The following is a news article from MTV News:

Ashlee Owns Up, Takes Responsibility For 'SNL' Lip-Synch Snafu

10.25.2004

Although she'd initially blamed her band, Ashlee Simpson took full responsibility Sunday for her lip-synching snafu on "Saturday Night Live," saying that her voice was ragged from too much work.

"I can't cancel something like 'SNL,' " she said in a post to her official Web site. "You and I know that even if I synched on it or not, I'd still get seen by millions, maybe even make a few more fans. 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 f---ing embarrassed. But I don't think it did me much harm, and people will see that soon."

Though Simpson's first performance in the show — her hit "Pieces of Me" — went off without a hitch, the second, "Autobiography," was derailed when a pre-recorded track of her voice (singing "Pieces of Me") began playing while Simpson was holding her mic to the side and had her mouth closed. When the track came on, Simpson tried to dance a little jig instead, but after about 30 seconds, she exited the stage as her band continued performing. The show cut to a commercial.

At the end of the show, host Jude Law tried to help Simpson brush the moment aside by shrugging, "What can I say, folks? Live TV." For her part, Simpson initially placed the blame on her band. "I feel so bad," she told the audience. "My band started playing the wrong song. And I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoe-down. I'm sorry. It's live TV. Things happen. I'm sorry."

An "SNL" spokesperson said that Simpson had planned to use a backing track, a common concert aid that allows singers to either lip-synch or sing along with a guide-vocal track, to augment her voice. A statement from Simpson's record label blamed a "computer glitch" that triggered "a cut from her album" to play instead of a drum cue.

In fact, Simpson had rehearsed the song live on Thursday (see "Ashlee Simpson Preparing To Take On Tara Reid").

Simpson has since been widely attacked for the snafu, with an interview she gave to Lucky magazine coming back to haunt her. When asked what her take on lip-synching was, she had told the magazine, "I'm totally against it and offended by it. I'm going to let my real talent show, not just stand there and dance around. Personally, I'd never lip-synch. It's just not me."

Simpson's official Web site has been flooded with more than 10,000 posts, many of them negative. In response to the criticism, Simpson defended herself by blaming her hectic work schedule for wearing down her voice. In a post titled, "I'm trying!" she wrote, "Seriously, I don't sleep much for a start, and with flying from A to B and flying all over the f---ing place, it's just getting to me. And it showed. Joke is on me, you seem to enjoy it." In response to her Lucky magazine quote, she posted, "I know what I said, but when I get as worn out and beaten down as I do, sometimes I do not have the energy or the voice left. I have almost lost it due to nonstop moving about. So it is the only option."

Simpson has performed live on television on previous occasions, including MTV News' pre-show to the Video Music Awards, "By the Shore," and the Teen Choice Awards. She's expected to perform live on Monday (October 25), for the Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas, which are to be broadcast on NBC at 9 p.m.

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Powered by AkoComment 1.0 beta 2!