Cher Lloyd has defended Lana Del Rey over her universally panned performance on Saturday Night Live last month.

The 'Video Games' singer came under attack from critics and viewers following the show, and was even parodied on a later episode.

Asked for her thoughts by Digital Spy, Cher - who has had to put up with a significant amount of online criticism herself - said: "When you sing live, you cannot expect any artist, except for the amazing Beyonce or GaGa, to get it right every time. If someone asked me to do a gig right now it'd be awful because I'm tired and my voice feels weak.

"There are all sorts of reasons why people don't have a good performance. It's a bit harsh to criticise someone who has worked so hard over one performance. I like her - I think she's great."

She also said that she's already recorded some tracks for her second album, backtracking over her claim last year that she wants a string of No. 1 albums.

"I had a trip to LA not long ago and recorded some new songs. They're very much of the parental guidance sort though! I'm not sure whether they'll be used anywhere, but I'm 18 now, so I can swear in my songs if I want to," she said.

"I'm growing and I want to be that artist that I want. I don't care about the charts, I just want to make great music that I enjoy performing on stage and I'm proud of. The next album is going to be on another level!"