Genie Out Of The Bottle

Background:

With a four-octave voice range, Christina Aguilera is a talented entertainer and a star musician. She has topped the charts with pop hits like "Genie in a Bottle." Her music is influenced by R&B and gospel and could be compared to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, who are among her favorite artists. Christina is fully established in the entertainment industry and with all of her albums, hit singles and many awards; she deserved to become a teenage diva.

"It's been quite a roller-coaster ride but I think I've grown and learned a lot about myself. In this business, it's often all about hype, record sales, and parties, and it can be easy to get lost in
believing in all that. But I try to monitor myself on a regular basis. The greatest thing is being able to touch peoples' lives. I know that's a greater accomplishment than selling records. I simply love what I'm doing everyday." Christina Aguilera

In 2002, Christina revealed a controversial sexually charged image on her album Stripped. On the cover she posed topless and then posed naked in a fall issue of Rolling Stone.

"Whatever I do, it's my business. It's not my job to parent America." Christina Aguilera

As for her love life, Christina has been reported to have been involved with Enrique Iglesias, Fred Durst, MTV's Carson Dally, Jorge Santos (one of her tour dancers), and Justin Timberlake.

A Newborn Diva

Childhood and Family:

Born on December 18th, 1980, in Staten Island, New York, to an Ecuadorian father, Jim, and an Irish mother, Shelly, Christina Maria Aguilera relocated many times as a young child due to the fact her father was in the military. Her mother was a professional violinist/pianist. When Christina was just 6 her parents separated. She moved to Wexford, Pennsylvania with her mother and sister.

Christina always knew that she wanted to be a performer and perhaps inherited some of her mother's talent. Christina is very close to her mother and at one time put her career on hold to care for her mother while she was ill. 

Although as a child Christina was not allowed to get her ears pierced, she now has 11 piercings on her body. She confided, "If I was having a bad day, or if something was really getting me down, boy troubles, whatever, I wanted to go out and get a new piercing. It was definitely a release for me. Something that made me feel a little more strong or empowered because it was something that had to do with me and no one else."

Mickey Mouse to Dirrty's Shock

Career:

Christina Aguilera began her career as a singer at the tender age of six performing in her school's talent show. Possessing an expressive voice, Christina participated on a Star Search stage at eight years of age and performed on national television. At age 10 Christina performed the National Anthem for a Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins game.

By twelve years old Christina was appearing on the popular variety show "The Mickey Mouse Club." After two years on the show Christina traveled to Japan in 1998, to pursue her singing career and recorded a duet with Japanese star Keizo Nakanishi. Following her success in Japan, her name was placed on the play list for the Golden Stag Festival in Transylvania, Romania. Other greats included Sheryl Crow and Diana Ross.

Her first recognition was actually gained when she sent a home-recorded demo tape of her voice singing karaoke to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Run To You" to the producers of Disney animated features. The studio executives knew that they had found the voice to sing the song "Reflection" for Mulan. After the studio recording of "Reflection" Christina signed a major label record contract with RCA. The song "Reflection" became a hit and a nominee for the Golden Globe as The Best Original Song for a Motion Picture.

Christina's first hit single "Genie In A Bottle" strengthened her breakthrough. The single topped the charts for five straight weeks and her debut album, Christina Aguilera, sold over 250,000 copies the first week after its release. The Album spawned such hits as the dance-pop tune "What a Girl Wants" and the ballad "I Turn to You." The album offered diversity in musical style, starting from dance, pop and gospel, to soul and R&B.

In 2000, Christina released Mi Reflejo, a Latin album in honor to her Ecuadorian roots. The album received warm reviews. She appeared on several covers of magazines such as Seventeen, Rolling Stone and Vibe and in October of the same year, Christina released another album that she referred to as "an all-around feel-good album" called My Kind of Christmas. Also that same year, Christina performed a duet, "The Christmas Song," with the great B.B. King for Bill Clinton on the TV special, Christmas at the White House, performed at MTV's New Year's Eve broadcast at Times Square, a duet at the Super Bowl Half Time Show with Enrique Iglesias, and was the only female guest on the VH1's Men Strike Back special. Christina also appeared in collaborations with other divas such as Pink, Mya and Lyl Kim in the remake of "Lady Marmalade" (from the soundtrack of Moulin Rouge), and in the All-Star Tribute remakes of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" with other stars like Bono and Nelly Furtado. Her next album, Just Be Free, featured some songs that were actually recorded long before the release of her debut album.

After a two-year pause due to personal conflicts, Christina released "Stripped." The lead single, "Dirrty," rocketed and reached worldwide hit charts. The track, combining killer hip-hop and R&B, topped the charts in the UK. Unfortunately, the single only reached #48 in the national Billboard chart.

Having at least four hit singles, a multi-platinum album, a Grammy, and fans from the teen market through out the world; Christina's career possibilities seem to be endless.

"I want to be an all-round entertainer. I want to act, make films, make albums, do whatever I can." Christina Aguilera.

Awards:

• Grammy: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, ''Beautiful'', 2004
• MTV Europe Awards: Best Female Artist, 2003
• GLAAD Media Awards: Special Recognition, 2003
• MTV Video Music Awards: Best Video Of The Year for Lady Marmalade with her co-performers, 2001
• MTV Video Music Awards: Best Song From A Movie Soundtrack for Lady Marmalade with her co-performers, 2001
• Grammy: Best Female Pop Vocal Album for 'Mi Reflejo', 2001
• Blockbuster Awards: Favorite Female Artist of the Year and Favorite Latin Album of the Year, 2001
• Blockbuster Awards: Favorite New Female Artist and Favorite Single for 'Genie In A Bottle', 2000
• World Music Awards: World's Best Selling Latin Female Artist, 2001
• ALMA Awards: Outstanding Song in a Motion Picture Soundtrack for Lady Marmalade in MOULIN ROUGE! 2001
• ALMA Awards: Special Achievement Award, New Entertainer of the Year, 2000
• Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, 2000
• Young Star Awards: Starlight Award, 2000