1999 presented the battle of the new pop starlets Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. Britney seemed to be winning this race and no one expected that Aguilera would be able to catch up. Aguilera was unleashed onto the public with the pop classic Genie In A Bottle and scored herself a number 1 hit. Her follow up singles didn't prove so popular and although she reached the Top 10 with all of them aside from one her debut self-titled album bombed. Few expected Christina to be able to pull this back in the UK. The album sold 10 million in the US and proved to be a huge hit but for some reason never really took off in the UK.
Aguilera took some time out to plot her next move. In the US she released a spanish album Mi Reflejo which was an instant bestseller on the latin charts and a Christmas album My Kind Of Christmas. The Christmas album was a turning point for Aguilera. The set used her bluesy voice to the maximum and she proved what she was really capable of away from the pressure of teen-pop. The next part of Christina's reinvention was to provide vocals on the Moulin Rouge title track Lady Marmalade. The track saw Aguilera's voice power over the other vocalists on the record - Pink, Mya and Lil'Kim - and also revealed a big sidestep from the perfect teen princess image she had dispalyed until that point.
Feeling more empowered and in control Aguilera began to play with her image and experiment with her music for her 2002 album Stripped. Lead single Dirrty was huge and shot straight to number 1 in the UK as did second single Beautiful - a song which has gone on to be Aguilera's signature song. The album has sold well over 1 million copies in the UK and produced three further hit singles - Fighter, Can't Hold Us Down and The Voice Within - all of which shot into the UK Top 10. This reinvention secured Aguilera's position at the top of her game and made Britney's music look childish and immature.
Following the success of Stripped Aguilera embarked on a huge World tour and put on a 2 hour live spectacular. In 2004 Aguilera released two singles; a remake of Car Wash for the Shark Tale soundtrack and the Nelly duet Tilt Ya Head Back. The world waits with baited breath for Aguilera's next album which is rumoured to be inspired by the 50s. Whatever she does Christina is always in the headlines whether it be for her fantastic voice, her bizarre dress sense or her latest publicity stunt. Christina is engaged to record executive Jordan Bratman and the pair are due to get married in the near future. Not bad for an ex-Mickey Mouse Club gal is it?
Visit Christina Aguilera's Official site for more info.