Jessica Simpson Leaves Dolly Parton Tribute Mid-Performance
Posted December 4, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Singer-actress Jessica Simpson ended up in tears Sunday night after her performance during the Kennedy Center Honors appeared to go awry.
Simpson was on stage singing Nine to Five as part of a tribute to honouree Dolly Parton when she apparently stopped singing, uttered the words “so nervous” and exited the stage.
The stunned audience responded with silence. When the Dukes of Hazzard star and others participating in the tribute returned to the stage, it appeared she was crying.
Jessica’s little sister Ashley is no stranger to televised mess-ups. She was criticized for lip-synching on Saturday Night Live in 2004 after an apparent recording of her vocals came on as her band broke into a different tune.
After about 30 seconds, and some strange hoedown-like dance moves by Simpson, the vocals cut out and she left the stage.
Though the younger Simpson blamed her band at the time for the malfunction it appeared that the real problem was that the wrong ‘guide vocals’ came up. Guide vocals are often used for live performances to help the singer along – giving them the option to lip synch or sing along, making their voice appear stronger.
Aside from Parton, other honourees at Sunday’s awards included director Steven Spielberg, singer Smokey Robinson, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and conductor Zubin Mehta.
Photo Credit: Getty Images Entertainment/Nancy Ostertag
