fact that they can dance around like strippers and make the music videos provacative.

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Originally posted by Mike:
We all knew that these "Pop icons" are not exactly talented as others are. What sells their albums is:

1. The fact that they look good in a bathing suit

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Nah, Mike. Most bathing suits afford a greater degree of modesty than a lot of pop-flavor-of-the-month's costumes.

Now Playing: "Caroline, No" The Beach Boys Pet Sounds (Capitol)

Good point LT.

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That exactly what it is. We all knew that these "Pop icons" are not exactly talented as others are. What sells their albums is:

1. The fact that they look good in a bathing suit
2. The fact that they can dance around like strippers and make the music videos provacative.

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Ashlee was only chosen out of the crowd of other blond haired, 18 year old girls because of her sister.

I don't know why this didn't morally outrage the entire world. Really, what exectly is the point of Simpson and people like her who would attract families to see her live under the false pretense that she is actually going to sing the songs she's pretending to sing? Wouldn't you feel ripped off that all you'd have to do is play the CD and have someone in the room pretend to be her and it's the same thing but cheaper? They should at least write that on the ticket: "ASHLEE SIMPSON LIVE IN CONCERT Attention: Ashlee will not actually be singing any songs today. She will merely flop around on stage and be a roll model for your kids." Would you go to a play where the actors just mouth to words to a book on tape? What if this slinks into all other faccets of our culture? This incident is far scarrier than it seems.

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Originally posted by Filmore Holmes:
I don't know why this didn't morally outrage the entire world.

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I think it's possible people were distracted by other news headlines.

I'll offer an argument, purely for the sake of argument.

When I worked in a record store, it was not uncommon for customers to return live albums with the complaint that "it doesn't sound like the song on the radio."

I believe, to no small degree, there is are music consumers (yes, consumers) out there who are more than happy to enjoy the spectacle of the "concert" performance. The music is, in effect, secondary.

It's also worth noting that the miracles of digital technology make it easier every year to make a mediocre singer sound pretty good on CD. A lip synch might actually be preferable to the real thing.

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Originally posted by Filmore Holmes:
They should at least write that on the ticket: "_ASHLEE SIMPSON LIVE IN CONCERT_ Attention: Ashlee will not actually be singing any songs today. She will merely flop around on stage and be a roll model for your kids."

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I approve of this with the observation that the unintentional use of the homophone for "role" makes your advisory all the more hilarious.

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Originally posted by Filmore Holmes:
Would you go to a play where the actors just mouth to words to a book on tape?

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Per my second point above, I can think of any of a number of plays I've attended where this would have been far more enjoyable than the actual performance.

Now Playing: American Public Media's Marketplace

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Originally posted by LinnTate:
When I worked in a record store, it was not uncommon for customers to return live albums with the complaint that "it doesn't sound like the song on the radio."

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That's what this soft little side-bar in Rolling Stone said when talking to the manager of Evanescense that "there are layers of guitars on the record and unless you tour with like 4 or 5 guitarists, you can't make that sound live and people want to hear the record they bought." I really don't understand the desire to see someone act like they're singing. At least the Planetarium has a neat lights show and costs a fraction of it. Anyone who would return a live record or complain that a live show doesn't sound exactly like the product they already own has something wrong with them mentally. The whole point of seeing something live is it is supposed to be, oh I don't know, LIVE. These are the same people who go to an off-broadway Hamlet and bitch they didn't do the Ethan Hawke version...and they have deep pockets (look at the billboard chart)....but nothing I can say is going to affect that much (I love the chance to bitch, though, as my view is never expressed in the media). What is a homophone?