Ashlee – Saturday Night Live – Oops

Steffie and I were just sitting, watching Saturday Night Live. Though Stef was tired, she wanted to stay up and see Ashlee Simpson. Steffie is a fan.

Jude Law, the host, introduced her. The camera cut to a shot of Ashlee in front of the band. The track began and Ashlee started singing… except her lips weren’t moving.

I asked Steffie, “Isn’t that the song she sang earlier?” It was.

Ashlee stopped singing and the band began filling in what had been the shell of the song’s intro. Ashlee started nervously dancing. The scene faded to black and they went to commercial.

At the end of the show Ashlee came back and said something about the band playing the wrong song. I’m not buying it.

It seemed to me as if the wrong track was played – big difference. It looked like Ashlee was caught in a lip sync malfunction!

We usually tape SNL in case we can’t watch it live. When the show ended we looked back. It was painful to see this time.

This is a story with legs. It will be in the newspapers and on TV – maybe not Sunday, but certainly Monday. The tabloid shows will go nuts with this.

Blogger’s note – Instead of adding a new entry, let me update an interesting twist to the story.

Matt Drudge picked this story up before I saw it anywhere else (except here). He first wrote, just before 2:00 AM EDT: “SATURDAY NIGHT TAPED: Ashlee Simpson in SNL Milli Vanilli lip synch nightmare… Performer runs off stage, blames band for gaffe… Developing…”.

At 2:06 AM EDT the headline changed to: “SATURDAY NIGHT TAPED: Ashlee Simpson in SNL lip synch nightmare… Performer runs off stage, blames band for gaffe… Developing…” I have no idea why Drudge removed the Milli Vanilli reference, which definitely fit.

This gets more interesting.

About 3:48 AM Drudge removes the story entirely. Then at 3:51 AM it’s back: “Poptart Ashlee Simpson Walks Off Stage After Lip-sync Flub During NBC’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE… Developing…”

Saturday Night Live indeed

24 thoughts on “Ashlee – Saturday Night Live – Oops”

  1. Saw that, immediately came to the same conclusion ~ who wouldn’t? What a shame lip synching is so prevalent. Figured you’d write about it!

  2. Hey Geoff, I was doing a Google search on this (Search: Ashlee Simpson lip-sync) and your website came up on the second page!

  3. I totally missed the second performance, I only caught Pieces of Me, which I thought was live, and was actually really impressed with Ashlee, but now Im really disappointed.

  4. Drudge removed the Milli Vanilli comment because Ashlee Simpson was lip synching to her own vocals where as Milli Vanilli’s songs were being sung by completely different people.

  5. To those who missed it-go to collegehumor.com to download the clip in high res. If you check, saturday-night-live.com ( not affiliated w/the show) had a full thread going almost immediately after it happened, before Drudge had it. It is under their forums with a heading Did I just see that- or something close. Good for a lot of laughs and info on the cut version people on the West Coast saw.

  6. But theres no proof that that is her ACTUAL voice.

    Technology today can make anyone sound good.

    Most actual artists, during a screw up like that, would start singing to cover it. She didn’t. Kinda tells you something don’t it?

  7. Sadly enough I turned the show off before it got to Ashlee’s second performance. Funny thing is that during the first performance it was clear to me that she was singing to a tape. Anyone who is familiar with Ashlee’s voice live knows that she rarely sounds as great as she does recorded.

  8. hey, when the wrong track played, the sound guys took the volume wayyyy down and the band picked it up from there and kept going. if that girl had one ounce of vocal ability, she would have done the same. who cares it was the same song. you don’t hop on one foot then run off stage. and if anyone believes the excuses that this was a “support” vocal track, should take another listen. the level was wayyyy UP, more than high enough to COVER the bad vocals of even an untrained zoo chimp with a microphone. hey, now that would be entertaining.

  9. hey not everybody can sing live. She can sing but not with technology such as a microphone. Things happen. I blame it on da band. I still love her anyway.

  10. If you saw Ashlee’s reality show, you’ll remember what a hard time she had with her vocal chords. She took trips to a Doctor, who ordered her not to use her voice for a few days. She will undoubtedly blame the SNL snaffu on the chords. Too bad she couldn’t prepare a measly two songs for live performance. Still, this will not end her. The kids love her too much to turn on her at this point.

  11. I have never been to this website, but will be back. I found it doing a google search on Ashlee Simpson. I missed the second song, but saw the mistake on Good Morn. America. Anyone that saw her show on MTV could tell you that she does not have a good voice, and her songs on the radio sound so processed. She is not a natural talent like her sister. Although, I was upset that I actually bought Jessica’s c.d, it stunk. Keep up the great website.

