2008 Woodie Awards
Ashlee is Back in the Shadows!
Listen...Did you hear that? It was the sound of Ashlee Simpson's career ending.
Selena Moshell
Issue date: 10/29/04 Section: Entertainment
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Love her or hate her, no one can deny Ashlee Simpson's cover was blown while she was "performing" on last week's Saturday Night Live, or "Not-So-Live," as it was so aptly put by Katie Couric. An indication of trouble came during the first moments of her first song, "Pieces of Me," when a strange echo could be heard as she sang- an echo not unlike a voice singing over a pre-recorded track.
The reason for the mysterious echo became apparent during her second song when, as the microphone hung uselessly by her side, the first words from "Pieces of Me" rang out. The stunned Ashlee quickly raised the microphone to her lips, but it was too late, the damage was already done. The band gallantly tried to save the situation to no avail. Then, in a most bizarre twist, Ashlee began to awkwardly hop around like a reject from the musical "Oklahoma!" As the band played on, she danced a few more steps of her jig, and slinked off stage, breaking the cardinal rule of show business. ("The Show Must Go On!) To add insult to embarrassment, Ashlee appeared after the commercial break with host Jude Law and proceeded to blame the band.
Within an hour of airtime, videos began popping up on the internet, bulletin boards began overflowing with posts, and her site was japed with traffic. One site even edited the entire fiasco together into one video montage. The next night, Ashlee sang at the Radio City Music Hall Awards where host Carson Daly joked she was singing "live. Yes, live." She also joked with the audience by stopping before her song, and then turning around with a grin and yelled "Just kidding guys!"
Finally Tuesday morning, she appeared on the Today show with Katie Couric to address "the incident." She shifted the blame from the band to her "severe acid reflux," and claimed that rehearsals were going "very well during the week," but at six o'clock Saturday night her acid reflux was so bad she couldn't talk. She furthered the blame-shift by asserting that her father strongly encouraged her to use the back up track, Ashlee asserted: "I've never had to sing to a backing track, which most artists, by the way, DO. Big artists on big shows," as if it was a justification for her actions. When Katie Couric addressed her blaming her band, she further acknowledged the fault of the drummer: "My drummer, who I love and adore accidentally pushed the wrong button." Also, she pushed the blame away from herself as much as she could: "It was something I honestly couldn't control."
The reason for the mysterious echo became apparent during her second song when, as the microphone hung uselessly by her side, the first words from "Pieces of Me" rang out. The stunned Ashlee quickly raised the microphone to her lips, but it was too late, the damage was already done. The band gallantly tried to save the situation to no avail. Then, in a most bizarre twist, Ashlee began to awkwardly hop around like a reject from the musical "Oklahoma!" As the band played on, she danced a few more steps of her jig, and slinked off stage, breaking the cardinal rule of show business. ("The Show Must Go On!) To add insult to embarrassment, Ashlee appeared after the commercial break with host Jude Law and proceeded to blame the band.
Within an hour of airtime, videos began popping up on the internet, bulletin boards began overflowing with posts, and her site was japed with traffic. One site even edited the entire fiasco together into one video montage. The next night, Ashlee sang at the Radio City Music Hall Awards where host Carson Daly joked she was singing "live. Yes, live." She also joked with the audience by stopping before her song, and then turning around with a grin and yelled "Just kidding guys!"
Finally Tuesday morning, she appeared on the Today show with Katie Couric to address "the incident." She shifted the blame from the band to her "severe acid reflux," and claimed that rehearsals were going "very well during the week," but at six o'clock Saturday night her acid reflux was so bad she couldn't talk. She furthered the blame-shift by asserting that her father strongly encouraged her to use the back up track, Ashlee asserted: "I've never had to sing to a backing track, which most artists, by the way, DO. Big artists on big shows," as if it was a justification for her actions. When Katie Couric addressed her blaming her band, she further acknowledged the fault of the drummer: "My drummer, who I love and adore accidentally pushed the wrong button." Also, she pushed the blame away from herself as much as she could: "It was something I honestly couldn't control."