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Celeb News: LA Times reviews Lana Del Rey
Member Since: 6/17/2011
Posts: 16,910
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LA Times reviews Lana Del Rey
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For what was surely most of this weekend's "Saturday Night Live" crowd, New York chanteuse Lana Del Rey arrived seemingly out of nowhere. Her debut album, "Born to Die," won't be released until Jan. 31, and her first single, "Video Games," has sold about 20,000 copies, according to recent Nielsen SoundScan stats published in Billboard. Even for a show that's prided itself on adventurous music bookings, Del Rey was a virtual unknown to the world outside the music blogosphere.
Signed to Interscope Records, Del Rey (real name: Lizzy Grant) apparently is something of a divisive figure. Spend a few minutes researching her, and one will discover a novel's worth of material debating the merits of an artist who's officially released all of four songs. Outlets as diverse as National Public Radio and The Awl have dedicated 1,000-plus word essays on the subject of Del Rey, picking apart her open-mike past and wondering whether her YouTube-driven attention is little more than some creative major label marketing.
Watching Del Rey's performance of "Video Games" on Saturday night, however, it was hard to wonder what all the pre-release fuss has been about. NPR went so far as to dub her controversial in a headline, yet if Del Rey's "Mad Men" look, old-school nightclub vibe and husky-voiced torch songs are controversial, the world, thankfully, has gone soft.
Dressed in an elegant evening grown that seemed more photogenic than mobile, Del Rey awkwardly shifted throughout the spare song, sounding and looking like an amateur Jessica Rabbit. Her voice is distinctive, no doubt, but Del Rey appeared to be trying to do too much with it, distractingly switching between highs and lows, moving between pouting and singing. Ultimately, she seemed more comfortable on the night's second number, "Blue Jeans," which carried a little more energy, even if it groaningly referenced James Dean.
With some modern production flourishes, the handy shorthand for Del Rey has been the "gangsta Nancy Sinatra," although that phrase packs more life than anything Del Rey showcased on "SNL." Regardless of the era Del Rey references, her retro-meets-modern shtick simply felt clumsy. Even the idea of treating video games as something to be off-handedly dismissed is outdated, more pandering than it is clever.
Yet sometimes brevity is more telling. Perhaps one of the most informed pieces of criticism came via the Twitter feed of DFA Records, the label cofounded by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy. "Lana Del Rey plays Saturday Night Live next week," the label's Twitter posted Jan. 7. "LCD Soundsystem tried for 6 years to play Saturday Night Live. Isn't 'too soon' ok advice?"
Sometimes there's more truth than humor to "SNL's" not-yet-ready-for-prime-time branding.
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Cue the "Enough a bout Lana" posts.
This performance is career defining, and this is the L.A. Times
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Member Since: 9/3/2011
Posts: 22,014
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They're formulating their entire negative opinion based off of the performances from last night, I bet they haven't even listened to the studio versions or watched other performances 
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Member Since: 12/23/2011
Posts: 11,321
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That GIF... 
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Member Since: 1/21/2010
Posts: 2,175
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Member Since: 5/14/2007
Posts: 2,296
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Her vocals were pretty off that night, but it was still a great performance.
And all this negative publicity is only helping Lana at this point 
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 10/3/2010
Posts: 12,334
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Quote:
Originally posted by Haus
They're formulating their entire negative opinion based off of the performances from last night, I bet they haven't even listened to the studio versions or watched other performances |
So this performance isn't bad because she's been good sometimes?
Come on.
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Member Since: 6/10/2011
Posts: 12,511
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Member Since: 10/19/2010
Posts: 3,941
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If Ashlee Simpson can bounce back from her disastrous SNL performance with a #1 album, so can Lana. She'll be fine.
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Member Since: 12/15/2011
Posts: 13,205
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I went on youtube last night to watch some of her other live performances to give her a chance but honestly they weren't that good all the buzz around her voice and all the talk that her voice is big isn't true if anyone watches her live performances he can clearly see that she's struggling to sing with the right tune and to hit the high notes I believe her songs are too big for her and I am sure all the buzz around her is due to her rich father I read on wiki that he's a millioniare investor
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Member Since: 7/18/2010
Posts: 29,717
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She just sounded nervous to me.
