Call it a comeback

If you see me around town this week and I seem to be in a particularly good mood, don’t worry. I’m not on anything. My high spirits will be a product of the culmination of an incredible comeback.

That’s right, Ashlee Simpson is back. As you regular readers of my column (editor’s note: he means his parents) likely remember, Ashlee is one of my favorite musicians. Even though I don’t own any of her music. It was her now completed MTV reality show, “The Ashlee Simpson Show,”that made me a fan for life. But after the final episode of the show aired last winter, I’ve basically lost touch with Ashlee. Her name never seemed to come up in the news, which, after the year she had, was probably a good thing.

As I’m sure most of you know, Ashlee had a less than favorable experience on Saturday Night Live last year when a backing track she was using to support her almost completely lost voice played the wrong song. Of course, the sensationalist media unfairly painted Ashlee as a lip syncher. Then, Ashlee was booed during her halftime performance at the Orange Bowl worse than Karl Rove at a CIA picnic.

After two embarrassing instances like that, nobody would be surprised if Ashlee’s career plummeted lower than the cut of her more famous sister Jessica’s shorts in The Dukes of Hazzard movie. But Ashlee is proving them all wrong. Her new album, "I Am Me" (a title so simple, yet so true), hit stores Tuesday, and is sure to be a huge hit. But before that could happen, Ashlee had to return to the scene of last year’s debacle.

Yes, the set of SNL. Most people in their right mind wouldn’t go back to a place with such bad memories. But Ashlee’s not like most people. She summoned all her courage and took the stage, this time with a healthy voice and no need for a backing track. And she belted out “Catch Me When I Fall” off her new album, which, as she briefly explained, was written following her first SNL experience. There probably wasn’t a dry eye in the studio following the performance (I’m not afraid to say I shed a few tears).

Though “The Ashlee Simpson Show” won’t be making a return on MTV, Ashlee made a one-time reappearance on the network recently with a special chronicling her 21st birthday celebration and private performance. Some things have changed, like her hair color, from black back to her natural blonde. I really liked her black hair, but sometimes, you have to return to your true self. I should know, as I dyed my own hair blonde not too long ago, in part to return to my earlier days when I had natural blonde hair (Ashlee and I are keeping it real).

With her album now released, Ashlee’s comeback is one of the most impressive in recent memory. (Maybe second only to Michael Brown, the ousted former director of FEMA. Somehow, after horribly and tragically mismanaging the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, Brown was back being paid by the federal government as a consultant to find out what went wrong with the hurricane response. Seriously, can’t we find a better job for this guy? Since Bush can’t ever really get rid of a crony, and since Brown has a background with horses, can’t he muc kout the stalls at the ranch in Crawford? Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job with that hay.)

In an article in the New York Daily News, Ashlee recognized who stood behind her (me), and who tried unsuccessfully to drive her out of the business. “It’s so weird,” Ashlee recalled. “I have awesome fans, and the people who were not nice to me after that SNL thing were, like, old men. They don’t listen to my music anyway, so it’s like, leave me alone!” I couldn’t have said it better myself. This fan will always have your back, Ash, even if you fall again. Us blondes have to stick together.