Watch Lana Del Rey’s not-so-great SNL debut

Very few artists have experienced as much as hype in as little time as Lana Del Rey has. In just 6 months, the vintage-styled songstress has gone from being a buzzed about blog staple to being featured in Rolling Stone and covering Billboard magazine, and tonight, she became the first artist in over a decade to perform on Saturday Night Live before having released an album.

Del Rey’s SNL debut is one of the first big musical moments of 2012, with her detractors anticipating it to watch her fall, and her fans rejoicing at the prospect of the performance launching the 25-year-old to commercial superstardom in the States. With so much anticipation, Del Rey was bound to be criticized if she delivered anything less than perfect, and ‘perfect’ was the last thing she gave.

As was to be expected, Del Rey opened with her breakthrough hit “Video Games”. We’ve seen some pretty good renditions of this tune over the past couple of months — some with strong vocals, others that relied more on her emotional range — but this was definitely her weakest showing to date. The vocal delivery was rough and pitchy, and her demeanor was neither effortless nor as endearingly-awkward as it has been in the past.

Ultimately, it just came across like she couldn’t actually sing — kind of like if Ashlee Simpson suddenly made a grand return to SNL to perform some new stripped-back ballad she had written.

Del Rey’s second performance of “Blue Jeans” was a bit stronger, but it was still nothing to write home about other than a nice high note here and there. It was also disappointing to see the B-side “Blue Jeans” performed over the lead single “Born to Die”, but with the perpetually-late America only just getting into “Video Games” (it recently started climbing iTunes), it seems that Interscope have decided to put “Born” on the backburner for now.

Feedback from both performances has been negative to say the least, with most comments on both Idolator and Youtube generally saying something along the lines of “That was so bad!” and “She can’t sing!“.

In Del Rey’s defense, we already know that she can sing –it’s been proven on more than one occasion– and the weary, spoken-delivery of both “Blue Jeans” and “Video Games” isn’t the best way to convey vocal prowess, but the general public don’t know that. All they can see is some random broad slurring her way through a sleepy karaoke performance. With all the hype and attention surrounding Lana, this was a bit of a make-or-break gig, and her many detractors aren’t going to let this one go easily.

Luckily, Del Rey has some amazing management, who have already booked the diva to perform on both Ellen and David Letterman in the coming weeks. Hopefully those two shows will allow the glamor puss to redeem herself.

Check out both performances below via Neon Limelight.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 15th, 2012 at 2:25 am and is filed under Performances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

http://twitter.com/curdey Michael Curd

Bleh, I’ve always thought she’s WAY over-rated. This is just another piece of proof.
Mega

She was SO nervous, you’ll notice if you watched the show, there were a lot of commercial breaks before the second performance. I guess she was trying to regain composure.
Lafrench

I actually liked the performaces, it was obvious she was nervous, but 80% was her personality. I don’t think she will do well in the U.S. though which I hate but she has a fan in me.
KingBeaArthur

Someone get her a damn mic stand!!! Just standing there singing the songs would have been better than her awkward shuffling.

I didn’t think “Video Games was that bad, but “Blue Jeans” was a mess. Those high notes…girl stop.
Chazity Bono

“All they can see is some random broad slurring her way through a sleepy karaoke performance.”

So, Britney…basically.
Vicky

Her fans and haters are making a bid deal out of this. We all know that being good at singing live has nothing to do with commercial success or failure. People just buy the songs they like without thinking much about. Otherwise Rihanna and Katy Perry would have flopped from the beginning.
Anonymous

See, the problem here is not that her performance was bad. While it wasn’t spectacular I don’t really know what else people were expecting her to do, especially considering her genre of music. She sang her songs, her vocal delivery was good if not wavery from nerves, and that’s really all she needed to do, in my opinion. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t really care for her music and hasn’t really paid much attention to all the hype surrounding her since she gained notoriety a few months ago.

No, the major problem here is that people expected far more of her than she was able to do. What was she supposed to do, sing while simultaneously juggling Ginsu knives and shooting fireworks out of her ass?

I also think that people were expecting her to be just like Adele, who’s often very strong and staccato when it comes to her movements and performances…I just don’t think that’s Lana’s style. Both may have been inspired by the same decade (the 60′s) but both are derivative of different styles and genres of the period…whereas Adele is obviously influenced by R&B and soul, Lana seems to take her cues from Dusty Springfield, and her lilting, wavery motions call to mind many female performing artists from the decade as well.

