Avril Lavigne’s Lifeless ‘Saturday Night Live’ Performance
 
Sometimes I like to be surprised, I even occasionally like to be proven wrong.
I write about celebrities because they are cultural touchstones who influence us in our everyday lives. Whether it be through passionate on-screen performances, brilliant lyrics, an otherworldly beauty emanating through their voices or sheer ethereal light shining from their core - celebrities matter because it is we who make or break them.
So with a hopeful heart, I waited patiently through last night’s mostly unfunny Saturday Night Live skits to see if musical guest Avril Lavigne could shine through her vacuous interviews and painfully self-absorbed remarks – and deliver her pop-punk sound with conviction.
Sadly, I wasn’t just disappointed with her performance - I was disgusted.  Avril’s performance, though technically accurate, was contemptuous. She showed contempt for the audience and worst yet, her own music. One might expect this from an artist who has been shoved into a genre or a style that doesn’t suit them. But Avril, as she will tell you, is her own person. She writes her own lyrics, creates her own style and even helped to craft her own sub-genre of angsty pop-punker, who just so happens to also sing ballads. In any other case, I would respect a person who was capable of that much creativity. But Avril doesn’t deserve my respect. She is a shell of who she claims to be, a shallow outward personification of cool, with little or no substance below.
Music of her sort needs to come from a place that bubbles up from within. A source of energy, excitement, anger and desire. Avril’s performance last night, and any previous interviews I have either read or watched present an entirely different person. At 22, Avril Lavigne is hollow on the inside.
The first song Avril sang was her new single “Girlfriend” a very up-tempo, frenetically-paced pop song, complete with all the infused elements of punk we are supposed to notice: anthemic chants, affected stances and in-your-face lyrics.  But Avril seemed bored, disingenuous and uncommitted. She seemed to genuinely think her music was for sh*t and she was too good to have to sing it.Â
To be honest, it is for sh*t, but most pop music is. What makes most pop music palatable is the conviction and energy the artist puts in it.
I am NOT a music snob. I will listen to most anything that’s done well. Avril’s new album may have been executed with great proficiency, but it lacks the commitment of the artist to make it believable.
Ironically, the second and last song Avril performed from her new album, The Best Damn Thing (dropping April 17), last night was “I Can Do Better,” and in fact, it was not.Â
If Avril wants us to ‘buy into’ her image, it would be helpful if she bought into it first.Â
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HAHAHA.
Thankyou so much for that I totally agree.
She is a stupid, lifeless shell of nothing, and the skit she performed in, lacked emotion. But what can be expected from a shell?
Comment by AGREED — April 15, 2007 @ 11:25 am
Thanks. It’s too bad that Avril is so arrogant she can’t see how her punk veneer is cracked and unseemly. She thinks being a brat is punk, when in fact it’s just being a brat. And no one likes brats.
Comment by dmdo1016 — April 15, 2007 @ 11:41 am
It gives me hope to see that the two people above have already commented with exactly what i was thinking. Avril continues to be a poser. It’s pop music with injections of guitar.. straight out of Kid’s Incorporated.
Comment by jane — April 15, 2007 @ 2:22 pm
i watched SNL last nite and i thought it was absolutly amazing. When some one is successful, like Avril is and has been since she started, people like this are going to feel the need to try and bring them down. Its your opinion and i respect that but im just saying I dont agree. Avril is talented and a real artist and her music and performances are energetic and exciting which is why this new album will probly do just as good as her first cd. With success comes criticism and your just proving that avril is the shit just by talking about her.
Comment by Jesse — April 15, 2007 @ 2:31 pm
Im so to sad I agree.
i like Avril’s old work, but hell…Her singing wasted on her record sounds more fun than that.
ALL the Avril shows[performances] i’ve seen lately sound EXACTLY the same, she’s more enthusiastic and fun in 4 minute interview clips.
the whole purpose of making a fun record is to perform it fun,which i have yet to see.
Old Avril is much much better, and although everyone got tired of hearing the complaining, i liked the songs and they were performed well.
She basically said’fu** it’ to her old band,and got these pro guys when i think her old band performed better.
she needs to find herself bc her record will sell,since shes got new wave teeny boppers, more so than before, but shes got a hip-hop group as well[not major fan base though], and though her record will sell greatly in my opinion,critically it will suck. she’s 22 trying to portray a 15 yr old’s lyrics,and her lyrics were falsely written..ugh
Sorry tht this is so long all the av fans ive spoken to believe shes 100% perfect.
