This time it wasn't the acid reflux. Reality TV star Ashlee Simpson says technical difficulties hindered her live performance at last week's Orange Bowl halftime show, leading to a chorus of boos from the crowd of more than 70,000.
''There were no ear monitors when we went onstage. No floor monitors,'' Simpson told MTV.com. ''And trying to sing in a stadium where you can't hear yourself is kinda hard.'' Still, she apologized to those in the audience that didn't enjoy her singing.
Of course, in Simpson's mind, her actual performance — a rendition of the single ''La La'' that devolved into an off-key screech in its closing moments — might not have been the real problem anyway.
''Maybe they were booing at me, maybe they were booing at the halftime show 'cause the whole thing sucked,'' she said. ''I was facing [the Oklahoma Sooners], and I was rooting for USC, and they played a clip of it, so maybe it was that those people didn't like me. You never know.''
Or perhaps the Orange Bowl audience had some leftover bad will toward Simpson dating back to last October, when the singer was caught using a pre-recorded vocal track during a Saturday Night Live gig. After she fled the stage, Simpson blamed her band, then switched stories and explained that a bout of acid reflux had left her without a singing voice that evening.
Still, if you’re holding your breath for a new and improved Simpson as 2005 progresses, it might be time to let out a cleansing sigh. ''I'm not perfect and I'm not going to be perfect,'' Simpson offered. ''And I look forward to continuing to not listen to what one person says and making good music.''
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