Frank Ockenfels/FX Is this American Horror Story: Freak Show or Glee? We're not complaining! Sarah Paulson took the Freak Show stage with a cover of Fiona Apple's "Criminal" as conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler.
Before you start griping, we know "Criminal" was released in 1996 and American Horror Story: Freak Show is set in 1952. Last week Jessica Lange sang "Life on Mars?" by David Bowie. The Emmy winner will also take on a Lana Del Ray song in an upcoming episode.
"I really wanted to do an homage to my friend and idol Baz Luhrmann," Ryan Murphy told E! News at the Freak Show premiere, "who does such amazing things with music and period. We didn't want to do Happy Days, we didn't want to do all '50s music. So, what we did was, we decided to do musical numbers when they're needed, not all the time, that feature artists who have identified as odd, different freaks, that felt like outcasts. We did Lana Del Rey, Kurt Cobain, David Bowie. People who I admire who really changed the landscape of music, based on them feeling like outsiders."
American Horror Story is no stranger to musical numbers. In American Horror Story: Asylum, Lange had a big song and dance number with "The Name Game" and in American Horror Story: Coven, Stevie Nicks appeared and sang in two different episodes.
What do you think of her performance? Lange's Elsa Mars doesn't seem too pleased to be upstaged.
American Horror Story: Freak Show airs Wednesdays, 10 p.m. on FX.