Anyways, just my two cents. I felt bad because it was obvious that she was nervous and she knew there was a lot riding on this performance.
camronyo

Blue Jeans was about 80% better than video games. stanning so hard for this lass.
http://www.facebook.com/cameronjoelspargo Cameron Joel Spargo

But Lana is at least singing.
tommie

It feels very reductive.
Bthe1983

I’m sorry but she has stage-fright, plenty of singers do, even Adele. That is why it took her YEARS to catapult but even then she doesnt perform much besides a small venue tour or cancels her tours time and time again. Lana Del Rey is a small venue singer, if you find her live performances in a club she performs MILES better than she did in front of a crowd of 100+ people. Its something that isn’t always instant for every singer, record companies work with them on practice for years before being put in front of the public, she’s only had a few months…she’s awesome! I know she can sing! I love her…haters are gonna hate but I think she has a crowd in America but even if not, I will buy her stuff! I loved her since Lizzy Grant!!
FilipinoPharaoh

Cut her some slack….even Harry Potter made a mistake introducing her. I think it was good enough for her, considering she is fairly new in the game. As for Harry Potter, tut tut
Anonymous

Uhm maybe because people were expecting a good performance and she failed to deliver so? Look, I like Lana actually and don’t think she deserves all the hate from the hipsters out there but she isn’t a good singer. She is mostly a very mediocre singer. She gave a nearly bad to OK vocal performance here.

She isn’t being marketed as another popstar, she is being marketed as a singer/songwriter/musician so people expect her to be a good singer. It’s not because of Adele or whatever. Most singers in her genre are good singers as most are outside from mainstream pop!
pupu

Love Her, She suck a litle, but OK, She´s New
pupu

Love it!, Shes nervious…Give Her Sometime to Get Crazy on stage and you´ll see
Heavymetallamb

She was obviously nervous. Seems like she had problems hearing herself as well. Trust me she’ll get better.
Aryo

she was so nervous that she sang ” play A VIDEO GAMEZZ, lol,
i love her , shes amazing, i really hope she makes it big in the US
Bobs

why was she serving up all those low-note cheeseburgers? oh no.
Shady1

I’m still like “who the hell is this chick?” lol….from what I heard the performances were not bad yet I have nothing to go off of cuz I dunno who this chick is lol
Guest

is it just me or did lana’s lackluster performances make anyone else miss fiona apple?
Trevor

great.
Trevor

i laughed at this for 1 minute straight.
Trevor

In response to Bobs, i think i read somewhere recently that she started singing in a lower register so that she would be noticed….but with her voice this much lower (except for the nice mid and high range in Blue Jeans) it just sounds like she’s drunk. too much of a good thing seperates you from the pack leads to a not so good performance……and i’m waiting for y’all to say it….

JUST LIKE LADY GAGA.
mimifan

its her first big deal, she’ll be fine soon, in fact she’ll be great. we all seen how good she is. and harry potter is so cute!
Anima

I’m not really a fan of her music tbh, she reminds me of a poor man’s Maria Mena and Natalie Imbruglia hybrid. But I feel bad that people are bashing her so much, it wasn’t as terrible as people are saying imo, it was just painfully awkward more than anything.
Yumm

She’ll never make it big tbh, because she’s boring as fuck her name should be Lana Del Boring and can’t perform to save her life, she seems like some awkward 16 year old girl at her high school’s talent show
Anonymous

Mmmkay, well this is where our opinions differ because I don’t think she did as bad a job as you and others seem to want to make out like she did. Whether or not someone thinks a singer has a good voice is subjective, and I think she performed admirably for her first major live event. Her nerves were getting to her more than anything.

And how do you know that it’s not because of Adele “or whatever?” Are you a member of the Gallup committee, did you go around and poll a specific demographic of people to see what their thoughts and opinions were on Lana’s performance? Ummm, no. The Adele comparisons have been going on for a few months now, it’s just as valid a reason as anything.

You’re right, she’s not being marketed as just another pop star, but the way some people are going on you’d think she couldn’t carry a note to save her life. I am going to say it’s very naive and “hipster” of you to claim that most singers in her genre sing well simply because they aren’t in the mainstream, simply because there aren’t a lot of singers out there with her vocal tics and stylings. Plus it’s ridiculous to claim that just because someone isn’t mainstream they automatically sound better than a pop star. ‘Tisn’t necessarily true.
MUSIC LOVER

Stop! Just stop! These were her worst performances, period! No more arguing about that. I’m already ready to stan for this chick full-time, but these performances were vocally atrocious and her stage presence was damn awkward with that swaying and hair tossing. Such a pity she had to fuck up on her first official introduction to the U.S. public.

