I don't usually follow internet phenoms, but if Lana Del Rey's name has been unavoidable the past few months, her performance on Saturday Night Live made her infamous.
I'm not going to lie. It was... not good. I don't think it was the worst SNL performance ever (if anything, it reminded me of Marianne Faithfull's narcoleptic Saturday Night Live appearance more than thirty years ago), but critics really want it to be THE WORST.
I think lookuplookup had one of the most nuanced takes on the whole mess, and especially the aftermath:
[...] the whole critical gaze on Lana is much heavier than it would be if she were a straight-up pop singer and I agree. It’s interesting to me that people who are usually so into “real women don’t have to be” rhetoric (WHICH IS GARBAGE ANYWAY) are really eager to police someone like Lana Del Rey & critique her for being “inauthentic” (which, like that even means anything, like being “authentic” is some category that you just get to assign to someone’s art/performance/public persona/whatever.)Lana Del Rey has been marketed as a singer-songwriter replete with highly stylized videos and a "gangster Nancy Sinatra" image (I didn't make that up, I swear). As in all things indie, a term that''s been divorced from its original meaning for at least a decade now, she's supposed to be genuine, "the real thing," and possess "real talent." And I'm not saying she doesn't have those things even if her image is heavily manufactured -- these things aren't as mutually exclusive as some music fans would like to believe -- but I think her lackluster performance says more about pushing artists into the spotlight before they're ready, and that making a pretty good youtube video doesn't mean it can be reproduced at will. The sheen simply wore off and what we're left with is a young artist not yet ready for prime time.
That women in the music industry are under more scrutiny than men is a given. Because I am approximately 150-years-old, and having this reference at my disposal, I'm also reminded of the Replacements SNL performance in 1986, which was pretty stinky as well. Now I am a huge fan of the Replacements, but with enough historical distance, it's become part of the band's legendary pathos. I still don't image a female artists being granted the same. (See Marianne Faithfull.)
I think you're dead on. She just looks uncomfortable. She may be more of a vaguely musical poet (i.e. Leonard Cohen) than she is a chanteuse. Don't know, but I've seen way worse. People will always give you more credit if you express your discomfort by acting out, like the Replacements dealing with their awkwardness by their usual method, being drunk and profane. I feel like if she had blown her nose on her dress and flipped everybody the bird, she'd be celebrated right now.
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