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AshleeSimpsonWorld.com is the
unofficial fanlisting for the
beautiful and talented actress
Ashlee Simpson. We provide the
biography, discography, latest news,
pictures, and much more. Thanks for
stopping by and enjoy your stay ! |
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:: Ashlee Simpson
News :: |
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October 2005 |
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Oct 22, 2005 -
Ashlee Knows How To Set,
Sell A Record |
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In the full-contact sport
better known as pop
star-building, Team Ashlee
would run roughshod over
Team Duff or Team Lohan any
day.
Oh sure, Ashlee Simpson may
not be the best singer. And
she may not think fast on
her feet -- no, hoedowns
don't count. But she has
hit-making producer John
Shanks, of Sheryl Crow and
Melissa Etheridge fame, on
her side and an ability to
seem ''normal'' in a way
that most of her
competitors, including big
sis Jessica, can't match.
That's what makes her second
album, I Am Me so solid,
built on a foundation of
sturdy rockers and
irresistible hooks.
The first single, Boyfriend,
comes off as a challenge,
with the aggressive lyrics
reflected by hard-charging
guitars. It's a good example
of what Simpson means when
she says I Am Me is a mix of
``dark and light.''
It also shows how she plays
both sides pretty well. The
dark Eyes Wide Open could
easily have come from
Courtney Love, while the
dramatic Beautifully Broken
manages to be downtrodden
and catchy at the same time.
However, it's the
light-hearted, guitar-driven
In Another Life, with its
immediate, sing-along
chorus, that is the hit
waiting to happen.
I Am Me is more of a
marketing success than a
musical one, but that
doesn't matter. It's pop
music. It is not that
serious, but it's also not
as easy as Simpson makes it
seem.
Source:
Miami
Herald |
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Oct 22, 2005 -
'I'm Real - I Promise':
Ashlee Simpson |
Everyone makes mistakes. The
problem is, everyone else
remembers them.
So even though a year has
passed since her infamous
Saturday Night Live
lip-synch disaster, a faux
pas that made her look very
faux indeed, Ashlee Simpson
is still trying to prove her
artistic worth.
"It's like, I'm real -- I
promise!" Simpson exclaimed
during an interview to
promote her album I Am Me,
which hits stores Tuesday.
"I know that situation
happened to me, but I am
real, and every artist that
you loved has probably
lip-synched once in their
life," she adds with a
laugh. "Sometimes I'm great,
sometimes I'm not... No
matter what, here I am, I'm
human and I have
imperfections."
That may be part of her
appeal. On this sophomore
album, Simpson sings about
the usual issues that
permeate a 21-year-old's
world, like stealing
boyfriends. But she also
tackles her very public
growing pains on tracks like
Beautifully Broken.
"I feel like I've become a
lot more confident, just by
things that I've gone
through this year, like
falling on my face and
learning how to pick myself
back up," Simpson said
during the telephone
interview, in a voice raspy
and girlish at the same
time.
"There's beauty in not being
perfect, there's beauty in
falling on my face."
Not that Simpson's musical
debut, Autobiography, was
marked by stumbles. If
anything, it started off as
a smashing success.
Until last year, Ashlee was
best known as the younger
sister of pop princess
Jessica Simpson, despite
acting on 7th Heaven and
other minor celebrity gigs.
So when Ashlee set out to
record an album, she sought
a path completely different
from her sister, drawing on
inspiration from rockers
like Joan Jett, Pat Benatar
and Chrissie Hynde.
"They have cute outfits and
rock out," says Simpson.
"Their voices are so strong
and thick and raspy, like
mine."
She linked up with
Grammy-winning producer John
Shanks for her debut, which
was documented by MTV for a
reality show. Viewers saw
her wrestle with everything
from her image to song
material to whether she
should change her blonde
locks to black (she did; now
her hair is dyed
near-white).
The album debuted at No. 1
and went on to sell more
than three million copies,
thanks to hits like Pieces
of Me. But while Simpson got
some critical acclaim,
others saw another
manufactured teen artist.
"There's always going to be
that divide when it comes to
pop music," says Craig
Marks, editor-in-chief of
Blender magazine, which is
putting Simpson on its
December cover. "Certain
segments of the audience are
always going to be
distrustful of music that
they feel is not authentic.
If you get all caught up in
notions of realness and
authenticity, then Ashlee is
going to strike you as being
girlish... and not serious."
