LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - When Ashlee Simpson (news) was onstage Friday, it almost seemed as if her series of unfortunate events never happened.

For those who might have missed it, first there was the little lip-synching snafu on "Saturday Night Live" in October, in which the backing track for "Pieces of Me" played while her band played "Autobiography," leaving the starlet trying to dance her way out of the embarrassing situation. Initially she blamed her band. Then it was acid reflux. Making matters worse, Simpson had been quoted in a magazine expressing her distaste for singing to tracks, vowing, "I'd never lip-synch."

Fast-forward to the New Year. Perhaps in an attempt to prove that Simpson can indeed perform live, her handlers booked her as part of the halftime entertainment at the Orange Bowl (news - web sites). Simpson sang live and off-key, and a large portion of the 72,000 fans booed. Following that performance, an online petition to "stop Ashlee Simpson" was launched and now boasts more than 300,000 signatures. To counteract the negativity, someone supporting Simpson posted an identical pro-Simpson message on more than 300 message boards.

While Simpson did make reference to her "rough year," nothing else about her 70-minute Universal Amphitheater set would have given anyone a clue that she's suffered the slightest bit of backlash. The hall was packed with mostly female tweens and teens, and, in some cases, their parents, and they all seemed to have nothing but love for Simpson.

Ratcheting up the excitement for young fans was the fact that MTV cameras were in the house, taping footage for the MTV reality series "The Ashlee Simpson Show." Plus, Simpson's sister Jessica and brother-in-law Nick Lachey (news) -- those "Newlyweds" stars -- and father/manager, Joe, were all spotted watching the set from behind the soundboard, causing more rubbernecking than a multicar pileup on the 405.

While Simpson's mere existence has created a lot of hostility in some quarters, truth be told she is nothing more than this generation's TV-made pop sensation, the 2000 equivalent of the Monkees in the late '60s and the Partridge Family in the early '70s. In their day, those acts also were mocked as being nothing more than prefab pop. The big difference is that Simpson stars in a "reality" program, which shows her warts and all, likely making it easier for her fans to forgive and forget her lip-synching episode. As Simpson said during her set, "No one's perfect," before launching into "Love Me for Me."

Backed by a quintet of mall-punks who looked like they just walked out of a Hot Topic store or off the Good Charlotte tour bus, Simpson put on a serviceable show, belting out such favorites as the set-opening "Autobiography," "La La" and a predictable set-closing encore of her biggest hit, "Pieces of Me."

Between the hits, Simpson offered a three-song acoustic set, once again attempting to prove she can really sing, and a medley of '80s hits -- the Pretenders' "Brass in Pocket," Blondie's "Call Me" and Madonna (news - web sites)'s "Burning Up" -- that had the moms singing and dancing along.

The true test will come with the release of her next album, but at the Universal Amphitheater, there was no indication Simpson is headed for a Milli Vanilli-like fall.