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Putting on the Hits
Oct. 25th, 2004 01:02 pmI guess you could say Ashlee Simpson's performance on Saturday Night Live was "Solid Gold."
(For those of you too young to remember the 1980s, Solid Gold was a syndicated pop music program infamous for "The Solid Gold Dancers," hostess Dionne Warwick, and lip-synched performances by your favorite stars. Putting on the Hits was a syndicated lip-synching competition.)
If you haven't heard or seen it--I saw the video online--Simpson, who has the #1 album in the country, attempted to perform a second song on Saturday Night Live with a backup band. The problem was, the wrong backing tape came on, which featured Simpson singing her hit "Pieces of Me" as the pop tartlet held her mike at her waist. Oops! Simpson looked around all confused, tried to do this silly dance, then slinked offstage. Her backup band improvised for an uncomfortable minute until it went to commercial. Initially, Simpson blamed her band for playing the wrong song but it was clear to all of Western civilization that no, it was the wrong karaoke tape.
It's embarrassing but I don't think it's the death knell for the popster's career. Milli Vanilli didn't just lip synch in concert; they never sang a note on any of their recordings. Big difference. Maybe some of her 11-year-old fans' parents will re-think paying $65 apiece for their kids to watch a phony act, but even so, the kids go to concerts to see their favorite star, not because of said star's fabulous voice or impressive songwriting skills (most of 'em don't play their own instruments).
Which gets to my point...why are people so shocked to see a lightweight pop star lip-synch on t.v.? Ashlee Simpson is some girl whose schtick is, "I'm escaping the shadow of my famous goody-goody sister (Jessica) by...riding on her coattails!" Hence the shoe polish black hair and the Avril Lavigne type tunes. She doesn't write her own stuff. She doesn't play any instruments. She is 100% a pop idol and nothing more.
You see, in Europe, Japan, Latin America, etc. the pop idol is recognized purely as such. You are essentially a singing celebrity. Your job is to record catchy songs other people wrote for you and get teenagers to like you. Nobody expects you to be deep. Nobody expects you to be brilliant. Everyone knows you're lip-synching. But for some reason, in America, pop idols strive to be put in the same stratosphere as Bob Dylan. They want to be taken seriously. They want us to believe they really can sing, they really write their own songs, and they can play guitar (a little). So when a backup tape blows up that fantasy, it's a national scandal.
Look, all American pop idols should cease and desist from trying to impress music critics who hate their guts anyway or people like myself who have long figured out their scam. Just admit you are there to sell to tweens and let's be done with it.
(For those of you too young to remember the 1980s, Solid Gold was a syndicated pop music program infamous for "The Solid Gold Dancers," hostess Dionne Warwick, and lip-synched performances by your favorite stars. Putting on the Hits was a syndicated lip-synching competition.)
If you haven't heard or seen it--I saw the video online--Simpson, who has the #1 album in the country, attempted to perform a second song on Saturday Night Live with a backup band. The problem was, the wrong backing tape came on, which featured Simpson singing her hit "Pieces of Me" as the pop tartlet held her mike at her waist. Oops! Simpson looked around all confused, tried to do this silly dance, then slinked offstage. Her backup band improvised for an uncomfortable minute until it went to commercial. Initially, Simpson blamed her band for playing the wrong song but it was clear to all of Western civilization that no, it was the wrong karaoke tape.
It's embarrassing but I don't think it's the death knell for the popster's career. Milli Vanilli didn't just lip synch in concert; they never sang a note on any of their recordings. Big difference. Maybe some of her 11-year-old fans' parents will re-think paying $65 apiece for their kids to watch a phony act, but even so, the kids go to concerts to see their favorite star, not because of said star's fabulous voice or impressive songwriting skills (most of 'em don't play their own instruments).
Which gets to my point...why are people so shocked to see a lightweight pop star lip-synch on t.v.? Ashlee Simpson is some girl whose schtick is, "I'm escaping the shadow of my famous goody-goody sister (Jessica) by...riding on her coattails!" Hence the shoe polish black hair and the Avril Lavigne type tunes. She doesn't write her own stuff. She doesn't play any instruments. She is 100% a pop idol and nothing more.
You see, in Europe, Japan, Latin America, etc. the pop idol is recognized purely as such. You are essentially a singing celebrity. Your job is to record catchy songs other people wrote for you and get teenagers to like you. Nobody expects you to be deep. Nobody expects you to be brilliant. Everyone knows you're lip-synching. But for some reason, in America, pop idols strive to be put in the same stratosphere as Bob Dylan. They want to be taken seriously. They want us to believe they really can sing, they really write their own songs, and they can play guitar (a little). So when a backup tape blows up that fantasy, it's a national scandal.
Look, all American pop idols should cease and desist from trying to impress music critics who hate their guts anyway or people like myself who have long figured out their scam. Just admit you are there to sell to tweens and let's be done with it.