She is new. 
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Member Since: 6/9/2011
Posts: 9,749
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Quote:
Originally posted by Shape
So this performance isn't bad because she's been good sometimes?
Come on.
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So she's not good because she's been bad one or two times?
Come On.
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Member Since: 6/9/2011
Posts: 9,749
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Quote:
Originally posted by IVY
I went on youtube last night to watch some of her other live performances to give her a chance but honestly they weren't that good all the buzz around her voice and all the talk that her voice is big isn't true if anyone watches her live performances he can clearly see that she's struggling to sing with the right tune and to hit the high notes I believe her songs are too big for her and I am sure all the buzz around her is due to her rich father I read on wiki that he's a millioniare investor
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What did you watch? and even if she did not sound as good as the buzz, you can't deny she's good. And does sound better than most of the performers of today, She released a statement about her father on YouTube, she didn't deny her father being a millionaire and called him an Entrepreneur, but she said she chose to live in a trailer park and that nobody she works with right now has any relations with her father.
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Member Since: 12/8/2010
Posts: 17,643
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Quote:
Originally posted by IVY
I went on youtube last night to watch some of her other live performances to give her a chance but honestly they weren't that good all the buzz around her voice and all the talk that her voice is big isn't true if anyone watches her live performances he can clearly see that she's struggling to sing with the right tune and to hit the high notes I believe her songs are too big for her and I am sure all the buzz around her is due to her rich father I read on wiki that he's a millioniare investor
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Whatever you say 
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Member Since: 4/15/2011
Posts: 6,446
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I don't know much about her but I would assume that SNL would have been her first major public appearance. Most people watching would've never seen her before this performance and whether she has had other much better ones doesn't really change the fact that her first impression on a lot of people would not be a great one.
Regardless, she seems to be selling quite well on iTunes and let's face it, whether an artist can perform well or not doesn't really stop them getting those number ones.
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Member Since: 4/21/2011
Posts: 10,659
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Quote:
Originally posted by Haus
They're formulating their entire negative opinion based off of the performances from last night, I bet they haven't even listened to the studio versions or watched other performances |
Yes. That's exactly what the general public does when forming an opinion. They look at what is presented to them (Lana's SNL performance) and decide in an instant how they feel. The general public doesn't think "Well, maybe she was better another time..." and spend hours on Youtube combing through clips to find redeeming ones. It's a tough business. And THAT'S why you need to be prepared and ready for major exposure like this - the public's perception can sour in an instant.
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Member Since: 6/9/2011
Posts: 9,749
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Quote:
Originally posted by effie593
I don't know much about her but I would assume that SNL would have been her first major public appearance. Most people watching would've never seen her before this performance and whether she has had other much better ones doesn't really change the fact that her first impression on a lot of people would not be a great one.
Regardless she seems to be selling quite well on iTunes and let's face it, whether an artist can perform well or not doesn't really stop them getting those number ones.
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I agree that she didn't do well for her major US Debut, but she doing Letterman and Ellen next month, People will forget about the SNL performance by then and I hope she can learn for her past mistake.
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Member Since: 4/15/2011
Posts: 6,446
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Quote:
Originally posted by medosuxx
I agree that she didn't do well for her major US Debut, but she doing Letterman and Ellen next month, People will forget about the SNL performance by then and I hope she can learn for her past mistake.
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If she can change people's opinion on her with those performances, I think she'll be fine. Like boyonce said, people respond to what's immediately presented to them and go about their business. If they like what they see, they investigate further.
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Member Since: 6/9/2011
Posts: 9,749
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Quote:
Originally posted by effie593
If she can change people's opinion on her with those performances, I think she'll be fine. Like boyonce said, people respond to what's immediately presented to them and go about their business. If they like what they see, they investigate further.
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I sure hope so!
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Member Since: 11/8/2011
Posts: 14,458
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 Lana's got most of you all hot and bothered. Job well done. Evil the LA times.
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Member Since: 6/17/2011
Posts: 16,910
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Quote:
Originally posted by KyKy
Evil the LA times.
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They were pretty ruthless 
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