CHRISTINA AGUILERA: LEGEND OR LONESOME?

1997: A year the Spice Girls dominated charts worldwide, spreading their message of ‘Girl Power’.

The year that Labour took office with Tony Blair as the mascot to a ‘change’ after over a decade of Tory triumphs.

The year that digital entertainment was introduced to the world.

The year when internet broadband went into beta-testing.

A year when a 15-year-old girl having left the confines of the Mickey Mouse Club had ventured out to secure herself a recording contract. To secure her dream.

This girl arrives with Steve Kurtz, her manager to the venues housing Mercury Records, Jive/Zomba Records, Sony Worldwide, Interscope & many more.

She gets rejected over & over again, until it becomes the standard conclusion of her showcase.

The executives claim that they have too many that sound like her. Too many that look like her. She’s just another wannabe with no real potential of longevity to survive the ruthless multi-billion dollar industry that conceived & birthed the likes of the late Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beatles, & of course the current successes of the time, the Backstreet Boys.

The 15-year-old girl was expected to absorb the rejection & head back to her hometown of Pittsburg.

An executive asks the 15-year-old what her name is so that he can sign her out of the building, whilst commiserating about the unsuccessful showcase she just delivered.

Through the skin of a 15-year-old & the eyes of a woman she replies: “Christina Aguilera”.

Those that didn’t ‘get it’ made a big mistake.

However Ron Fair understood exactly. A&R guy to RCA Records, Aguilera signed with them in late 1997 & began a collective during 1998.
It was also the year that a fellow mousketeer had signed her privacy away for the chance to turn her name into an empire. Another 15-year-old; Britney Spears.

Jive Records were keen to capitalise on their potential protege so Spears was flown to Sweden to team up with Max Martin to write & produce her debut album.

Spears made her debut during 1998 with her lead single “Baby One More Time…” She quickly played the pied piper to the mass teenage audience, exhausted & bored with the mid-nineties grunge rock scene.

Aguilera meanwhile had almost completed her own album to launch her into the A-list stratosphere, & whilst had observed the Spear-mania achieve global-status was unaffected.

RCA didn’t share the same nonchalence Aguilera so calmly wore.

“What A Girl Wants” was to be Aguilera’s 1999 debut single, but Ron Fair wasn’t certain. Aguilera’s intention had been throughout to showcase her extensive vocal range & had began the journey to record material to achieve just that.

The arrival of Spears had changed the game however, & hence RCA made a final attempt to find ‘the’ song.

David Kipner, Pam Sheyne & David Frank had meanwhile been shopping their demo to various labels. Whilst most labels rejected their song “If You Wanna Be With Me”, Ron Fair once again – just ‘got it’.

Convincing Aguilera this was to be the lead song, reluctantly she went back behind the mike to record the newly titled “Genie In A Bottle”.

It wasn’t what she wanted. This wasn’t going to work. She had previously recorded the soundtrack to the Disney film “Mulan”, which hadn’t been as successful as hoped. Was “Genie In A Bottle” really going to make Aguilera’s dreams come true?

Aguilera debut at number 1 with ‘Genie In A Bottle’ in 23 countries whilst making the top 5 in every country it was released in.

It became the highest played song on digital radio in history. Aguilera still holds that record. Billboard 100 also saw Aguilera’s debut album reach number 1, which went onto sell over 17 million copies worldwide.

The rivalry between Spears & Aguilera concocted by the media was a blessing in driving the corporate brand that Aguilera was becoming.

The dream Aguilera had wanted to materialise had truly become a tale musicians would reference time & time again. She had made it.

Aguilera however didn’t think so. This wasn’t her dream. This was the nightmare she had been warned about.

Styled on the likes of Spears, singing songs about teenage love & heartbreak alongside wearing outfits calculating how much skin Aguilera showed was all that was ideal. All that was American. All that was preferrable. All that Aguilera wasn’t.

Aguilera decided to take a 3 year hiatus allowing Spears to take centre stage of the circus that had began at their debuts.

2002 was mark two for Aguilera.

‘Dirrty’ was bankrolled by the RCA executives onto screens worldwide. The message was of shock, horror, disgust, even disappointment but was that the intention?

Aguilera saw the harsh reality of the double-standards of the music industry & retaliated in the best way she knew. “Stripped” was released in October 2002 & with hits like ‘Beautiful’, ‘Fighter’ & of course ‘Dirrty’ it went onto sell a staggering 21 million copies worldwide parrelling that to a sold-out world tour.

Aguilera was back & had taken the throne. Having fired her manager Steve Kurtz, Aguilera was no longer concerned with image, sales & the niche market that had propelled her to super-stardom.

Aguilera was carving out her legacy, one song at a time. No-one would be left without an opinion of her: good or bad.

After her wedding to Jordan Bratman, Aguilera was ready to make mark three.

“Back To Basics” saw Aguilera transition from a hyper-sexualised domantrix to the glamourous Hollywood Queens of the yester-years.

The double-disc album sold over 15 million copies worldwide & again spawned a sold-out world tour.

Spears meanwhile had been married & divorced twice. Lost custody of her children, been admitted into psychiatric care & seen her twice enter rehab.

The comparisons have all of course stopped. Aguilera is now the true heir to the throne Madonna struggles to relinquish, but Aguilera has to be compared to someone. Has to be measured. Has to be understood. Who or what would be used as the barometer?

Lady Gaga; the new contender for a place in the Music Hall of Fame.

Gaga makes no trajectory in allowing the masses to warm to her. She takes over from where Aguilera left off after “Stripped” in 2002.

Columnists & reporters challenge Aguilera again for the duel that once made her into the shrewd business woman she is. How would she fair in being compared once again to another female?

Calmly Aguilera ignites herself ready for mark four.

“Bionic” is released during June 2010 & sees her debutting again at number one. The super sexed up single ‘Not Myself Tonight’ achieves mass radio-play & invites the critics to trash her.

Comparisons begin immediatley with Lady Gaga to Madonna to Janet Jackson. Aguilera remains defiant, calm & oddly coy.

Aguilera never revisits an area already covered so why has she returned to empower & symbolise female sexuality when that’s what she did with “Stripped”?

Aguilera has learnt that what began in the late 1960′s has truly reached it’s exhausted, battered end. The Sexual Revolution is dying. Nothing is left to shock.

Just like Lady Gaga, infamous for her minimal expressions & sexless appeal, Aguilera has decided to bid homage to an era that set her apart. An era that no longer holds the same tenacity it once did. An era that was promoted & reigned by Madonna.

Fans & critics alike agree that Aguilera truly has her place in history, & whereas she may not represent the all-american girl next door, she represents women. Real women. No drama, no fuss, no agenda, it’s simply Christina Aguilera.

Aguilera has certainly reached her tenure as a musical icon & has earned her badges to dictate her artistry & discography, but is the world ready for a woman who defies female boundaries?

Spears may be the favoured personality of the global audience, but Aguilera is the strongest contender for the status of legend.

Funny how the same was said about Billie Holiday & Janis Joplin, yet decades after their departure, it’s them whom we remember.

Legend or Lonesome? i know my answer. I think just like Ron Fair – i just ‘get it’…

Source: JatOnline (Twitter) & Blog (Blog)