On second thought, perhaps Ashlee Simpson (news) should have stuck to the hoedown...

Singing live certainly didn't spare Jessica Simpson (news)'s younger, acid-reflux-suffering sibling from the wrath of the 78,000 at the packed Orange Bowl (news - web sites) Tuesday night.

In a performance preserved for all eternity on the Internet, and broadcast by ABC during halftime of the national championship-determining college football game, a strutting Simpson belted, some say screeched, her Autobiography cut "La La." At the conclusion of the number, the crown jeered, some say booed. One particularly vocal critic could be heard shouting, "You suck"--at least in the clip found on the Simpson-monitoring site, LipSync.us.

And it wasn't just Orange Bowl attendees whose ears were offended by Simpson's routine. In a commentary on MSNBC.com, Michael Ventre wrote that Simpson's singing "sounded like a cross between a political prisoner being tortured and a test of the Emergency Broadcast System."

Sound issues on the telecast marred half-time numbers by American Idol's Kelly Clarkson (news) and country singer Trace Adkins, but neither of those performances inspired the boo-birds to come out.

A call seeking comment from Simpson's publicist was not returned Wednesday.

The Simpson camp has been in damage-control mode since a lip-synching scandal shocked--shocked!--the world and/or the 20-year-old popster's impressionable fan base back in October on Saturday Night Live.

It was during the show that Simpson began to sing without actually singing. While Simpson held her microphone far from her face, her drummer accidentally punched up a prerecorded vocal track for her hit, "Pieces of Me," a song which Simpson had performed, or rather lip-synced, earlier in the evening. The savvy Simpson chose to cover the gaffe by, first, performing a foot-stomping hoedown, and, then, slinking off stage.

In the wake of the SNL snafu, Simpson has been trying to prove herself a legit vocalist, warbling live and without the aid of Memorex at events such as the Radio Music Awards and the Orange Bowl. Father and manager Joe Simpson said his daughter only needed help on SNL because her voice was thrashed by acid reflux.

There was no word if a flareup of the Pepcid AC disorder was in play Tuesday night.

In a bit of bad timing, tickets went on sale Wednesday for Simpson live shows in Boston, Philadelphia and Nashville. Nick Lachey (news)'s dark-haired sister-in-law is hitting the road, starting Feb. 18.

The tour coincides with the second-season launch of her probing MTV series and cross-promotional vehicle, The Ashlee Simpson Show.

In a bit of good news for the besieged pop star, meanwhile, ratings for the Orange Bowl were the second-lowest ever since college football began hosting championship games in 1999.

Still, the contest--featuring a 55-19 blowout win for Southern California over Oklahoma---averaged 21.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched prime-time show of the night.

And Ashlee Simpson the least popular prime-time singer of the night.