Lana Del Rey tanks on Saturday Night Live

Grace Stanisci

In less than five minutes, American singer/songwriter Lana Del Rey forfeited any credibility she had as a live artist after her Saturday Night Live performance completely bombed. The popular sketch comedy show is notorious for bringing both mainstream and indie music to the forefront, but this time it was an error in judgment that pushed Del Rey into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The husky-voiced newcomer was pleased to perform on the show, telling MTV News, "I definitely think it's an honor. ... I don't think they've ever had anyone [perform] who didn't even have a record out, so I do appreciate it." Actually, two female musicians have graced the SNL stage before their albums debuted: Natalie Imbruglia in 1998 and Jessie J. in 2011. Both performances were inspired and launched their careers from obscurity to eminence in North America overnight. Del Rey is now eminent as well, but not in a good way.

Her first song "Video Games," the debut single that currently has almost 20 million views on YouTube, was delivered in a shaky, nervous voice and accompanied by strangled dance moves. Next up, "Blue Jeans," which was more up beat, still housed the same nerves and vocals ahead of tempo. As soon as she began to sing, the Twitterverse was buzzing with backlash. Even actress/musician Juliette Lewis tweeted, "Wow watching this 'singer' on SNL is like watching a 12 yearold [sic] in their bedroom when theyre [sic] pretending to sing and perform #signofourtimes." This tweet has since been removed and replaced with, "I woke up singing a @LanaDelRey song! Such great haunting melodies! Regardless of my own taste LIVE she's a #FreshandYummy songwriter.Period." I wonder, what initiated her change of heart?

Del Ray told MTV: "You just think to yourself, 'Don't f--- up.' And that's it. That's all you ever think with live television." At least her mess up seems to be based on nerves and not a "computer-glitch" like Ashlee Simpson back in 2004. And, if Simpson can come back from her mistake, so can Del Rey. In February, she has appearances scheduled on the Late Show with David Letterman and The Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote her debut album, "Born To Die." Hopefully by then she can pull it together and avoid a repeat catastrophe.

Lana Del Rey - Video Games (Live on SNL)

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