I was just looking at YouTube videos of Jessica Simpson performing years ago. Was really surprised, but there were a lot of similarities between her and Britney in her early days...and they both started out around the same time too. The second clip that I've posted below shows off her voice...now she over sings and shouts a lot, but she has got one hell of a powerful range. I think it's unfortunate that the right people didn't get hold of her, reign in her voice, style and promote her properly etc. I think she was in the wrong hands, as her musical direction was changing constantly. I think she could have been a huge popstar, but her career was handled badly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0hFACUerCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGrRTLtChp4

That was the point she was marketed as the all white republican holier than thou britney except her songs were poor as was pretty much everything about.

she was in the wrong hands, unfortunately. tommy mottola had big plans for her and initially launched her as the `new mariah carey`. for whatever reason they took the decision to make more up-tempo songs for the next album and it all fell apart from there. britney had already cornered that market and christina was being hailed as the voice. jessica was inconveniently sandwiched between the two talent wise.

i quite liked irresistible and she could definitely handle the pace. however, when that didn't work, she drifted from genre to genre. the terrible cover versions certainly did nothing for her integrity as an artist. its sad in a way, since a lot of people forget that she was a singer and has a pretty good voice.

she is one of the ultimate comeback kids though, through films, reality tv and now as a fashion mogul. recently she signed a multi million pound deal with weight watchers, which should be a good incentive to lose the baby weight. i for one, would never underestimate jessica.

I really like her music, a lot more than her acting!!

I hope she makes another up to mid tempo album. Have to say though I do prefer Ashlee, her last album was fantastic.

I think she'd be good as an X Factor judge.

After reading the title, I thought this was an ilovezenyatta thread (no offense )

They tried to launch her as the new Mariah? I didn't know that. Don't get me wrong, Jessica can carry a tune and she has a cool voice, but I never regarded her as a powerhouse vocalist But I do agree that she got lost in the background because of the stiff competition...

actually, they were initially compared quite a lot. its also worth noting that she was discovered by mariah`s ex husband, who also discovered mariah. with mariah going down the urban root at that time, jessica was pleased to pick up ballads like `i wanna love you forever`.

I remember that song, it was actually solid. I can see why people would compare now. She sang the kind of material that early 90's Mariah would and looked like 'Heartbreaker' Mariah at the same time Isn't 'IWLYF' her biggest hit, why did they change her direction? Was it because of Christina's 'Stripped'?

it was her biggest hit, although, her biggest album was `in this skin` in 2003. i would guess that columbia tried to steer her more towards britney than christina. it was a commercial disaster though and she went down the reality tv route to bring her back to prominence.

there was loads of speculation about that last year and they could have done a lot worse. whether she will be back in the running now is anyone`s guess.

I really liked her when she first came out, but she was never going to be like Britney.

I seriously had not heard of her until Newlyweds started airing in the UK, I just thought she was some random woman whom MTV decided to build a reality show around. I don't think she was promoted well enough, and after going down the reality show route the chances of her getting taken seriously as an pop artist were pretty slim imo.

it may be because i was young but on TOTP she was introduced as such and such Britney thats why she was signed because Xtina and Britney were ruling except Xtina had cornered the vocals and Britney ruled the pop world maybe plus her songs were well cheese and not good cheese

Sweet Kisses her debut sold 2 million in the US.

Her 2nd album sold 500k but had a huge hit with Iressistable..

The third album, her best album to date "In This Skin" had a rather strange story. Originally debuted at 10 on the billboard charts then went on a free fall. It was Newlweds that saved the album BIG TIME....Eventually selling millions in the US with "With You" becoming a huge radio hit.

"With You" also hit top 10 in the UK.

"These Boots Are Made For Walking" was a top 5 for her in the UK as part of a soundtrack.

Britney has dome SO MUCH BETTER!

i think that was established before i even opened the thread to be fair. the word `could` was big indication on the basis of the thread.

My sincerest apologies! Thankyou for pointing that out. I would NEVER have known otherwise...I guess I have no concept of the word "could"....Hopefully I will grasp the meaning of the word in future

My bad!

I had no intention to offend as I am a big fan of Jessica's....

sorry, it was your use of capitol letters mid sentence that made me wonder if you actually thought this was a comparison of artist by artist. my mistake.

Yes, it was. LOVE Jessica. If the rumours re US X Factor are true. I would be thrilled.

With Xtina Milian on "The Voice" I think this could be success for both talented starlets.

i have no idea if she would get x factor now, maybe last year she stood a chance, but now i am not so sure. nicole `left` and with paula and cheryl getting axed. would jessica really be a suitable step up? i had no idea about christina m, is she a coach on the show?

Despite her not having much commercial success with her music over here, though With You did peak at number 7 in the UK thanks to the Newlyweds hype etc, she really has turned it all around.

Shes in a far better position than her ex, Nick Lachey is currently.. shes become this fashion mogul who no one saw coming and has since found happiness in all facets of her life. which im quite happy about.

When Jessica first came out she was amazing but her voice has gone downhill massively - her cover of Take My Breath Away always reminded me of someone straining...

Christina Milian (not Xtina Milian like someone said earlier) is the Twitter correspondant and she's doing some online promo videos for the show too. She's going to start making appearances when the live shows begin, around late March, I suppose

It was me that said Xtina Milian.

XTINA MILIAN!!!!

She's not Xtina Milian...She's Christina Milian...Anyway, it's not a big deal

Nope... Yet you bought it up

Huge fan of Xtina Milian