Lana Del Rey "Worst SNL Musical Guest Ever"

People sure love to hate Lana Del Rey. After sustaining repeated attacks on her appearance, her questionable past, and her flimsy current identity, the retro-glamour singer and "gangsta Nancy Sinatra" was torn apart once again for her less-than-impressive performance on "Saturday Night Live" this past weekend. NBC news anchor Brian Williams called her "one of the worst [performers] in 'SNL' history," while the episode's host, Daniel Radcliffe, came to her defense. So, did "SNL" producers make a big mistake by booking Del Rey, who has yet to release her major label debut album, for such a high-profile appearance so early--or by booking her at all?

Lana Del Rey's brief career has actually been controversial and troubled from the start. After getting signed to Interscope last October, gracing the covers of magazines like Billboard and Interview Russia, and getting signed to Next Model Management, a backlash among skeptics was inevitable. Bloggers doubted her authenticity, critics' patience for her soon wore razor-thin, and her shoddy "SNL" performance pushed many fence-sitters right back into the haters' camp. It seems that whatever Del Rey manages to accomplish, her online haters are always waiting for her to falter.

Even NBC news anchor and indie music fan Brian Williams--in a private email published without consent on the gossip site Gawker--called Del Rey's performance "one of the worst outings in 'SNL' history." Williams did, however, write that the singer was one of "SNL's" most inexperienced performers, having been booked solely on the strength of a two-song online EP. The episode's host, actor Daniel Radcliffe, came to Del Rey's defense, making the point: "People seemed to turn on her so quickly... making it about things other than the performance... it's all about her past and her family, and stuff that's nobody else's business."...More