Washington – Members of the rock band The Donnas were kind of glad when Ashlee Simpson was caught lip synching on Saturday Night Live.
They were hoping it would show the world the difference between acts like them who never use backing tracks and acts who are all style over substance. Boy, were they disappointed.
“We thought, ‘Finally she got caught and she’s going to get punished an everyone’s going to figure it out and it would be like Milli Vanilli, and everyone would return her CDs,'” said guitarist Allison Robertson.
Sales of Simpson’s album “Autobiography” dipped for a week but then rose again, outselling The Donnas’ “Gold Medal.”
Singer Brett Anderson told The Associated Press she thought she sounded really nervous when her band performed on SNL in 2003, but there was nothing she could do about it.
“I could’ve sounded better,” she said. “I was sort of bummed out actually, when I watched it. I was like ‘Man I sound nervous.’ Because I was nervous.”
Simpson’s band started playing a different song, and her vocal track again played “Pieces of Me,” from her first performance that night.
“If we could play with backing tracks we’d be the greatest band in the world,” said bassist Maya Ford. “If that was all you had to do in this industry that would be great. But we don’t do that.”
The women are a little more forgiving of artists like Britney Spears or Jennifer Lopez, who dance during their performances.
“They do that because they’re dancers or performers and they’re moving around and doing crazy things with their butts but Ashlee Simpson just stands there,” Ford said.
