NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. -- Jessica Simpson is to singing what Madonna is to acting.
But despite routinely rough reviews, the thick-skinned 28-year-old Texan beauty has persevered over the course of a half-dozen albums since 1999, where she got lost in the Britney Spears-Christina Aguilera shuffle, and lowered her stock further by making such bad movies as The Dukes of Hazzard, Employee of the Month and Blonde Ambition.
Still, she's remained a tabloid favourite for her sexy pinup image, her questionable intellect regarding food products -- Buffalo wings, Chicken of the Sea anyone, showcased on her former MTV show Newlyweds? -- and her choice in men.
Simpson is currently dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo after her divorce from 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey and has had both real and rumoured hookups with the likes of Dane Cook, Adam Levine and John Mayer, many of whom seem to get majorly dissed on her new country-flavoured disc, Do You Know.
The new record, in stores Sept. 9, also boasts a title track written by Dolly Parton, whose 9-to-5 theme Simpson famously screwed up (even despite cue cards) during Parton's Kennedy Centre Honors ceremony, but the blond bombshell was instantly forgiven by the buxom country singer, who told her to ignore the criticism after the media tore her to shreds.
"In a moment when we think our lives are over, it's just beginning," said the Dallas-raised singer, who came to perform last night during the first of two sold-out shows at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort's Avalon Ballroom, which were among the fastest sell-outs in the history of the venue.
Simpson was reportedly booed at a Wisconsin show in July when she opened for Sara Evans, but there was no heckling last night.
On the contrary.
Her adoring lookalike fans carried heart-shaped placards, repeatedly professed their love for her and even rushed the stage for the last two songs.
But Simpson's actual vocal talent remains a big question mark as she prefers shouting over singing, with her sound guys cranking up the reverb.
In other words, it's a loud performance with very little in the way of subtlety.
Who knows, with a good vocal coach, Simpson might actually sound half decent.
It's really her funny and sweet vulnerability as a person in between songs that makes her watchable, whether she's talking about her weird personal attributes -- apparently she passes a lot of gas and is "a dumbass" -- or the last couple of tough years since her 2005 divorce from Lachey.
After a recorded introduction from her Dukes of Hazzard co-star Willie Nelson, Simpson appeared alongside her nine-piece band to open the hour-and-10-minute show with a cover of These Boots Were Made for Walking, which she recorded for that movie's soundtrack.
There were no cowboy boots for Simpson, though, as she donned a very ladylike strapless black and white gingham dress and black high heels and took the audience through her new music -- mostly overblown up-tempo songs or ballads including a tribute to Romo called You're My Sunday, a major slam against either Lachey or Mayer called Sipping on History, and emotional angry shoutouts to an anonymous abusive lover on Remember That and a control freak on When I Loved You Like That.
She also performed bad covers of Shania Twain's Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under and Dusty Springfield's Son of a Preacher Man and her own older pop song, With You, which goes back to 2003's In This Skin, before ending the show with the strongest song on her new record and the first single, Come On Over, although Man Enough comes a close second.
Simpson is scheduled to perform at the Grand Ole Opry on Sept. 6 and God only knows what Nashville will make of her but you've got to give her props for sheer bravery, if nothing else.
