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Lana Del Rey

March 23, 2012 by · Comments Off on Lana Del Rey 

Lana Del Rey, Last night on American Idol we found out which nine contestants would be moving into Chez Idol, but let’s be honest, we didn’t tune in to see who America kicked off. We wanted to see if “indie pop sensation” Lana Del Rey would face-plant like she did on Saturday Night Live a couple months ago.

The odds were in her favor this time, for the performance was pre-taped and it wasn’t on SNL’s notoriously awful soundstage. Find out how she fared, and who America voted off, after the jump.

If LDR and the return of Season 10’s suave Haley Reinhart weren’t enough fanfare for you, it was also Steven Tyler’s [redacted]th birthday. So his bandmate Joe Perry came out shredding and the contestants sang “Happy Birthday,” which probably cost Fox a few million in licensing fees. Check out the two coolest grandmas in the world:

Next, Lana Del Rey performed “Video Games.” Let’s talk about it! (Deep breaths everyone.) She wore an all-white outfit perfect for that tennis match she scheduled right after her set, and was backed, as usual, by full strings. The performance was so much better than her SNL take – though, no surprise there. She’s been steadily improving in her TV performances in the months since. Whatever your thoughts on LDR, it seems clear she’s an acquired taste live, and hey, we’re rooting for her. She received a warm reception and it was nice to see her happy and smiling.

Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine wanted some of that LDR spotlight, so last night he gave us his best Simon Cowell impression. On Hollie Cavanagh: she was “a sweet diva caught in the headlights.” On DeAndre Brackensick: too much frolicking and bopping around. On Joshua Ledet: gets in trouble with that “Darth Vader thing” when he sings too low. And finally, on Heejun Han’s antics: “a bad Adam Sandler movie.” Um, we saw Sandler’s Jack and Jill and would sooner sit through Heejun’s performance from last night on a two-hour loop than that travesty again.

Lana Del Rey SNL

January 18, 2012 by · Comments Off on Lana Del Rey SNL 

Lana Del Rey SNLLana Del Rey SNL, Last week, Lana Del Rey fired back at critics who said she wasn’t ready for her “Saturday Night Live” gig, telling MTV News, “I’m a good musician … I have been singing for a long time, and I think that [‘SNL’ creator] Lorne [Michaels] knows that … it’s not a fluke decision.”

Of course, following the show — and a pair of vocally shaky performances in which Del Rey seemed nervous and detached — those same critics fired back en masse, first taking to Twitter to rip her as nothing more than hype. Actress and musician Juliette Lewis was particularly harsh, writing (in a since-deleted tweet), “Wow, watching this ‘singer’ on SNL is like watching a 12-year-old in their bedroom when they’re pretending to sing and perform #signofourtimes.”

Actress Eliza Dushku also chimed in, tweeting, “Who is this wack-a-doodle chick performing on ‘SNL’? Whaaa?”

Also jumping into the fray — albeit not intentionally — was “NBC Nightly News” anchor/ amateur music aficionado Brian Williams, who, in an email meant for Gawker Media founder Nick Denton (which was subsequently posted on Gawker.com), called Del Rey’s performance “one of the worst outings in ‘SNL’ history,” and chided Denton’s websites for not slagging it appropriately.

(A spokesperson for NBC told Gawker that the email “was sent in confidence … and absolutely never intended to be public.”)

To be fair, Del Rey did have her defenders, most notably the host of her “SNL” show, Daniel Radcliffe. Speaking to the media at the annual British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations, the actor said that the attacks went far beyond mere criticism of Del Rey’s singing and stage presence, and added that he felt the entire thing was blown out of proportion.

“It was unfortunate that people seemed to turn on her so quickly,” Radcliffe said. “I also think people are making it about things other than the performance … if you read what people are saying about her online, it’s all about her past and her family and stuff that’s nobody else’s business. I don’t think [the performance] warranted anywhere near that reaction.”

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