By Dale Rowse
Outraged fans have started an online petition demanding that pop singer Ashlee Simpson stop recording, touring, modeling and performing.
So far more than 100,000 people have signed the petition, but BYU students don?t think that the petition will change the tune of record producers.
?I think it?s a joke,? said John Stoddard, 22, a sophomore with an open major from Dublin, Ohio. ?It?s not going to do anything. As long as computers can still make her sound good people will buy her records.?
Simpson, whose debut album ?Autobiography? sold over 2.5 million copies in 2004, has been under scrutiny since Oct. 23 of last year when she was caught lip-synching on ?Saturday Night Live.? Fan disapproval culminated when she was booed off the field during the Orange Bowl half-time show.
Matt Howard, 23, a junior from Trumansburg N.Y. majoring in linguistics described the petition as ?ridiculosity.?
?The whole pop industry is just stealing pocket change from children,? Howard said. ?It?s not really music, it?s just entertainment. Pop music in general, unless your talking about oldies, just sucks.?
Aaron Stevenson, 23, a junior studying elementary education from Modesto, Calif. wasn?t sure who Ashlee Simpson is, but he disagrees with the petition.
?I don?t think that?s cool,? Stevenson said. ?I mean, they have the right to express themselves, but I think they?re just a bunch of people trying to have a say in an area they usually don?t.?
Lisa Wolf, 18, a sophomore from Thousand Oaks, Calif. studying political science said the petition is funny.
?I think she?s probably a very nice person,? Wolf said. ?But as an artist, she isn?t one. She can?t sing. I think she?s just milking off of her sister?s fame.?
Jarom Sid, 24, a senior studying German from Modesto, Calif. said he agrees that it?s funny, but he wouldn?t want to be in the middle of it.
?I feel really bad for her because they booed her off the Orange Bowl,? Sid said. ?I don?t think I could ever bring myself to boo someone. It might help her out, though. I think she could use a career change. She isn?t that great of a singer.?
Stoddard said whatever the subject online surveys can?t be trusted or taken seriously.
?On average Mickey Mouse gets about 500 votes in every presidential election,? Stoddard said. ?Superman gets about 200 every election, so theoretically Mickey Mouse could beat superman for president. By the same theory an online petition could actually accomplish something.?
Signatures and comments about the petition and Ashlee Simpson can be read online at petitiononline.com.