For some reason, busted lip-syncers and accidental emails are my two favorite social disasters. For a good lip-sync bust, you need the following elements: (1) a popular singer, (2) a performance for a large audience, preferably televised and recorded, and (3) a blatant mistake that exposes the lip-sync. The infamous Milli Vanilli (“girl you know it’s – girl you know it’s – girl you know it’s”) incident had all of these elements, as did Saturday’s Ashlee Simpson performance on SNL. (clip available here [wmv])
The Milli Vanilli incident was actually a little better than Ashlee Simpson’s because Milli Vanilli’s was the result of mechanical, rather than human error, but I could appreciate an argument the other way around.
I’m not a fan of this kind of music (which I call “grocery store music” because I only ever hear it in the grocery store), but I do, of course, have an opinion on the Simpson sisters: just because a close family member is good at something doesn’t mean you will be too. My older sister is in medical school, but I’m smart enough to realize that I would make a horrible doctor.
The family-business scenario that annoys me most is politics. In an ideal country, a president should be among the most intelligent, most dedicated, and most convincing of its citizens – a one in ten million type of person. Electing a family member of a former leader admits that the country is never going to find the truly qualified, and that it’s willing to settle for someone familiar.
Anyway, there are some articles today about Ashlee Simpson that try to explain the mishap. Here’s a forgiving one, and here’s a skeptic.