Ashlee Simpson

[BobbyD 2]

MSNBC.Com...Ashlee Simpson just paying lip service to fans Singer's lip-synching scandal gives glimpse behind curtain of faux entertainmentAshlee Simpson's fans have been voicing their disappointment in her on the discussion board on her Web site. COMMENTARYBy Jeannette WallsMSNBCUpdated: 1:11 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2004It was the most eye-opening moment in entertainment phoniness since we learned that Milli Vanilli didn’t really sing their songs. Or since we discovered that Britney Spears isn’t really a blonde. Or since it was revealed that Jenny From the Block really doesn’t want anything to do with the old hood. When Ashlee Simpson wasn’t in sync with the song she was lip-synching on “Saturday Night Live,” the public had a Wizard-of-Oz-like-moment, a glimpse behind the curtain of faux entertainers. And it came from the singer, who when asked her opinion of lip-synching by Lucky magazine not long ago, replied, “I'm totally against it 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-synch. It's just not me.”‘I'm totally against it 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-synch. It's just not me.’— Ashlee Simpsonfrom an article in Lucky magazine Aside from the hypocrisy, the way our gal Ashlee handled it all was rather graceless. There was the bizarre Axl Rose-like jig, the walking off stage, and, of course, the unforgivable: lying about it and blaming her band.We’d pay good money to hear Elton John rant on about this one. Fans rallied to Ashlee’s defense. Well, not exactly.“I am throwing out your CD and deleting you from my computer,” ex-fan Carly wrote on the “Community Board” of Simpson’s Web site. “Do you think we are stupid? . . . I never felt this strongly about something and I am not the only one. Ashley you are a fake and you lost fans because you lied and cheated them.”“How lame that you blamed your band WHEN THEY SAVED YOU’RE A--?” wrote “Everythingintime.” “People think you [stink] for lying not because of the ‘lip syncing’ thing.”“Ash u've disappointed me,” wrote “Kwewest” “i personally think u should be dropped. . . . I know many of these artists like britney do the same thing and get away with it but u have to take the fall like Martha Stewart.” Why do we care? Is it because she had the No. 1 song in the country? Is it because she is the marginally kid sister of another star who has rocketed on fame on a mediocre voice and reality show phoniness? Is it because the entertainment world has become so manufactured, so packed with pre-fab stars that it was gratifying to watch one of them get busted? Or is it because we have discovered something that we actually knew all along? It was as if we had all seen Star Jones’s wig fall off or one of Victoria Beckham’s fake breasts deflate: the deeply satisfying sensation of having our suspicions confirmed.As with so many celeb foibles, there are lessons to be learned for us ordinary citizens.1. Don’t fake it.2. Don’t lie to cover up a mistake.3. If you make a fool of yourself in public, don’t compound the problem by doing a jig.But let’s not confuse this whole episode with the Milli Vanilli scandal. At least those two guys could dance

[princess 1,712]

Ashleegate: Simpson to Sing Live Again

Monday Oct 25, 2004 3:00pm EST

By Todd Peterson

people.com

 

Despite her apparent lip-synching debacle on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, pop star Ashlee Simpson is getting right back on the stage for tonight's Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas.

 

During her second song on SNL Saturday, the music began ? along with Ashlee's vocal track ? while she held her microphone by her waist. To further confound matters, the song was Simpson's hit single "Pieces of Me," which she and her band had already performed earlier in the show.

 

At first, the 20-year-old star gamely tried to dance along, but as the song continued, she walked off the stage, prompting the show to cut away to commercial. Simpson's record company called the incident a "computer glitch," and a spokesman for SNL insisted the recording was a "backing track."

 

Now, all eyes will be back on Simpson tonight, when she's expected to perform on the Radio Music Awards, airing on NBC at 9 p.m. ET. Carson Daly will host, with performances by Destiny's Child, Elton John and Tim McGraw, among others.

 

Meantime, the big question is whether Simpson's blunder will cost her any fans, and reactions to Saturday's incident were mixed. While one music student called the performance "disappointing," another said it was a mistake and people "need to get over it."

 

"Ashlee was a good sport!" another fan said. "She handled it well."

[princess 1,712]

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

"Every artist that I now 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 chords. 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.

 

Simpson was the talk of the Internet after the appearance.

 

"Go away, Ashlee," wrote one on her Web site. "If you wanna be famous for something, choose something you can actually do. Maybe you could get naked for Playboy."

