Camila Cabello appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Wednesday to perform her hit single “Never Be the Same.” Cabello’s characteristically sexy performance included an electric guitar, which she started strumming just as the song’s chorus began. There is, however, one small issue: you can’t hear the guitar at all in the performance.
The lack of guitar sounds immediately prompted some Twitter users to question the addition of the guitar as a prop to begin with. Jennifer Still was one of the most prominent critics of the performance, who noted the lack of guitar sound but went one step further and questioned Cabello’s ability to even play the guitar.
I'm trying really hard to figure out why Camila Cabello, who clearly does not play the guitar, is using one as a stage prop to wave her hand wildly in front of in some facsimile of "playing" it, for every performance of "Never Be the Same" I've seen lately.
— Jennifer Still (@jenniferlstill) March 21, 2018
Her tweet immediately angered Cabello fans, who flooded her mentions with videos that prove that Cabello can not just play, but she can play well. The response was swift and heavy-handed, but Still followed up with a few qualifications to her original tweet. Still learned that Cabello can indeed play the guitar, but still had an issue with the pop star’s specific Ellen performance, which admittedly doesn’t have a prominent guitar sound. Still thought that was “kinda worse” than faking being able to play the guitar to begin with. Still also added that she is a fan of Cabello’s music, and was simply critiquing this particular performance.
A correction to my earlier Camila Cabello tweet: she apparently *does* play the guitar, but someone still thought it was a great idea to not have her play it, but instead make her hold it & half-assedly pretend to "play" it by waving her arm wildly in front of it. Kinda worse??
— Jennifer Still (@jenniferlstill) March 21, 2018
I should mention for the Camila Cabello stans that I love me some CC songs (Crying in the Club was my shit when it came out), I just wasn't impressed with this performance choice. NOT THAT I SHOULD HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF TO RANDOM TWITTER PEOPLE!!!
— Jennifer Still (@jenniferlstill) March 21, 2018
That wasn’t enough for Cabello’s people to let up. The resulting tweetstorm from the former Fifth Harmony singer’s devotees is a lesson in just how devoted fans can be on social media, what with their encyclopedic memories of past performances and their unrelenting arguments.
“Never Be the Same” is the second single from Cabello’s debut album as a solo artist after leaving her girl group in late 2016. Interestingly, the four remaining artists in Fifth Harmony announced on Monday that they were going on hiatus to each pursue solo careers.