Love old Avril, really really dont like new one.
Comment by bored — April 15, 2007 @ 2:39 pm
I agree with the positive comments regarding Avril. What kind of people are sending time spitting on an artist they don’t like. I bet I would hate such haters but would keep my mouth shut.
As to her new songs, There are more substance songs in her album than Girlfriend. But I find she has to be moving to a larger audience if she is not to sink into oblivion. So this is a transition album. If it does well, I can’t wait for the next one because I am pretty sure she will include more serious content in it.
Comment by bruno — April 15, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
She doesn’t contain “more serious content” within her being. She is substance-less.
Comment by dmdo1016 — April 15, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
yeah-I saw her perform “My Happy Ending” on some awards show about a year ago, and it was lifeless. She is one of the biggest DIVAS in hollywwod, if you ask me. And It bugs the heck out of me how she is always acting like she isn’t one.
She sucks totally.
Comment by blah blah — April 15, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
I also watched the SNL personal appearance, and can understand why Avril may have appeared a little lackluster to some viewers.
This talented artist loves to work in front of an appreciative [and preferably large] audience, which brings out the best in her.
Avril recently did a live concert in Calgary, before an audience of 200 members of her fan club. This was broadcasted, in it’s entirety on the Canadian Television Network, on April 2nd, 2007. The energy, skill and commitment were apparent throughout
This lady is a first-class performer, never mind what the critics say.
Comment by tom — April 16, 2007 @ 2:20 am
I don’t think Avril is vacuous, or a poser (no more than anybody else, anyway). I do think she’s young for her age, and being a superstar isn’t helping. I also don’t buy the act about how tough and confident she is (her best songs are the ones where she lets herself be vulnerable, and that’s probably closer to who she really is). But I like Avril. She writes decent music, has an ear for lyrics, and I think she’s got a lot of potential. She could be up there with Bob Dylan once she outgrows the attitude and shows us who she really is.
Comment by j_brisby — April 16, 2007 @ 6:00 am
…I mean hell, she’s already shown more artistic depth than Madonna ever did.
Comment by j_brisby — April 16, 2007 @ 6:05 am
Funny, you just described 80% of hip hop artist yet they get away with being shallow shells of what they claim to be.. if she’s getting away with it, the joke is on the people who buy her albums.
Comment by Jason Meltzer Patterson — April 16, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
(Shaking head) people just dont get it. Well I guess I would be worried as a fan of Avril but then I saw the title of this website and realized it was just another celebrity gossip venue, were all the shallow, useless human beings come to get the latest dirt of so called ‘Celebrities’ fortunately the people here dont have any artistic knowledge whatsoever, and that Avril knows more about music than the person who wrote the article, then again I can explain the fact that a live performance gets half its evergy from the performer, the other half comes from an audience.
Fortunately I do not worship at the altar of shallowness like so many other people, the only reason I came here was that they insulted one of my favorite artists, and I can not keep quiet about it.
Rock on Girl, loved your performance on SNL!!
Comment by Dan — April 17, 2007 @ 1:04 am
Dude, you’re a fan of Avril’s? What are you? A 13 year old girl? Man up already. You should be ashamed. She’s just awful.
Comment by dmdo1016 — April 17, 2007 @ 7:19 am
I think Avril was really good on SNL, and I’m not saying that just because I respect her as a very talented artist. The songs she choose were very hard to perform, and she tried her best. She’s been doing lots of interviews and shows lately, and you can tell she’s exhausted. And not everyone can perform their best under those conditions. As for her new songs being ’shallow’, that’s rude and disrespectful. Many of the new songs on her album are upbeat, catchy and very enjoyable. You can tell she worked hard on most of them, and had a great experience recording it. She’s never claimed to be punk; those labels were forced upon her. So how can she not live up to her image? She is an amazing songwriter, and deserves all the positive comments and respect she gets.
Comment by Dearbhla — April 17, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
“Shallow” lyrics? - Yes. (see: “I’m the muthaf**ing princess!” and other pre-teen “she’s so, like, whateva!” gems). These do not an “artist” make.
She looked entirely uninspired by her own work. I’m the farthest thing from a music snob, but the new song bugs the crap out of me. Still, I expected an awkwardly romping performance on SNL and all that was there was a married woman standing looking disaffected and only moving to make lamely choreographed hand gestures. With only one hand.
