What good are parents if they can't make up stories as to why you had to have a backing track while singing? In the aggressive counterspin in the SNL wake, minister-turned-manager/stage dad Joe Simpson told Ryan Seacrest that the acid reflux made her voice "hoarse" and "Just like any artist in America, she has a backing track that she pushes so you don't have to hear her croak through a song on national television. No one wants to hear that." Brillaint. For this moment on, Gothamist will use acid reflux as our Get-out-of-jail-card. "I can't see you anymore - the acid reflux is too much." "The TPS cover sheet is missing because the acid reflux struck." "Our crappy post with broken links and typos? It's that acid reflux again!" Anyway, last night, Ashlee performed at the Radio Music Awards and shouted her way through Autobiography (the song that was supposed to debut on SNL), trying to make light of the situation by joking that her band had started the wrong song. Then this morning, Ashlee interviewed by Katie Couric (this was Katie's biggest get of the week, even bigger than the 2-part interview since Diane Sawyer landed that Bill Clinton exclusive), and Ashlee emphasized that lots of singers use backing tracks. The Daily News has an article on the phenomenon of singers who clearly can't sing while doing their dance routines, which makes Gothamist wonder when did we, the American public, ask for singer-dancers - give us good ol' singers - that's why millions are watching American Idol.

Boycott RIAA has a NY Times article about Joe Simpson's master plan. And maybe Defamer is right - maybe we should be working on a telethon for Ashlee. Acid reflux is serious.