Those "certain segments"
felt vindicated when the
wheels fell off the Simpson
machine on Saturday Night
Live. In an endlessly
replayed moment, Simpson was
preparing to perform,
microphone at her waist,
when a track started blaring
her voice singing Pieces of
Me -- which she had already
sung earlier. The mortified
Simpson tried to play it off
with a hokey dance, only
adding to the embarrassment.
In an instant, Simpson
became another Milli Vanilli
pseudo-singer who couldn't
hack it live. A website
petition demanded a refund
for her album; she was booed
at halftime of the Orange
Bowl college football
championship.
Yet she persevered. After a
brief nosedive in sales, her
album rebounded and she went
on to perform for sellout
crowds.
"I don't think it bothered
her audience very much, and
if it did bother her
audience, I think once she
took such a public beating
about it, it kind of
strengthened her fans'
belief in her," says Marks.
Shanks calls the criticism
overwhelming and
unwarranted.
"I think about where I was
when I was 20. Most people
are in school or in bands or
trying to get their life
together, and she's doing
great," says Shanks, his
voice rising as he defends
her. "This girl would have
been nominated for Grammys
if it hadn't happened that
week!"
For her part, Simpson claims
not to care.
"When there are critics that
are mean, I don't read it, I
don't listen to it, because
I think that record sales
don't have to do with what
critics say," she says.
Yet she admits that she
rushed back to the recording
studio after her stumble
because "it was important to
go and prove to myself and
my fans that I do what I
do."
No cameras were around this
time, and she got more
involved with the writing
and the overall direction of
I Am Me than her previous
outing. Both Shanks and
Simpson felt the pressure to
deliver an album that showed
her true talent.
"I wanted to make sure this
record was about her voice,"
says Shanks. "Her voice was
more exposed, so people get
to know more about her as an
artist... I'm extremely
proud of Ashlee."
Ashlee also happens to be
proud of Ashlee these days.
Earlier this month, Simpson
revisited the scene of her
musical flub, performing on
SNL -- really live, this
time.
"It honestly felt so good.
It was really a lot more
relaxed this time," she
says.
Source:
Canada.com |
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Oct 17, 2005 -
Ashlee Simpson Dishes
About Lip-Synching On New
Album |
Ashlee Simpson does not shy
away from her past
lip-synching controversies
on her new album, "I Am Me."
The singer-actress has
written two songs,
"Beautifully Broken" and
"Catch Me When I Fall,"
which were inspired by the
furor after she was caught
lip-synching during her
October 2004 "Saturday Night
Live" appearance.
"You can go through high
school and college and
people can make fun of you,
but the whole world?" asked
Simpson, 21, who recently
made a triumphant return
appearance to the late-night
show. "It was a hard thing
to go through.
"But when I write, I put my
whole self out there and
take it to the extreme, and
I felt like I had to write
about all my experiences
during the past year."
Simpson co-wrote all 11
songs on "I Am Me." She'll
celebrate its October 18
release with appearances on
ABC's "Good Morning
America," the syndicated
"Regis And Kelly," MTV's "TRL"
and an autograph session at
the Virgin Megastore in New
York City.
Source:
Reality TV World |
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Oct 17, 2005 -
An Ashlee Simpson Disc
That Really Isn't Her |
Ashlee Simpson has always
loved music. In fact, a lot
of people love music; they
just don't make records.
Simpson, however, was to the
manor -- actually, the
reality-show crash pad --
born. She's the sister of
superstar Jessica, daughter
of super-Svengali Joe.
Entertainment is her
provenance. Who can blame a
young woman endowed with
such ridiculous good fortune
for hiring the best producer
money can buy?
''I Am Me" -- Simpson's
sophomore effort, in stores
today -- is a great John
Shanks album. Shanks is a
savvy pop producer who's
brightened and plumped up
tracks from the likes of
Alanis Morissette and Sheryl
Crow. He's also a veritable
sorcerer to modestly gifted
teenagers who trade in
trendy radio product.
Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff,
and Mary-Kate and Ashley
Olsen have all utilized his
services, but Shanks has
outdone himself on ''I Am
Me," which leaps from the
speakers with such spirited
anonymity a listener is
tempted to ignore the irony
that saturates every
funkified guitar riff and
ersatz punk snarl: that
Simpson's audaciously titled
musical statement of
autonomy and defiance is
somebody else's clever idea.