Comment by Steve — April 17, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
avril always has been, and always will be a boring little fop who DISLIKES AMERICANS.
Comment by Jessica — April 17, 2007 @ 2:18 pm
What I find disgusting are the typos in this. It’s hard to to take anyone seriously when they can’t even be bothered to spellcheck. Sure, Avril’s a moron… but apparently, so are you.
How nice.
Comment by marie — April 17, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
[...] When it seems that all we ever see lately are pictures of women, young and old, trying to attain an ideal of beauty and physical appearance that is not the norm, it’s good to see that Kelly Clarkson embraces who she is in all her glory. Seriously I mean that. Here’s Kelly on the way to a video shoot looking happy and cheerful. At least she’s happy to sing her songs and does it with panache, unlike that arrogant twit Avril. [...]
Pingback by GlossLip » Kelly Clarkson Keeps It Real — April 17, 2007 @ 4:14 pm
i watched it, it wasnt THAT bad…. thats just how she performs. the choreograhy is pretty cheesy though
Comment by christie — April 17, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
“She is a shell of who she claims to be, a shallow outward personification of cool, with little or no substance below.”
That, my friend, is genius! You put into words (so eloquently) that which I knew, but just couldn’t communicate. It’s such a shame because I do adore the music Avril makes, but it’s hard for me to get past her real personality…or lack there of. It’s just that her persona adds up to Paris Hilton/Nicole Richie, instead of pop/punk queen.
Comment by Tricia — April 17, 2007 @ 5:58 pm
Marie,
What are you talking about you crackhead?
Comment by dmdo1016@aol.com — April 17, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
I`d like to kiss her little brown starfish!
Comment by Johnny — April 17, 2007 @ 11:39 pm
(I’m french so sorry for the grammar, spelling, etc.)
I liked a few songs of Avril on her second album and I thought she was finally growing up and being mature about her life and her music… and then I heard the song “Girlfriend”. What the hell?! I feel like her new album will smell Clearasil and attracts lots of emo teenie girls. In my opinion, artists should be a positive example for their fans and spread messages through their songs -not necessarily political messages- and I find it quite frustrating and disappointing that some artists like Avril plainly don’t care if they encourage the image of an empty shell as being “cool”. Artists do have some impact on people’s way to think and reactions to life itself and I just can’t understand how some artists like Avril don’t care about it. I’m not saying that she has to act like Jesus or the Pope (gosh no!), but just being more conscious that when you’re in the spotlight, you have more power than some random singer in a crappy bar.
Anyways, that girl is deception.
Comment by p o i s o n e d * — April 18, 2007 @ 4:31 am
She is and has always been a hack- to say she is a biter is giving her too much credit- everything about her is fake. Average Lavigne punk?! Goth?! Please, go back to your upper-middle class Charlie Brown Godspell Canadian roots and rot in hell for perpetrating a fraud.
Comment by djstace63 — April 18, 2007 @ 7:26 pm
I have seen some of Avril’s more recent performances and I agree that they do seem low-energy, which is disappointing. Then again, I know that this is not a trend, as she always brings energy to her music and videos. Also, when I saw her live a couple of years ago, it was incredible: one of the best concerts I’ve been to (and I’ve been to probably 30 or so).
The thing is, we don’t know what else is going on in her life. Yes, it is the job of a performer to be able to shut that off, but I agree with someone above who said she’s a little young for her age. What I’m surprised about is that her manager isn’t saying anything to her.
That said, I don’t think this has anything to do with her appraisal of her music. She’s said that the didn’t allow any label input on this record, and that she only wrote what she wanted.
Who knows? It’s hard to judge.
Comment by Tiffani — April 18, 2007 @ 8:26 pm
OK, So I thought her album was totally a joke.
I Don’t have to Try, what was that, I really dont understand.
She has been writing her own songs since age 14 I believe, so why is it her saying the same basic thing throughout the whole song. I mean I get its supposed to be fun, but shes said shes matured and grown, and this is the best damn thing she has ever done.
So I am sitting here wondering…. have I bought the wrong cd??
Comment by whatafakesheis — April 18, 2007 @ 10:23 pm
Avril is in fact boring and all that, but did anyone but me notice the dark haired back-up singer she had in her band? She stole the whole performance. I’ve been searching the web like crazy to find a copy of it, but I can’t. Please someone else tell me if they have it or even noticed her.
