Last night I spent some time discussing the train wreck I watched on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. I was quickly reminded that there was no way she was the worst well because "we will always have Ashlee Simpson". So with that I did some research today and found a great article over at AOL that basically names them. The 12 artists who just tanked while trying to do their thing on the SNL stage and the impact it had on their careers. The list brought up some memories... and no they are not great memories. Full article HERE. Also do yourself a favor (because I won't post them here) but youtube some of these performances for a good laugh.
12. Sinead O'Conner
Following an acapella version of Bob Marleys "War" the outspoken singer tore up a photo of the Pope while declaring "Fight the real enemy". SNL promptly banned her from SNL and replaced the live version with one previously recorded in rehearsal.
11. Ke$ha
For her SNL debut she wore an American Flag cape and danced with a bunch of space people. During her second song she and her band became Day-Glo natives of some sort. Neither did much to distract from her shaky vocal adventures. Many consider her to be one of the worst musical guests of all time.
10. Cyprus Hill
The hip-hop crew trashed their gear and DJ Muggs smoked a joint during their performance. SNL banned the group on the spot for their antics.
9. Coldplay
Chris Martin tried his best during the performance of 'Viva La Vida' everything he had but his awkward dance moves were almost as bad as his messed up vocals. For their second song 'Yellow' his voice gave out during the second note and the song ended up sounding like a death rattle by the time the chorus came in. This obviously had little effect on their careers or the selling of that album.
8. The Go-Gos
The girl group's lackluster, sloopy and according to singer Carlisle's recent autobiography coke-fuled renditions of "Our Lips are Sealed" and "We Got The Beat" were among the worst in Go-Go's history.
7. Frank Zappa
Zappa was actually a pretty decent musical guest, but he was a shamelessly abysmal host. The cast didn't respond well to his off-kilter sense of humor, his mugging for the camera or his blatant use of cue cards... they even turned their back to him as the singer signed off for the night. Burrrrrn. Zappa was quickly banned from the set.
6. Brittany Spears
Britney executed her 'Me Against the Music' dance moves well, but failed to bring the same level of precious and enthusiasm to her lip-syncing. At one point, she even appeared to be mouthing the words to Madonna's part in the song.
5. Laura Branigan
Everything was going so well until the American Euro-pop princess hit the first chorus in her trademark song 'Gloria'. Whether it was nerves or a rumored illness, her usual lovely voice couldn't handle the high notes and the tune quickly devolved into a raspy, half shouted mess.
4. Kanye West
The usually dynamic Teezy faltered in his third time on SNL with an impassioned but off-key and somewhat ridiculous versions of his autotuned ballads 'Love Lockdown' and 'Heartless'.
3. Lincoln Park
These guys went experimental on the SNL stage with 'When They Come For Me' a percussion heavy collection of spoken words and wailing choruses filmed in black and white. Judging by their faces, the band was clearly impressed with themselves. But the rest of the audience was left a little confused by the spectacle.
2. Taylor Swift
Taylor's take on 'Love Story' and 'Forever and Always' were not so much complete failures as they were further proof that the pop-country songstress is better suited to records than live performances. Although she talked both songs with adorable enthusiasm, she was often off-key and a little warbly. Again, another example of someone who career was not hurt by this.
1. Obviously Ashlee Simpson
It was the jig heard 'round the pop culture world. When a mistimed backing track exposed the pop princess as a lip-syncher during her SNL performance. Simpson awkwardly stood on stage for a moment before doing a bizarre dance and running away. In the end during the goodbyes she took the classy route and tried to blame the whole thing on her band. Way to go Simpson.
So I guess the moral of this post is that there are a lot of other acts that messed up on SNL and there will be a whole lot more in the future. Unfortunately I just don't see much of a future for Lana Del Ray because well, after trying to listen to some of her normal recordings my ears started to bleed. Sorry girl, not for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment