Will you be my guide?
It's truely amazing to witness and understand the different levels of tolerance MTV displays for different artists. Artists who lip-synch are persecuted, artists who sing live are scrutinised sometimes more intensely than those who lip-synch. When it all comes down to it, one thing is for sure. If you get caught lip-synching, you're screwed. Now more than ever, MTV and their selective media coverage, confuse me. How can an artist who has her breast-cup ripped off her on national television at the largest sporting event in America be more severe and crushing to the music industry than a young performer who has been proclaimed as 'the next big thing' being caught lip-synching on one of America's top-rating television shows? It makes me wonder, is music ever actually a matter of personal taste? Is MTV that manipulative that they would self-mutilate their own calling of freedom to the younger generation and that music should be free for all?
For those who are unfamiliar, Ashlee Simpson is the new teen pop/rock sensation from America. Her album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Chart, she has a top-rating reality television show on MTV -'The Ashlee Simpson Show'-, she has outsold her also-MTV-famous sister Jessica (who was one-quarter of the blonde pop phenomenon of '98 & '99 - Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears), has a Top 5 Single, and was recently busted by a misplayed backing track on Saturday Night Live. Surely this would be regarded as offensive and derogatory of what Saturday Night Live and 'live performing' is all about. Even Britney Spears performed live at her appearance on the show, which is a miracle. Artists such as Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Christina Aguilera and N*Sync all spent years trying to prove the critics wrong, trying to gather credibility through live performances. Ashlee Simpson is new on the block. The choice as to whether she should sing live or lip-synch is a no-brainer. She's not Michael Jackson. She still requires a microphone.
Even though committing a heinous crime in the industry, Simpson has been let off rather lightly. The MTV reports are positive, allowing her to present her lame reasoning and showing the comedic side of the issue. One has to ask, why the light treatment? What makes this crime any less of an issue than Nipplegate? Perhaps a more suitable and answerable question is: What's in it for MTV?
The Simpson family & MTV connection remind me of another 'you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours' relationship. Bush & Bin Laden? MTV scored big time when they snapped up 98 Degrees lead singer Nick Lachey and pop-tart Jessica Simpson for a reality show about Newlyweds. America fell in love with the couple, tuning into MTV each week to see what hilarious blonde catch phrase Jessica would have for the week. The 'Newlyweds' following sparked up Jessica's fizzling musical career, after a hit series of Newlyweds, the sales of Jessica's album 'In This Skin' were up by 300%. She was causing riots outside Wal-Mart instore appearances. Kids were getting crushed. MTV was getting excited. They got a hold of Ashlee and guess what? She could kinda sing too. Cute. Before you know it, her own reality show had started. America fell in love with another Simpson and the cycle started again.
It's all a matter of good publicity. If MTV were to report and criticise Ashlee's antics just as they would any non-MTV-related artist, people would believe that Ashlee isn't so much 'the next big thing'. They'd stop watching her show, the ratings were fall, the advertisement slots would drop in value, MTV would lose value. So I'm sure MTV believe that they'd protect little Ashlee just the same way they did little Janet. But hang on, when was the last time you saw Janet on MTV? If Janet had a reality show on MTV at the time of the Superbowl, I wonder how they would have handled that?
On Air with BlackPunk: Kylie Minogue - I Believe In You
For those who are unfamiliar, Ashlee Simpson is the new teen pop/rock sensation from America. Her album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Chart, she has a top-rating reality television show on MTV -'The Ashlee Simpson Show'-, she has outsold her also-MTV-famous sister Jessica (who was one-quarter of the blonde pop phenomenon of '98 & '99 - Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears), has a Top 5 Single, and was recently busted by a misplayed backing track on Saturday Night Live. Surely this would be regarded as offensive and derogatory of what Saturday Night Live and 'live performing' is all about. Even Britney Spears performed live at her appearance on the show, which is a miracle. Artists such as Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Christina Aguilera and N*Sync all spent years trying to prove the critics wrong, trying to gather credibility through live performances. Ashlee Simpson is new on the block. The choice as to whether she should sing live or lip-synch is a no-brainer. She's not Michael Jackson. She still requires a microphone.
Even though committing a heinous crime in the industry, Simpson has been let off rather lightly. The MTV reports are positive, allowing her to present her lame reasoning and showing the comedic side of the issue. One has to ask, why the light treatment? What makes this crime any less of an issue than Nipplegate? Perhaps a more suitable and answerable question is: What's in it for MTV?
The Simpson family & MTV connection remind me of another 'you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours' relationship. Bush & Bin Laden? MTV scored big time when they snapped up 98 Degrees lead singer Nick Lachey and pop-tart Jessica Simpson for a reality show about Newlyweds. America fell in love with the couple, tuning into MTV each week to see what hilarious blonde catch phrase Jessica would have for the week. The 'Newlyweds' following sparked up Jessica's fizzling musical career, after a hit series of Newlyweds, the sales of Jessica's album 'In This Skin' were up by 300%. She was causing riots outside Wal-Mart instore appearances. Kids were getting crushed. MTV was getting excited. They got a hold of Ashlee and guess what? She could kinda sing too. Cute. Before you know it, her own reality show had started. America fell in love with another Simpson and the cycle started again.
It's all a matter of good publicity. If MTV were to report and criticise Ashlee's antics just as they would any non-MTV-related artist, people would believe that Ashlee isn't so much 'the next big thing'. They'd stop watching her show, the ratings were fall, the advertisement slots would drop in value, MTV would lose value. So I'm sure MTV believe that they'd protect little Ashlee just the same way they did little Janet. But hang on, when was the last time you saw Janet on MTV? If Janet had a reality show on MTV at the time of the Superbowl, I wonder how they would have handled that?
On Air with BlackPunk: Kylie Minogue - I Believe In You
posted by Christopher at
1:18 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home