Can Ashlee Simpson sing?

[Bellamy]

Ashlee says: Read, and hear, my lips in concert

 

She promises: Absolutely, positively no lip syncing.

 

"There will be no backing vocal tracks at all," Ashlee Simpson said of her show that comes to Minneapolis on Thursday. "No Pro Tools [computer-programmed music]. Nothing. There's just me and my band."

 

Excuse Simpson if she seems defensive. She has become the punch line for more jokes in the past four months than any music figure this side of Michael Jackson.

 

Not to worry, says Simpson, whose debut disc "Autobio-graphy" went to No. 1 last summer and has sold more than 3 million copies, making it the ninth-biggest seller of 2004. At age 20, she has thick skin -- and a spin-control machine operating at full force.

 

During a recent phone interview, a publicist served as chaperone, twice jumping in to steer questions away from touchy subjects.

 

"That's not appropriate," the publicist said when a reporter asked Simpson how much time she and her people spent talking about how to handle questions about her "Saturday Night Live" lip-syncing fiasco in October and the booing she got at the Orange Bowl in January.

 

"That's fine," Simpson countered. "Not much [time] at all. I know what I want to say and whatnot."

 

Nor did she hesitate in answering a question about the website StopAshlee.com, which has posted a petition asking her record label to stop marketing her.

 

"An 18-year-old girl started it," Simpson said. "And that's cool. You don't always have to be a fan of everybody's music."

 

She added, "I'm lucky that I have amazing fans by my side who've started a new website with only positive things. That doesn't really bother me because I'm not going to stop even if the 18-year-old girl gets her petition done."

 

The petition has more than 319,000 signatures. More telling are the comments on the site, some of which are harsher than Simpson's voice sounded at the Orange Bowl:

 

"This girl is the fakest loser in the world and she has an awful voice" ... "Spare us. You've made enough millions and duped us already" ... "Maybe if she had 100 leeches attached to her throat, she'd sound better."

 

Her producer's critique

 

The real question has become: Can Ashlee Simpson sing?

 

"Is she a Celine Dion?" mused John Shanks, who just won a producer-of-the-year Grammy for his work with Simpson, Hilary Duff, Kelly Clarkson, Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow.

 

That's a rhetorical question, of course, which Shanks didn't even bother to answer. Instead, he said:

 

"When I met her, she reminded me of Marianne Faithfull, she reminded me of Joan Jett, she had a little Blondie, a little Chrissie Hynde [of the Pretenders]. There was a tone in her voice that I really enjoyed. That was the reason I wanted to do the record."

 

Shanks has the spin control down, too. His explanation for the Orange Bowl is that Simpson announced she was rooting for USC in the national-championship game, and that Oklahoma fans booed the California girl for her partisanship.

 

Reflux redux

 

As for "Saturday Night Live," Shanks offers the familiar explanation that Simpson was suffering from acid reflux. How could she bail out of an appearance so crucial to her career? So, she and her people decided she would lip-sync. As everyone knows by now, when she started to sing her second number of the night, her inexperienced drummer triggered the wrong song, and she quickly walked offstage in embarrassment.

 

That's the story Simpson is sticking to. In fact, she didn't hesitate to talk about her acid reflux, a problem she said she has had for about a year.

 

"I do still have to deal with it, unfortunately," she said. "Basically, there are certain foods I can't eat. Like spices. And I have to worry about what I eat before I sing. I take Prevacid two times a day. That helps the acid reflux go down."

 

She also had to deal with a node on her vocal cord. And she has been working with a vocal coach, Ron Anderson, whose students have included Axl Rose and Justin Timberlake.

 

The younger sister of pop pinup and reality-TV star Jessica Simpson, Ashlee was trained as a dancer, and she was acting on the TV series "7th Heaven" when she began writing songs.

 

People encouraged her to seek a record deal.

 

"I went in and made a record not knowing that my album would be a success at all. I did it just for fun," said Simpson, who performed only a few shows before making the CD. "It's been a definite crazy year."

 

That would be an understatement. But Simpson said she doesn't like to dwell on the past: "I'm one of those kind of people that likes to move forward. I don't really get upset with what people say about me."

 

She shrugs off the "SNL" and Orange Bowl snafus, saying, "It's like somebody has a bad day -- it's that feeling -- and you move on. For me, I've luckily got this tour. There are so many great things coming. I'm lucky to be in this position. Those [bad] things only make you a stronger person."