The man voice in the beginning of “Blue Jeans” left me dead! I barely made it through her performances. Those random ass runs which were not good at all. SNL was not a time to play around with the arrangements of these songs.

With that said, any talk, whether good or bad, is good promo for Lana, so the haters who underestimate her can remain mad. She is a NEW artist so she needs time to develop her skills. Give her time!

Anyway, “Born to Die” will undoubtedly be the album of the YEAR. People will come around if they haven’t already.

Go ahead Lana, sit your ass firmly on that throne! This is your year!
all4U

Aww! Poor Lana! =´(
She was really nervous and… is it me or her voice sounded kinda rough and tired? As if, she didn’t have enough vocal rest or something.
Anyway, she’ll surely do much better on the next performances, it’s just a shame she didn’t make the most out of this SNL appearance.
Jafet Denegri

Ok she is not the best singer, but this bitch got something!!!
Just don’t forget rihanna “singing” Only Girl in SNL one year ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui5PJWxW7Ik
iAmAwesome

Nerves got the best of her. Don’t know why they had her stand there tho? It would be so much better if she just sat in a stool with a mic stand a la MTV unplugged. Also, I wish she had done Born To Die or National Anthem and Blue Jeans.

Anyway, still #TeamDelRey. SHE SO EFFING PRETTY!
Anonymous

I like her voice, but I’m going to be honest. She’s terrible live. I’ve watched several of her performances and they all come off stale. Not feeling her so far. Bummer too because ‘Born to Die’ is great
SerferTJ

She definitely needed a mike stand, especially on “Video Games”. It was sooo awkward cuz it’s like she didn’t know what to do with her hands!!! Calm down girl!
http://twitter.com/SirLordJ Jeff

Meh it wasn’t great and if Born to Die wasn’t so great I would say this bitch is an overrated mess, but I’m sure it was just nerves hopefully she didn’t make that bad of a first impression.

Also I think she didn’t preform Born to Die because its free on iTunes. I assume they don’t want to promote something that’s free.
leebug

First of all, I never said this was a bad performance. I said it was OK. She was obviously very nervous as well but when I say she isn’t a very good singer, I am judging from a technical singing aspect which isn’t subjective but rather objective. I’m talking about the basics of singing like technique, control, etc. in other words, the SKILL of singing. However, I do love her voice and she has a unique sound and image.

And I am not claiming that most singers in her genre sing well simply because they are mainstream! Woman, calm down and don’t let your emotions get the best of you. What I meant was that most singers in her genre are expected to sing well, simply because they are being marketed as singers/songwriters/musicians as opposed to gimmicky popstars who are image-driven. People expect popstars to not be able to sing but put on a show while people generally expect more from singers outside pop, that they can sing and deliver more mature and better music.

If you think about this, when you think about POP music do you really expect Katy Perry or Rihanna to sing well? But when you think of other genres like Soul or Jazz, you expect that they are good singers right since they do better music, don’t need the gimmicks, etc.? The same goes for Lana, she simply didn’t meet the expectations.

It could be that the expectations are just set too high for her but it is only natural to have higher expectations from singer-songwriters as opposed to popstars. I’m not discrediting any of her work at all, I like her music and bought her EP actually. There obviously is vocal talent hidden in there but her singing skills are quite OK as of the moment. That’s just my point.
leebug

First of all, I never said this was a bad performance. I said it was OK. She was obviously very nervous as well but when I say she isn’t a very good singer, I am judging from a technical singing aspect which isn’t subjective but rather objective. I’m talking about the basics of singing like technique, control, etc. in other words, the SKILL of singing. However, I do love her voice and she has a unique sound and image.

And I am not claiming that most singers in her genre sing well simply because they are mainstream! Woman, calm down and don’t let your emotions get the best of you. What I meant was that most singers in her genre are expected to sing well, simply because they are being marketed as singers/songwriters/musicians as opposed to gimmicky popstars who are image-driven. People expect popstars to not be able to sing but put on a show while people generally expect more from singers outside pop, that they can sing and deliver more mature and better music.

