Simpson sisters steal the spotlight

She's a little bit country: Jessica Simpson, soon to star in the “Dukes of Hazard” movie. She's a little bit rock 'n roll: Ashlee Simpson, on tour promoting her first CD. But both sisters are pop music powerhouses, each winning fans by letting them into their homes and into their lives on reality TV shows like Jessica's popular "Newlyweds," that reveal everything including plenty of embarrassing gaffes. But are they really gaffes? Or are at least some of them part of the plan?

She's everybody's favorite bubble-brain, propelled to stardom by a string of highly publicized flubs on national television. Sometimes it feels like the whole country is laughing at her. But wait a minute. Jessica is laughing, too, all the way to the bank. Last year alone she raked in an estimated $35 million. And now she's ready to make herself a movie star.

So maybe America's space cadet sweetheart isn't as dumb as you think. Guided by her father Joe, a Baptist minister turned Hollywood manager, Jessica has found a way to spin her foibles into assets. And so has her little sister Ashlee. Their strategy turns conventional celebrity wisdom on its head, making their private lives very public and plunging in where most pop stars fear to tread.

Could it be a touch of innovation, savvy, dare we say, genius? Of course, they have their detractors. But 24-year-old Jessica and 20-year-old Ashlee have never claimed to be paragons of porcelain perfection.

Hoda Kotb: “When fans look at these two, I don't know that they see picture perfect do they?”

Carson Daly: “No.”

Kotb: “What do they see?”

Daly: “Well they see people that are approachable I think. They don't feel the need to just to touch them. They feel like they know them.”

It's only fitting, really, that Jessica's career didn't go smoothly at the start. Actually, that's kind of a sore subject. In 1994, Jessica lost out on a coveted Mouse Club spot to the likes of Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. Jessica had to settle for a role back home in Texas, her high school production of the Broadway musical Hollywood movie, "A Chorus Line."

Shaw: “I wanted her to play the role of Val, who sings you know the song about plastic surgery. She refused, even though she had the body the looks and the voice she said I just couldn't see myself doing that. it'd be really embarrassed.”

Instead she played Cassie, still a big role, but a little more wholesome.

But Jessica was seeking a bigger stage, and so was her dad, who had dreamed of an acting career himself but chose instead to become a full time youth minister. He says he didn't push Jessica into acting and singing, he just wanted to support her dreams.

MORE FROM NEWSMAKERS

Newsmakers Section Front

NBC's People of the Year: Read the interviews Vote: Who do you think is person of the year? Secrets Of The Lost Symbol Read an excerpt from 'The Lost Symbol' The Michael Jackson Tapes Michael Jackson: ‘I am scared of my father’ Back to Woodstock Kidnapped Heiress: The Patty Hearst Story On tour with Taylor Swift See behind-the-scenes web videos of Taylor Swift Newsmakers Section Front   Add Newsmakers headlines to your news reader: