Lana Del Rey Makes Her TV Debut on SNL
By Eric Hehr in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 16, 2012 8:00PM
Lana Del Rey became one of the most controversial buzz artists of 2011 following the release of her video for “Video Games,” which quickly went viral and infected the blog-o-sphere world. Within a few weeks, a relatively unknown singer named Elizabeth Grant became an overnight celebrity known as Lana Del Rey. By the end of the year, Del Rey had found her way onto the cover of Billboard Magazine. Last night, Del Rey took her viral-centric notoriety to prime time, making her network debut on SNL.
Last week, Del Rey told MTV News that her neophyte fame wasn’t a fluke, and being featured on SNL this early in her career wasn’t worrisome: “I may not have a record out now, but I have been singing for a very long time, and I think Lorne [Michaels] knows that, and everyone over there knows that.”
Instantly following her SNL performance, Del Rey became a trending topic on Twitter, opening up a sea of conflicting reactions from everyone from Juliette Lewis (“Wow watching this 'singer' on SNL is like watching a 12 year old [sic] in their bedroom when they’re pretending to sing and perform #signofourtimes”) to Eliza Dushku ("Who... is... this wack-a-doodle chick performing on #SNL...? Whaaaa?").
It’s important to keep in mind that the 25-year-old Del Rey made it all the way to SNL without the aid of an album or touring experience. While most artists spend years or decades working towards an American TV debut on the level of SNL, Del Rey seems to have been prematurely catapulted into it based on the overnight success of a few YouTube videos. She’s the first artist since Natalie Imbruglia (in 1998) to play SNL before the release of a major label debut (Interscope will release Del Rey’s Born to Die on Jan. 31). And while she has been on magazine covers and TV shows, is her fame warranted by her authenticity and talented? This question caused many skeptics to tune into SNL last night, and many found their answer in her performance: Nope.
Clearly nervous and a bit too rigid in a long evening gown, Del Rey stumbled through two songs on a program that does not allow you to do a second take or edit yourself. And while SNL is notorious for not always supplying the best live sound for it’s acts, it does supply national syndication for artist to prove themselves to an entire country that may be doubtful of their lasting-power.
Some say that controversy loves company; so let’s open up the floor. Check out Del Rey’s performance of “Video Games” from SNL below and make up your own mind. Passing fad or legitimate artist?