  12. I THINK THAT ASHLEE REALLY HAS NO TALENT, SHE SHOULD HAVE STUCK TO BACK-UP DANCING FOR HER SISTER. THE TRUTH WAS BOUND TO COME OUT SOMETIME, SOMEHOW.

  13. I agree. Ashlee Simpson is a fake and now there’s proof. The people who say it really is her singing are DILLUTED. I’m glad the truth is finally out. I am so sick of her.

  14. damn thats kool thats she messed up i never liked that chick and i always thought she was a fake just because her big sister can sing she thought she could and her reality show sucks did anyone see the mad tv sketch oh her ….now thats the real ashlee…..haha….damn i want to see that snl i didnt get the chance to see it i live in the west coast so if anyone has it post it ……………..

  15. Geoff, I also was looking around for Ashlee Simpson info after her “SNL” incident, and thought how odd to have a link to geofffox.com, my local weatherman’s name. After I clicked on the link, I still did not realize it was my trusted weatherman’s site (your main picture is quite artistic) until I searched down your bio info. After reading some of your posts, I am pleasantly surprised with your blog. I think I’ll add it to my “favorites” now. Thanks and keep posting!

  16. I was not impressed at all with her blaming the band! She HAD A MICROPHONE IN HAND! She COULD have sung FOR REAL! If she can’t handle being on stage and singing in front of people and needs a tape to playback for her, she DOES NOT need to “perform” live. Plus, you can fix ANY screw-up in the studio, whether it be pitch, tone, or just forgetting the words,like she did on 10-24-04. If THIS doesn’t flush her career down the toilet, I don’t know WHAT will.

  17. to add to my previous remarks, If she “can’t” sing live, because what I’ve heard was “acid reflux”, then she can take a Pepcid AC and BE MORE THAN FINE! It’s what I do. I have reflux. It’s not a pretty thing, but STILL…you can take a cheapo walmart pepcid AC and be perfectly capable of singing. I sing too. alot. AND I write my own songs, unlike ashlee, I’m sure..

    People like dave matthews have worked thier BUTTS off for their music. When he first started touring in his mom’s old stationwagon, he would sometimes play two 2 hour shows in ONE day in different cities or towns. His throat would be raw from this VERY frequent singing that he would get Cortozone shots IN HIS NECK JUST so he could take the stage some nights. THAT, my friend, is suffering for your art form. Ashlee, like Milli Vanilli hopefully, will fade into nothing.

    ASHLEE SIMPSON:

    IF YOU CAN’tm “SING” , then DON’T PRETEND EITHER!!!

  18. I was half watching when I noticed something strange and she was just hopping around on stage.This site is going to get a lot of hits not. It’s addicting, whenever there’s a hot topic it’s interesting to see what your thoughts are.

  19. I watched the show and when she was singing (or not singing) pieces of me I thought it sounded like she was lip syncing. I even told one of my friends this. She said no I think she is singing and I let it go. Only to find later on that I was in fact right. It makes me sick that I actually bought her album just giving her more money that she does not deserve. I do agree that she lacks any talent she is only famous becasue of MTV and her sister. In my opinion if you cant sing live then you cant sing at all. Who wants to pay money for a concert that the artist is not even singing. Oh, and Nelly was on SNL the week before and you can clearly tell when something is live and when it isnt. Isnt that why they call it Saturday Night LIVE!

  20. I absolutely adore Ashlee to pieces. I think she is a great role model for girls. But I was truly saddened by what happened on SNL. If the acid reflux thing is true, I admire that she was trying to please her fans by singing but she should have been honest and not performed if she couldn’t perform live. Her fans would understand. No body is perfect…she has a good voice, a great look and this will not ruin her career. I wish Ash the best of luck after the embarassment she has caused herself, all because she is a performer who is loyal to her fans. Stuff happens and the media always blow it out of proportion.

  21. you people need to get a life…so what if she didnt sing the song that night. the only thing that counts is she sang it at all. people dont mind listening to her cd then they shouldnt trip on her using it. i am your classic male personality(piggish, dirty, and all the other bad male stereo types) and i like her music . first off she tried to write it her self but then she got some help. after that she tried to sing it then she got some help with her voice. all she was doing was trying hard to make something and accepting help and she made a good product that made a guy like me listen to her when i usually wouldnt even spit on some of the stuff that sounds like her. so in summary back off with the critisism cause your only sounding like uptight assholes. thats it nothing more nothing less. oh yea the only reason nobody cares that she fucked up is cause she has a cool personality on camera. the end

Leave a Reply to Sarah Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *