Felix P@felix_p

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Ashlee Simpson SNL 2004 lip-sync moment

The question that lingers around Ashlee Simpson's Saturday Night Live night isn't really about the dance or the walk-off. It's whether a 20-year-old got caught deceiving an audience, or whether a pressured performer got damaged by one bad call. Rewind to October 23, 2004. Jude Law was hosting. Autobiography had already hit the top of the Billboard charts, and Simpson was climbing toward becoming one of America's biggest young pop stars. Then came her second performance of the evening. She was set to do "Autobiography" when the recorded vocals from "Pieces of Me" started playing instead. Microphone down at her waist, mouth not moving. She looked over at her band, did a quick awkward dance, and left the stage. NBC went to commercial 35 seconds later. What followed was a pileup of explanations. At the close of the show, Simpson pointed at her band for playing the wrong song. Her record label called it a technical malfunction. Her father and manager later said severe acid reflux had hit her voice, which is why prerecorded vocals were in the mix. Criticism came in wide, and so did the old argument about lip-syncing in something billed as live. The whole thing cast a shadow over her early success, though she kept performing and kept recording. Years on, she said she'd wanted to cancel because of her voice but felt pressured to go on anyway. That's the part that stays with me. Not the 35 seconds, but the pressure sitting underneath them

1h

Felix P@felix_p

Follow

Ashlee Simpson SNL 2004 lip-sync moment

The question that lingers around Ashlee Simpson's Saturday Night Live night isn't really about the dance or the walk-off. It's whether a 20-year-old got caught deceiving an audience, or whether a pressured performer got damaged by one bad call. Rewind to October 23, 2004. Jude Law was hosting. Autobiography had already hit the top of the Billboard charts, and Simpson was climbing toward becoming one of America's biggest young pop stars. Then came her second performance of the evening. She was set to do "Autobiography" when the recorded vocals from "Pieces of Me" started playing instead. Microphone down at her waist, mouth not moving. She looked over at her band, did a quick awkward dance, and left the stage. NBC went to commercial 35 seconds later. What followed was a pileup of explanations. At the close of the show, Simpson pointed at her band for playing the wrong song. Her record label called it a technical malfunction. Her father and manager later said severe acid reflux had hit her voice, which is why prerecorded vocals were in the mix. Criticism came in wide, and so did the old argument about lip-syncing in something billed as live. The whole thing cast a shadow over her early success, though she kept performing and kept recording. Years on, she said she'd wanted to cancel because of her voice but felt pressured to go on anyway. That's the part that stays with me. Not the 35 seconds, but the pressure sitting underneath them

1h