 

Other fans leapt to her defense.

 

"Mistakes happen," said another posting. "You're probably all just jealous because you sit at home and wish you were a celebrity and then as soon as one has a mishap, you're right there to rub it in."

 

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.

[ClashFan 0]

ok, first off how lame was it of her to blame her band!!! Also what was up with the dancing lol--I almost peed my pants lol

[princess 1,712]

Ashlee Follows Flub with Real Performance

Tuesday Oct 26, 2004 7:00am EST

By Todd Peterson

people.com

 

CREDIT: ETHAN MILLER/REUTERS/LANDOV

 

Ashlee Simpson's embarrassing performance on Saturday Night Live didn't hurt her sense of humor.

 

The 20-year-old singer and reality TV star took to the stage for Monday night's Radio Music Awards at the Aladdin hotel in Las Vegas to perform "Autobiography," the song that had caused her so much consternation on SNL just a couple nights earlier. Before she began, host Carson Daly assured the audience they were getting a live version of the song, but as the track began Simpson screamed, "It's the wrong song," the Associated Press reports.

 

A second later she added that she was "only kidding!" ? and then performed the song live.

 

The self-deprecating moment may have put a lid on Saturday's flub, during which Simpson walked off the SNL stage when her band began playing the wrong song and a prerecorded vocal track was clearly playing.

 

On Monday her father, Joe Simpson, blamed the lip-synching incident on his daughter's acid reflux disease, which he said had swollen Ashlee's vocal cords. The elder Simpson said it was his decision to go ahead with the prerecorded tracks, Reuters reports. "You've got to do what you've got to do," he said.

 

But in a posting on her Web site, Ashlee took the heat for the SNL blunder, writing that canceling her appearance on the show was out of the question. She also said that pointing a finger at the band, as she did at the close of SNL Saturday night, was wrong.

 

"I'll hold my head high and say I think it was silly of me to do it, silly of me to blame the band, I was just so ? embarrassed," she wrote, reports Reuters. "But I don't think it did me much harm, and people will see that soon."

 

SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels, who also was honored Monday night with the 2004 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in Washington, D.C., said earlier in the day that if Ashlee had had a bit more experience, she might have been better able to handle the goof. But, he added, "it wasn't her fault."

 

Among the other performers honored at Monday's Radio Music Awards were Usher, Beyonce, Tim McGraw and Janet Jackson.

[Jerrica Benton 60]

from villagevoice.com

at ASHLEE SIMPSON technical fiasco on Saturday Night Live came as no surprise to anyone who was at the dress rehearsal earlier that evening. My sources say that at the rehearsal, right before her first song, Ashlee tried to say hi to the crowd, but no one heard her because her mic wasn't on. And they say JESSICA is the dumb one! By the way, gossiplist.com points out that BETH MCCARTHY, the director of that SNL show, also directed the Super Bowl halftime show with JANET JACKSON's wardrobe malfunction. I say let her direct the election coverage—a lot of interesting stuff will surely be exposed!

[princess 1,712]

EOnline.com ASHLEE AGAIN: Meanwhile, Ashlee Simpson failed to show up at a previously planned concert at a Utah high school Tuesday as part of a radio station arranged contest, according to Salt Lake City TV station KSL. Ryan Cabrera performed for the kids instead of Simpson.

[princess 1,712]

Ashlee Simpson Hailed by Drug Companies

imdb.com

 

Young star Ashlee Simpson has been praised by a drug company for raising the profile of acid-reflux disease. The singer blamed "severe acid reflux" for her lip-synch performance on Saturday Night Live last weekend. And the makers of medications Nexium are thrilled with the free promotion. Astrazeneca's David Albaugh tells gossip site The Scoop, "Somebody of her high profile helps raise the profile of the disease. Obviously, it's good to have improved and increased awareness of acid reflux." A spokesperson for Tap - which makes Prevacid - says, "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. We wish Ashlee Simpson the very best on her road to relief from acid reflux."

[Jerrica Benton 60]

Ashlee Simpsons BRAND NEW IPODlink here

[princess 1,712]

 

 

MOST MORTIFYING MOMENT

First, blame the band. Then call it a computer glitch. And finally, the best justification: acid reflux disease. Ashlee Simpson, 20, spent the week doing damage control after her Oct. 23 Saturday Night Live performance revealed a prerecorded vocal track, and the embarrassed singer fled the stage. "It was something I had never done and I didn't want to do," Simpson (with host Jude Law) told PEOPLE of lip-synching. "(But) my voice wasn't strong enough."