That's not to say that
Simpson doesn't make her
presence felt. She co-wrote
each of the 11 tracks, and
while her specific
contribution is
indeterminate, it's probably
safe to say that Simpson is
responsible for rhyming ''my
tour" with ''for sure" in
the disc's snotty and
infectious first single,
''Boyfriend." Elsewhere,
Shanks and songwriter Kara
DioGuardi (another
ubiquitous support staffer
for the teen dreams) pay
tribute to a potpourri of
current sounds: Gwen Stefani
on the hip-hop-flavored
girl-power shout-out ''L.O.V.E.,"
U2 on the whiny arena-rocker
''Dancing Alone,"
confessional crooner
Michelle Branch (another
Shanks client) on the ballad
''Catch Me When I Fall."
''It seems like yesterday
that my world fell from the
sky," Simpson sings on
''Beautifully Broken," which
celebrates the emotional
learning curve associated
with public humiliation.
''Every moment I'm filled
with hope 'cause I get
another chance." Indeed,
Simpson recently returned to
''Saturday Night Live," the
scene of last year's
lip-synching debacle, to
redeem herself with an
unmistakably live vocal. Her
braying performance on
''Boyfriend" was
incident-free -- and a
compelling case for faking
it.
Source:
Boston
Globe |
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Oct 17, 2005 -
Ashlee Simpson's Big
Comeback |
Pop princess Ashlee Simpson,
who recently turned 21, has
dealt with her share of
drama in the past year,
including a lip-synching
snafu on "Saturday Night
Live."
But she's come through those
trying times and released a
new album called "I Am Me,"
with songs that she says are
about "finding the positive
and lighter side." The album
is available in stores
today.
Simpson performed her new
single, "Boyfriend," and
"Coming Back for More," also
from the new album, on "Good
Morning America" today as
part of the Women Rule
concert series.
'SNL' Redemption
Simpson returned to
"Saturday Night Live" on
Oct. 8 to redeem herself
after last year's disastrous
appearance, when she was
caught using pre-recorded
vocal tracks and fled the
stage. She later claimed to
be suffering from acid
reflux.
"It was amazing," Simpson
told "Good Morning America."
"I honestly felt so
confident and so relaxed."
Simpson sang a new song,
"Catch Me When I Fall," on "SNL,"
telling the audience, "I
wrote this song after my
last 'Saturday Night Live'
appearance."
By most accounts, her "SNL"
performance was a success
this time around. "I Am Me,"
with 11 songs co-written by
Simpson, has also been
well-received by critics.
Simpson has also gone back
to her blond roots. After a
stint as a brunette, Simpson
has gone back to being a
blonde, like her older
sister, Jessica.
"I've always been blond so
it's good to go back," she
said on "GMA."
Source:
ABC
News |
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Oct 10, 2005 -
Ashlee Simpson Gets Over
Lip-Synch Fiasco |
Ashlee Simpson sang without
incident on Saturday Night
Live in her return to the
scene of last year's
lip-synch fiasco.
"I wrote this song after my
last Saturday Night Live
appearance," she said before
performing Catch Me When I
Fall. When she was done, she
smiled and hopped in relief.
Her last performance on the
show ended when it became
apparent she was
lip-synching.
Source:
The
New Zealand Herald |
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Oct 10, 2005 -
Ashlee Simpson Really
Does Sing On 'SNL' |
Ashlee Simpson sang really,
she did without incident on
"Saturday Night Live" in her
return to the scene of last
year's lip-synch fiasco.
"I wrote this song after my
last `Saturday Night Live"
appearance," she said,
introducing the mournful
"Catch Me When I Fall."
She belted out the song with
gusto, the only boost
seeming to come with a brief
echo effect on her vocal in
the chorus. When she was
done, Simpson smiled and
hopped in relief.
It was nearly a year after
Simpson's embarrassing
appearance on the same
stage, where her voice was
heard singing the wrong song
when she held her microphone
at her waist. She danced an
awkward jig and then walked
off the stage.
The fakery made her a
laughingstock and Simpson
was booed lustily when she
appeared at the Orange Bowl
a few months later.
Leading up to this week's
appearance, "Saturday Night
Live" executive producer
Lorne Michaels promised it
would be her singing not
some tapes when she went on
the air.
"Who will be the one to save
me from myself?" Simpson
sang in the ballad. "Who's
going to catch me when I
fall?"
Later in the show she came
back for a peppier number,
"Boyfriend," where her vocal
was augmented by a backup
singer.
"Thank you so much!" she
said at the end, blowing a
kiss to the audience.
Source:
ABC
News |
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