Apparently, for the 70,000-plus fans at Miami's Orange Bowl, a lip-synching Ashlee Simpson would've been preferable to the real, live thing.

The dark-haired chanteuse was sacked with a chorus of boos when her voice devolved into a quaky howl while singing her latest single ''La La'' during the game's halftime show, which was watched by some 22 million viewers on ABC. The vocal snag occurred as she delivered the line: ''You make me want to scream.''

Last October, Simpson was busted for using a vocal track during a Saturday Night Live appearance — a performance she cut short by performing an awkward jig and fleeing the stage. She first blamed the debacle on her band, then later on acid reflux disease.

Still, the younger sister of singer Jessica Simpson recently rebounded by co-hosting ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, which beat NBC's competing New Year's Eve With Carson Daly by more than 3 million viewers.

The second season of Simpson's MTV reality show premieres Jan. 26, and she kicks off a tour in support of her CD Autobiography on February 18 in Los Angeles.