 

Coming up are the second season of her MTV reality series, "Ashlee," and a theatrical movie, "Wannabe," due this summer, in which she plays an aspiring actress. "It was fun. It was a great cast: Carrie Fisher, Kip Pardue, Shannyn Sossamon. It was a great experience."

 

So what will Simpson be singing on her first-ever concert tour?

 

"I'm going to do some new songs that aren't on my album," she said. "There's a little bit of a different rendition of one of my songs that I think some people will be shocked by. I'm doing three bits and pieces of a few of my favorite artists. And I'm doing like an acoustic set in the middle of the show."

 

The acoustic set will have live vocals by Ashlee. Promise.

[RONIN]

better than her sister~~~

 

young~good looking~sings not too bad~

 

but i think her music is so boring............just like Jessica

[Kye]

NO!

 

lol

Edited February 26, 2005 at 04:36 PM by Kye

[DjCeline]

she is a little better than her sister...who is also far too stupid for this century.... but her music is not catchy at all...

[Linda]

   

she is a little better than her sister...who is also far too stupid for this century....   but her music is not catchy at all...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree with you

[CelineTheBest5]

Who is she? I ve never seen this person lol

[Mozinha]

Who is she? I ve never seen this person lol

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You didn't miss anything

[Celine's Wife]

Well she sure is NO Celine...... meh, persoanlly I get the Avril Lavigne rip off vibe from her...... only more pop, less punk

[Koolan]

I like Jessica's songs more.

[Salla]

Dunno about the singing, but I love her hair

[Prima_Donna1]

Well Ashley can sing, but she's no Celine. Not her sister either. Altho I do like Ashlee a little more than Jessica tho.

[Macaronie]

if someone is the 2nd Celine than it's Ashlee for sure

[Bellamy]

if someone is the 2nd Celine than it's Ashlee for sure 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[.ItOnlyHurtsWhenIBreathe.]

I really like Ashlee's cd- Autobiography. It's very catchy and just fun...I love to play when I'm driving and just sing on the top of my lungs. I don't always like the same old sappy love songs..it's good to listen to some "pissed off" music sometimes...it's therapetic for me. As for her being compared to Celine..that's ridiculous.

[AllCeline]

   

she is a little better than her sister...who is also far too stupid for this century....   but her music is not catchy at all...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

"Stupid" is an understatement! HAHAHAHAHA!

Ashley is better than Jessica, and about .01% smarter, and her music is better than her sister. But she is NO CELINE DION! Dream on Ashley!

 

"...You make me wanna LA-LA!..."

[Dimples]

Hmmmm how on earth anyone can compare her to Celine is beyond me!!! Woosh! She's not a patch on her at all. But then, I don't think anyone is. I like Ashlee's first song but that's it. I think she's average. Jessica shows off too much with her voice and needs to work on her facial expressions..hmmmmmm

[Ania]

She's not as bad as her sister, but she's no Celine Dion, that's for sure!!!

[Carazona]

I like Ashlee...i feel bad for her about all the stuff happening with her voice and performances. I have and really like her CD, but there is NO WAY she can be compared to Celine. Most people can't though....but she is definitely not even close to Celine's calibur.

 

I remember her sister Jessica being on Rosie O'Donnell when she was still very new, and saying that she loves Celine, and she was a huge fan. I've heard her say that on a couple other things too. I liked her from the beginning! I do think Jessica has way better vocal quality than Ashlee, but I can't help but like them both.

 

But i will just say this one more time....No one....compares....to Celine! lol

[Koolan]

Yep, Celine is Jessica's idol

[firebird]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1eblHibi_8

Love this, great remix, great video

[peo]

Ashlee is better than Jessica. Her songs are more up beat.

[celinerific]

Holey crap, how old is this topic?? :mdr:

[PrincesseJen]

Of course Ashlee is no Celine. I do have her first album which I did enjoy. She's not that great of a singer but I did like the songs.

[Love,]

I could hear Jessica's voice in Ashley's: It's like Ashley is a bad version of her sister...

[ByuSmurf]

 

No comment!

[Krys]

aiyayai those two sisters are just

[miracle_girl]

I like ashlee better than her sister,, shes much cooler and i think she appeals alot to young teenage girls like my sister who is 13

i think its because they get the rebel feel from her lol,, she is defantly no celine!! - that pat of the article makes me laugh

however she has the star package really good looking okayish voice (that can be alterd with new technology) energetic performance

so she has some talent!!