Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Nicole Simpson (born October 3, 1984) is an American pop rock singer and an actress. Originally known for being the younger sister of pop singer Jessica Simpson, Simpson eventually rose to prominence in her own right in mid-2004 through her chart-topping debut album Autobiography and the accompanying MTV reality series The Ashlee Simpson Show. There have been claims that Simpson is a "manufactured" musician, which became much more prevalent when Simpson used a pre-recorded vocal track on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) in October 2004. This led to accusations that she had lip synched during the performance, which continued to follow her throughout the promotion of her first album. Simpson has a new album, I Am Me, scheduled for release in October 2005.

Criticism

There have been arguments that Simpson is a "manufactured" artist and mediocre singer, and that her appearances on her MTV reality show were "phony" and aimed at promoting her album. Such critics cite incidents like the SNL episode and the Orange Bowl performance as proof of their claims, while others consider Simpson's carefully crafted image instead of her music to be the reason for her continued success.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Assuming she is a manufactured artist, much of the media speculate that Simpson was pushed to fame through the aggressive management style and contacts of her father, Joe Simpson, who is her manager and was the executive producer of her reality show. Furthermore, some think that Simpson has lip-synced on occasions other than the SNL episode, comparing the impact of the SNL incident to the incident Milli Vanilli had in 1990 in a live MTV performance in which the guide track skipped, revealing that they had lip-synced. {{ref|lipservice}} {{ref|ishkar}} {{ref|daddydearest}}

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However, Simpson's music continued to chart and get radio airplay after the incident, which in combination with her successful early 2005 tour and the ratings of the second season of her reality show seemed to contradict predictions that the incident would severely harm her career.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~