[MMM1 1]

Pa Simpson to be interviewed on 20/20 tonite.java script:emoticon('')

[MMM1 1]

This should be interesting60 MINUTES TO AIR SIMPSON SNAFUIt 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. http://www.showbizdata.com/contacts/picknews.cfm?id=36964

[princess 1,712]

Did anyone catch this last night?? Any details??

[cydonia 0]

I thought it was supposed to air on tomorrow's show.You can go here to see a bit of the video:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/28/...ain652196.shtml

[Temptrous 0]

Ashley is such a homely little screw up that I am beginning to actually like her. Nothing fake-looking about this one, but will she stay that way? I hope she never changes her nose because it is part of her character and so many have gone the way of plastic look alikes.

[Guest dangermouse]

That was a pretty blatant statement "Sir Elton" made regarding SNL's feelings on the Ashlee fiasco during last night's Weekend Update.

[MMM1 1]

The most interesting part of the 60 Minutes feature was the Michaels said he knew nothing about Simpson lip syncing. For someone that is so fanatical and involved in his show..how could this have been kept from him? Wouldn't some kind of technical people Have to have known that a tape was going to be used??

[princess 1,712]

Ashlee Dumps Single After 'SNL' Lip-Syncimdb.comEmbarrassed pop star Ashlee Simpson has dumped her track "Autobiography" as her next single after her Saturday Night Live lip- syncing episode last month. Simpson was getting ready to perform Autobiography on the live American TV show, when her debut tune "Pieces Of Me" was played instead, with Simpson's voice being heard, despite her holding her microphone by her side. The humiliated brunette rushed off the stage and later blamed her band for playing the "wrong song". Simpson's father and manager Joe said his daughter used the backing track because her voice has been affected by a bout of acid reflux. On her official website Simpson has now announced the album track "La La" would replace Autobiography as her next release.

[princess 1,712]

Ashlee's Drummer Takes Blame

EOnline.com

by Sarah Hall

Nov 2, 2004, 2:55 PM PT

 

It looks like Ashlee Simpson was wrong--her Saturday Night Live lip-synching disaster wasn't her band's fault.

 

Actually, the downfall Simpson suffered on live television on Oct. 23 was specifically her drummer's fault.

 

So says the drummer himself, Chris Fox, in a missive he posted on Simpson's Website, www.ashleesimpsonmusic.com, in which he takes the brunt of the blame for the pop tart's SNL mishap.

 

Billing itself as "a few words from someone 'on the inside,'" Fox's mea culpa explains that he is the person "in charge of starting the songs and cueing their backing tracks (miscellaneous percussion, random sound effects, etc.)."

 

"Plain and simple, I cued the wrong song," Fox wrote.

 

What followed were about 30 seconds of televised career carnage.

 

As the band began their second "live" performance of the night, Simpson's voice rang out with the opening lines of "Pieces of Me," the song she'd already performed, while her mike dangled by her waist and her mouth remained closed. Simpson looked perplexed before breaking into her now-infamous jig, or in her words, "a hoedown."

 

According to Fox, the band rehearsed the songs with "Autobiography" first and "Pieces of Me" second, but switched the order for the show itself.

 

"So, even though we had already played "Pieces" for our FIRST performance (and quite well from what I'm told), when it came time for the SECOND song, I started "Pieces" (the second song in rehearsal) again without thinking twice," Fox wrote.

 

Fox denied that Simpson was lip-synching, claiming that she chose to sing along with a backing track because she was having problems with her voice. (Simpson and her father-manager, Joe Simpson, have both attributed these problems to acid reflux disease.)

 

"I was there," Fox insisted in his letter. "Ashlee was having problems with her voice/throat that day. A couple hours before playing SNL...Your voice is almost gone...What do you do? A lot of performers may have gone the lip-synching route. But Ash trucked on through, singing her own songs, but with a backing vocal track for reinforcement.

 

"No, this is not something that she usually does. In fact, this is something that she NEVER does. But this was somewhat of an emergency," Fox wrote.

 

"Ashlee should NOT have blamed her band for what happened. Honestly, she should've blamed me, her drummer. It sucks to say, but it's true."

 

Simpson has said that the Saturday Night Live fiasco was the first time she had ever made use of a backing vocal track.

 

In her own letter of explanation on her Website, Simpson stressed she had no hard feelings towards Fox.

