Sunday, January 29th, 2012: POPPED CULTURE
The
critics raged! Others celebrities created their own buzz with separate
press releases of support. The actual artist will release her new
album worldwide on Tuesday of this week. Already critics give wide
ranging reviews of the album.
Two
weeks ago, the singer in question - Lana Del Rey (Lizzy Grant) appeared
on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest alongside host Daniel
Radcliff. There were reports from critical listeners that this was the
worst performance ever on SNL - that the singer was not ready for the
big stage.
Well to
me, the whole episode says alot about people - those of us who live in
January of 2012. Reality shows are hyped for television, Republican
debaters rip one another even as they tear down a rival Democratic
President, economic recovery is slower than predicted with the latest
criticisms of Europe's crippling debt crisis, an Italian sea captain
abandons his damaged ship as chaos reigns aboard.... And on it goes.
It seems that everyone has an opinion. Everyone seems to be an authority on something - even without knowing all the facts.
Perhaps
that behavior is supported in current pop culture when we vote for the
latest act on X Factor, American Idol or Dancing With the Stars. In
some ways this process is good because it offers new insights about the
discipline of performance. In other ways it has opened the door to
anyone to scornfully ridicule others publicly - even without
acknowledging all the facts.
Lana
Del Rey is a young artist - time will tell whether she has the stuff to
carry a career. A few other pop icons had more than their share of 15
minutes of fame. Andy Warhol made a career of it!
Posts
I couldn't resist. I had to watch the performance on YouTube to see for myself. I then listened to the studio recording. My conclusion? I think the critics confused 'bad performance' with their personal taste. The live version was a decent live recreation of the (I assume polished) studio version. Lana performed her song in her style and I suspect that she was happy with it. I also suspect that what she delivered is not the critics' cup of tea. That's life.
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