January 06, 2005
too steamy to pass up
yahoo's buzz index has a little editorial recap of what terms are being searched for the most and why. this one about ashlee's orange bowl performance was just too seething to not capture for posterity!
The Buzz Log - Search Spikes and Trends
Strike Two For Ashlee
Wednesday January 05, 2005 6:00PM PT
Pop stars have a rough gig, especially those as artificial as Ashlee Simpson. More plastic than a well-worn lunch tray, the younger Simpson sib has conned indiscriminate music purchasers into buying a stunning 2.5 million copies of her debut album. Following the path blazed by older sis Jessica, Ashlee landed her own MTV reality show chronicling the making of Autobiography. As was evident to anyone who watched the show (and lots of you did, judging by Ashlee's search popularity last summer), the wannabe punkette was vocally challenged.
Her off-key trilling proved no obstacle to recognition, as searches on the "other" Simpson sister surged throughout the fall, almost eclipsing Jessica's search numbers a few times. Differentiating herself with a bad black dye job and a "rawer" sound than the bland pop of Jessica, Ashlee saw her star rising until she appeared on Saturday Night Live. After an onstage meltdown that led to charges of backing tracks, lip-syncing, and ultimately acid reflux, searches soared as Internet denizens clamored to see the clip of Ashlee's onstage blunder. After that misstep, she redeemed herself by putting on a brave front and singing live at friendly award shows and the like, where her courage in the face of misfortune was lauded.
Now the train has come off the tracks again following her halftime "performance" at the Orange Bowl. In front of 70,000 in the stands and millions more on TV, she screeched out a version of her latest single, "La La." Fronted by a hot fever dream of a spectacle involving copious fireworks, pom-pom waving cheerleaders, and football players decked out in all black, Simpson sashayed across the stage in an odd black and pink ensemble while trying to hit a few notes. She finished with a flourish, but the Miami crowd let her know exactly how they felt with a loud chorus of boos. ABC offered no reaction shot of Ashlee, so searchers were left guessing what the end of a music career looks like. Searches on Ashlee Simpson eclipsed the ho-hum rout of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, and searches on "Ashlee Simpson Orange Bowl" and "Ashlee Simpson Video" were red-hot in the aftermath of the embarrassment.
Will Ashlee get a chance at strike three? Or are two public humiliations enough? With another season of her MTV show on tap, she's going to have to fight to be labeled anything but a punch line.
Posted by sugi_grl at January 6, 2005 11:03 AM
how embarrassing for her!! i turn red, when i trip for no apparent reason walking thru the mall, would shrivel up and die if 72,000 booed at me. But I don't blame Ashlee. As far as I'm concerned, its the public's fault for giving her 2.5 million copies of her CD sold.
STOP ENCOURAGING HER PEOPLE!!
Posted by: paris at January 6, 2005 02:10 PMSo who is this Ashlee Simpson again? Man, I'm so out of touch. I can't even enjoy her downfall cause I have no idea who she is : (
Posted by: Ken Choi at January 8, 2005 01:49 AMYes poor Ashley....when she performs, she looks as if she is the most surprised out of everyone that she is famous. She falters around the stage like she has just lost her keys and is desparately looking for them. Her face has no expression, except her big doe eyes that seem to communicate, "please let this be over soon." But yes...the joke is on the increasingly indefensible American consumer who will predictably eat whatever is on the plate, as long as the media says it's cool. Ashley Simpson can retire tomorrow, and never have to worry about anything again....she has her whole life in front of her with millions in the bank, while all those booing, drunken SC students are just about to get a taste of what it's like to start at the bottom. Speaking of the bottom...could the bar get any lower.....damn right it can, and i wouldn't hold your breath for a renaissance anytime soon. And as Ass-lee Simpson would say, "makes me wanna Scream." oh yeah.....
Posted by: mike at January 10, 2005 02:54 PMShe just doesn't get it.....pulled this from tvguide.com/entertainment news:
ASHLEE SPEAKS: Acid reflux wasn't to blame for Ashlee Simpson's heavily panned performance at last week's Orange Bowl. The embattled teenybopper says a combination of technical difficulties and her pro-USC stance may have led to the chorus of boos. "There were no ear monitors when we went on stage," she told MTV.com. "And trying to sing in a stadium where you can't hear yourself is kinda hard." Or... "maybe they were booing at me, maybe they were booing at the halftime show, 'cause the whole thing sucked," she added. "I was facing [the Oklahoma Sooners], and I was rooting for USC, and they played a clip of it, so maybe it was that those people didn't like me." Actually, I think it was the scoreboard they didn't like.
Posted by: paris at January 13, 2005 11:45 AM