 

"As far as me and my band are concerned...we are all a family and love each other very much--they are the best guys in the world and I wouldn't want anyone else to be with me at this time," Simpson gushed.

 

In the wake of her SNL fiasco, Simpson has decided to release her song "La La" as her next single from her album, Autobiography, in lieu of the title track as she had originally planned.

 

Meanwhile, NBC's cameras weren't the only lenses trained on Simpson's meltdown. A crew from CBS' 60 Minutes was also there, taping a Lesley Stahl report on how Saturday Night Live is put together, which aired Sunday.

 

The tapes showed Simpson storming off of the stage in tears during a dress rehearsal, as SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels explained to Stahl that Simpson was "worried about her voice."

 

The 60 Minutes cameras also caught the shocked reactions of Michaels and other staffers as Simpson left the stage once again, this time mid-performance on live TV.

 

Michaels told Stahl that no musical guest had ever walked off the on Saturday Night Live before and that he has a strict rule against lip-synching.

 

In an effort to poke fun at an awkward situation, the Oct. 30 episode of SNL spoofed Simpson's breakdown in several skits.

 

In her opening monologue, host Kate Winslet said, "I'm thrilled to be hosting Saturday Night Live. I can assure you it is live because I'm hyperventilating a bit.

 

"I do however wish it wasn't the week after the Ashlee Simpson incident because now I really do have to perform live." Winslet went on to demonstrate her singing and tap-dancing skills.

 

Meanwhile, Jessica Simpson stood up for her kid sister on Access Hollywood Tuesday.

 

"Ashlee is an amazingly talented person and the fact that people are calling her 'Milli Vanilli' is absolutely obscene and ridiculous," the blonde Simpson said.

 

"She's already sold 3 million records which is more than I sold in two years. She's proved herself."

 

According to her Website, Ashlee Simpson plans to go on tour in January. Time will tell if her fans are still willing to cough up for a ticket.

[princess 1,712]

Her jig

[princess 1,712]

Ashlee Begs for Another 'SNL' Chance

imdb.com

 

Shamed pop star Ashlee Simpson is begging bosses of American satirical TV show Saturday Night Live to invite her back after her debut was marred by a lip-syncing controversy. The singer shocked fans on October 23 when a guide track she was using started without her and led to her dashing from the live show's stage in tears of embarrassment. She proved that she could perform live just days later at the Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, but she wants to get a second chance to prove critics wrong on SNL. An insider says, "They're trying to work something out."

[princess 1,712]

Ouch!

 

 

people.com

 

PROPOSED: The New York group HOPE (Horrified Observers of Pedestrian Entertainment) is offering Ashlee Simpson fans the chance to swap her album, Autobiography, for what it considers "one of a higher entertainment quality" if they bring her CD to Manhattan's Knitting Factory, reports the Associated Press. In exchange, they can get a CD by Elvis Costello, The Ramones, X, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, The Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell or Brian Wilson. Sinpson, 20, was busted for an Oct. 23 Saturday Night Live appearance in which she was caught lip-synching. Her father-manager, Joe Simpson, said the voiceover was necessary because his daughter suffered acid reflux disease.

[princess 1,712]

EOnline.com

Hollywood Party Girl

 

Location: post-American Music Awards party

 

Giggling and whispering in her new best pal Nicky's ear, Ashlee pauses when she spies her face mugging for the camera. "That's me," she squeals with a mix of dorky embarrassment and total excitement. Yes, we know. You're finally famous.

 

[princess 1,712]

people.com There's no way to lip-synch your way through a workout ? especially one led by Tae-Bo guru Billy Blanks. So you know when Ashlee Simpson brought a few friends to Blanks's L.A. studio recently to film an episode of The Ashlee Simpson Show, it was the real deal. "They all did the workout all the way through," Blanks tells us of Simpson and her crew, who did his new "Boot Camp" routine. "Some of them were a little uncoordinated, but they all stuck it out. It was awesome ? we had a good time." Blanks noted that because Simpson and her friends are young and stay in shape through dancing, "I think they didn't think it would be so hard. It was a test for them, and they all passed ? but it was a challenge. Ashlee said, 'Wow, I have to start working out.' " Blanks's "Boot Camp" workout will be available via infomercial in January; his session with Simpson will air in the second season of her MTV show, due early next year.

[princess 1,712]

Ashlee Simpson at MTV's "TRL" in New York City