Comment by Clint — April 19, 2007 @ 11:27 pm
BTW, if you just ignored her and didn’t blog about her she would be more likely to just go away, and you would never have to see her again.
Comment by Clint — April 19, 2007 @ 11:35 pm
I would SO TOTALLY hate-fuck her.
Comment by Buppity Buppity Bup — April 20, 2007 @ 6:43 pm
I’m not a huge Avril fan, but you guys do know that “Girlfriend” in fact makes fun of the popular, cheerleader types, right? This song is a very well made parody — her lyrics capture nicely the spirit and shallowness of the type of girl she is making fun of (”she’s so….whatever” is something that the dopey heroine of the song and all her friends would actually say — we all know girls like that). I thought (and still think) that the lyrics are pretty damn funny, and spot on.
The same can be said about “I can Do Better” — the “limoncello” line comes to mind. Genuinely funny stuff.
This album reminds me of U2’s “Pop” departure, where they experimented a bit with poppiness even though it bored them and disgusted them. Many of those songs were parodies too (Discoteque, especially), and Bono wore his over the top fancy shmancy sunglasses everywhere for a while. It was a fun little break. But thinking back, I remember how people thought U2 was finished and had “sold out” when that album came out, too.
Comment by J — April 20, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
I think Avril doesn’t show the public that she can carry out a conversation. I realize she is here to make MUSIC and be creative with movies (which she sucks at acting), but she should still know how to and be able to do an interview.
Because I get that shes here to sing, but I really do agree with the shell comment. You don’t have to display your personal life onto a platter for the world to see, but show the world that you are not a total moron.
I think that she does lack depth, when presenting herself to the media. And I agree we don’t know what is going on in her personal life, but from interviews and such I’ve seen of her, she seems to have a mental wire disconnected, and it demonstrates stupidity, and makes it hard to take her seriously as a artist.
Comment by X — April 21, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
I thinkshe is really good and ur just jelous cause ur not that good she is the best singer ever
Comment by rachel — April 26, 2007 @ 9:10 am
she is the best singer ever
Comment by sophia — April 26, 2007 @ 9:12 am
wat u all up to
Comment by Rachel — April 26, 2007 @ 9:12 am
why do people say others are jealous because of the opinions?
its there opinion.. you think she is the greatest.. people could think youre jealous cause you like her.
Comment by :D:D — April 26, 2007 @ 11:09 pm
all of the opinions here have been for/ against avril lavigne in some way, and their opinions. who are the bimbos who left the last few comments??
Comment by hello people — June 6, 2007 @ 7:56 pm
Hi, i love avril lavigne and i have for like 6 years.. im only 12.
You should just leave her alone, its not like she has done anything wrong……
She doesnt do drugs or anything and she doesnt hurt anyone. Leave her alone, she is independent and even though she doesnt care what you think or probably dont even read what you say, its still unfair to write things about people. Stay out of her life and everything because even though i dont know you, i know you wouldnt like people constantly saying things about you! Everyone has probably told you this and you dont care but honestly, she might have beeen tired, even though i think she was great, you dontand thats annoying. Maybeyou think she gave a louzy performance because you sont like her music and if thats the case.. NO ONE CARES! So stop saying things!
Comment by Memphys.. Anrilz Biggest Fan — July 14, 2007 @ 8:34 pm
BTW.. she is living her life and maybe you should to! listen to her songs and you will understand her life!
Comment by Memphys.. Avrilz Biggest Fan — July 14, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
Why Do U Keep Buggin Bout Avril, God… Wat Didd She Do 2 U U Don’t Now Wats Going On In Her Life Mabey She Got In A Fight With Her (Dopey) Husband. But The Only thing i don’t like about her is this rumor about her just stoping in the middle of a concert and passing the mic to someone who sounds just like her(the blakc haird girl someone was talking about) and left the place for like an hour, but still, want somone talking bout u???
by the way, sry bout the spelling, im not yoused to english cause im half japanese and started an english school this year…. im only 11 though ($-$)EMO SMILEY!
Comment by SouljaGirlIsI — December 26, 2007 @ 3:37 am
aaaahhhhhhhh, i’m on google!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and you aren’t
Comment by charity — January 27, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
don’t think that avril gives a fark. she just wants to have fun
Comment by james — October 9, 2008 @ 1:20 pm