If you think about this, when you think about POP music do you really expect Katy Perry or Rihanna to sing well? But when you think of other genres like Soul or Jazz, you expect that they are good singers right since they do better music, don’t need the gimmicks, etc.? The same goes for Lana, she simply didn’t meet the expectations.

It could be that the expectations are just set too high for her but it is only natural to have higher expectations from singer-songwriters as opposed to popstars. I’m not discrediting any of her work at all, I like her music and bought her EP actually. There obviously is vocal talent hidden in there but her singing skills are quite OK as of the moment. That’s just my point.
leebug

First of all, I never said this was a bad performance. I said it was OK. She was obviously very nervous as well but when I say she isn’t a very good singer, I am judging from a technical singing aspect which isn’t subjective but rather objective. I’m talking about the basics of singing like technique, control, etc. in other words, the SKILL of singing. However, I do love her voice and she has a unique sound and image.

And I am not claiming that most singers in her genre sing well simply because they are mainstream! Woman, calm down and don’t let your emotions get the best of you. What I meant was that most singers in her genre are expected to sing well, simply because they are being marketed as singers/songwriters/musicians as opposed to gimmicky popstars who are image-driven. People expect popstars to not be able to sing but put on a show while people generally expect more from singers outside pop, that they can sing and deliver more mature and better music.

If you think about this, when you think about POP music do you really expect Katy Perry or Rihanna to sing well? But when you think of other genres like Soul or Jazz, you expect that they are good singers right since they do better music, don’t need the gimmicks, etc.? The same goes for Lana, she simply didn’t meet the expectations.

It could be that the expectations are just set too high for her but it is only natural to have higher expectations from singer-songwriters as opposed to popstars. I’m not discrediting any of her work at all, I like her music and bought her EP actually. There obviously is vocal talent hidden in there but her singing skills are quite OK as of the moment. That’s just my point.
Anonymous

First of all, I never said this was a bad performance. I said it was OK. She was obviously very nervous as well but when I say she isn’t a very good singer, I am judging from a technical singing aspect which isn’t subjective but rather objective. I’m talking about the basics of singing like technique, control, etc. in other words, the SKILL of singing. However, I do love her voice and she has a unique sound and image.

And I am not claiming that most singers in her genre sing well simply because they are mainstream! Woman, calm down and don’t let your emotions get the best of you. What I meant was that most singers in her genre are expected to sing well, simply because they are being marketed as singers/songwriters/musicians as opposed to gimmicky popstars who are image-driven. People expect popstars to not be able to sing but put on a show while people generally expect more from singers outside pop, that they can sing and deliver more mature and better music.

If you think about this, when you think about POP music do you really expect Katy Perry or Rihanna to sing well? But when you think of other genres like Soul or Jazz, you expect that they are good singers right since they do better music, don’t need the gimmicks, etc.? The same goes for Lana, she simply didn’t meet the expectations.

It could be that the expectations are just set too high for her but it is only natural to have higher expectations from singer-songwriters as opposed to popstars. I’m not discrediting any of her work at all, I like her music and bought her EP actually. There obviously is vocal talent hidden in there but her singing skills are quite OK as of the moment. That’s just my point.
Lol

fucking horrible…i fell asleep first 30 secs, and she has no fucking stage presence..get this bitch of the stage…she may be pretty but, what a fucking bore LOL DUDE!!!…DAMN!
iAmAwesome

lol Exactly. This is Lana Del Rey not your typical pop star. She is not gonna break it down on the stage, just sit her down and let her sing.

Hope she improve on Letterman and Ellen tho.
http://twitter.com/TooStoosh Whacktose Intolerant

ROTFL! I though this was a skit at first. I can’t believe she even got booked. She has absolutely not even a crumb of talent.
http://twitter.com/hcdawes Hayden Dawes

Look at this bitch on here!!! lol
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Barbudo

A+ COMMENT AND NAME
Barbudo

Loving this fanfic version of LDR in which you two are besties and she tells you all about how she got stage-fright and THAT’s why she sucked and not the fact that she sucks as a whole.
http://wowmary.wordpress.com/ Maria

Don’t really see what she has in common with neither Maria or Natalie.
MissVicious

Wow I really feel bad for her and the crazy part about this like she has sang better than that. I know she has because I’ve seen her live. It sucks because this was the first impression and this wasn’t a good way to make that first impression.
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