On January 14, 2012 25-year old Lana Del Rey, received a warm welcome from the audience after performing two of her songs, "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans" off of album, Born To Die, but was given harsh criticism by reviews and the general public. Her voice was off-pitch and critics ridiculed her for sounding childish and even, "tone-deaf." NBC Nightly News anchors, Brian Williams, called the performance "one of the worst outings in SNL history." On February 4, 2012, SNL star Kristen Wig, alongside Seth Meyers, parodied the musician, mocking her fluctuating voice and stiff movements, as well as her full lips and tendency to stroke her hair. Even I, a huge LDR supporter today, was not a fan of the singer and guitarist after her SNL performance, but I decided I would give her a second chance. It was, in fact, I wonderful decision.
Lana Del Rey's song, "Video Games" was released in October 2011 but was first featured on the CW's hit show, "The Ringer" on September 27, 2011. Her second single, also named "Born to Die" was released on December 14, 2011. Lana Del Rey released her album, Born To Die, on January 27, 2012. I purchased it right away and spent the afternoon listening and re-listening to the 14 songs, most of which are love ballads and based on LDR's personal experiences.
My favorite, "This Is What Makes Us Girls", is about a girl and her friends who acted out in high school and fell in love too easily. It parallels the lives of many teenage girls who can relate with the lyrics such as "We all look for Heaven and we put our love first." Most teenage girls seek "Heaven" or "paradise" or perfection. Most teenage girls believe in fairy tale love and often get their heart broken by their first boyfriend or first true love. Similarly to "This Is What Makes Us Girls," "Dark Paradise" is also about a first true love. LDR croons "All my friends tell me I should move on" about her first real boyfriend who has moved on from her.
Lana del Rey is starting to really rise in popularity after her SNL performance. Her name, incorrectly spelled "Lana Del Ray" was a trending topic on twitter for about 3 hours on Wednesday night. Although she really has proved herself since her nervous "mess-up," LDR still has some avid critics, who still focus on this one bad performance. Luckily, Lana del Rey performed fabulously on Letterman on February 2, 2012 and redeemed herself. She received massive applause from the studio audience, as well as much praise from David Letterman himself. This performance was millions of times better than her SNL performance and it really gave me a new outlook on her talent. She really deserved this second chance and it really worked out well for her. I have a feeling that LDR will be rising to stardom faster than she thinks.
LDR is touring Australia, Japan, and the UK this spring and many of these concerts have sold out. Rumors have arised of her touring the east coast of the United States this summer, and there is a possibility of her coming to Merriweather Pavilion along with Foster the People. If this rumor is true, hopefully I will be attending :)
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