Well at least she didn't do the hoedown...

Allow me to begrudgingly join the legion of bloggers critiquing “pop’s newest pinup,” Lana Del Rey’s every move.

First of all, let me just say that I love Lana Del Rey – not ironically like the way I love Courtney Stodden or Heidi Montag – and I’ve been happily aboard the Lana Del Rey train for some time now.

I was first introduced to Del Rey the same way many others were, through her eerily transfixing and viral video for the slow-burner Video Games. Before hearing her I’d seen her name everywhere from blogs to newspapers to now numerous magazines, and decided I’d give her a listen. Before her first “official” (i.e. not made using old film clips) video had been released she’d already amassed a legion of fans, with her star clearly on the rise.

After signing to Interscope she’s become nearly inescapable, and the topic of much debate, but I’ll spare you the over-told story of her apparent “in-authenticity” and trailer park past. You already know everything you need to know about her, and probably have your own opinion but if you’re still on the fence, her performance on Saturday Night Live last night will probably sway you towards disliking her, unfortunately. 

It was her first American television appearance and poised to be her “big moment,” but the performance last night was… less than enchanting. She wore a floor-length lace dress and looked stunning as usual (although the bra situation was clearly not well thought out) but her vocal performance and general demeanor was completely off-putting. I won’t go into a detailed critique because you can see it for yourself, but I can’t help but feel sorry for the girl…

She was thrust into the spotlight, unprepared but still by her own hand, and has been playing catch up ever since. Lana clearly warrants the buzz she’s been getting and definitely isn’t going to slow down any time soon, but I just wish she would prep herself a bit more.

All the girl needs is a decent vocal teacher who can help her stay in the same key for her live performances, and maybe a media coach (which I’m assuming Interscope would have no problem hiring) who can help her overcome her nerves and show her how to deal with press better. If you’ve seen any interviews she’s done, you can see that she’s always cute and personable but definitely needs a little help coming up with more succinct answers.

If you’re like me and you were refreshing the @lanadelrey search on Twitter last night, you would’ve seen that the 140-character reviews were already flooding in before she even hit her last note – and from all ends of the Twitterverse, everyone from Perez Hilton to Juliette Lewis collectively agreed that it was just plain bad.

But will this cringe-worthy performance put a fork in Lana’s path? Well she probably won’t be getting as many Adele comparisons,  but I definitely don’t think the performance was a “career killer.” She’s already had her share of negative press and if anything it’s only helped build her up, because whether she’s being praised or panned, she’s still being talked about and in this day and age that’s all that matters.

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