Christina Aguilera steals the Grammys and leaves people speechless.
After stumbling vocally at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy bash Saturday night, I was bracing myself from the moment I saw Christina Aguilera make her diva-like entrance to the stage during the Grammy telecast. I knew she was singing the James Brown classic "It's Man's Man's Man's World" from a Gold Derby tip-off, but was afraid it was going to be a strained mess.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Barb J
ASTOUNDING. She STOLE, STOLE, STOLE the show. Period.
27 - grizz
i just can't say enough good things about this girl. for those people who still don't give her the recognition she deserves, i hope that performance changed your mind. her albums are amazing and she is absolutely beautiful. christina you ROCK......
28 - SashaQueen
Christina Aguilera really delivered an exquisite performance that left everyone crying and at the same time in awe! Her voice was spot on as she delivered the goods with her soulful number. She is truly the best singer of our time! My jaw dropped in amazement as she belted everything with so much emotion and soul! She is amazing, amazing, amazing and amazing! Beyond amazing! DIVA ETHEREAL!
29 - Diva Rater
11 out of 10! Out of this world!!!!!!!!! Totally surreal! I mean, I've been dreaming of a legendary Christina performance all my life and she just did it! WOW! I am so speechless, so in awe, everyone watching in our area all stood up and clapped in awe! She was amazing! She had all of the viewers in the grasp of her hands as her voice soared higher than the stratosphere! DIVANESS in all it's glory! The show stopper indeed! A legendary performance! WOWOWOWOWOWWOWOWOW!
30 - MichelleKwan
Totally floored everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! M E S M E R I Z I N G! WOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
ASTONISHING!!!!!!!!
THE GRANDMOTHER OF SOUL! HEHEHEHEEH
31 - angel
I have been watching Christina coming up over the horizon lately, catching an amazing duet with Tony Bennett, and appreciating her Candy Man and Ain't no Other Man, but nothing prepared me for the chills and the tears and the spontaneously jumping off the couch and clapping that sprang from way down deep when I watched and heard her sing It's a Man's World!!! I have been waiting a long time to be moved that way by music! This just changes everything. I am humbled...
32 - drummerboy
wow!! what can u say but wow!! best vocal performance i may have ever seen. i catch myself watching it over and over again...unbelievable!!
33 - Scott E. Bee
I’ve seen my share of music award shows. I really enjoy them as a matter of fact. They are always good for one of two things: An expletive filled acceptance speech by rappers or rockers and the all too rare exceptional live performance. Regarding the latter, that which immediately comes to mind is the American Music Awards when Prince sang Purple Rain. At the time I was not a huge Prince fan, the time immediately following his performance however found me envious of those who were. I’ve enjoyed his performances ever since.
I’ve seen my share of music award shows; I enjoy them. The 49th Annual Grammy Award show was just different. I enjoyed the heck out of it. There seemed to be an air about the performers and the live audience. It was like they were all there to be entertaining and be entertained. I know that sounds odd, but I've gotten the impression over the last few years that some award shows regardless of their genre, exist more as a platform for political statements, outlandish dress and affected performances.
From Beyonce to Rascal Flats, each performance during the 49th kept me entertained. I was very pleased that Mary J and The Dixie Chicks won so many awards. Their performances were great too. . . Speaking of performances, the topic of this round-about rant, let's talk about some of the highlights, or at least those that are burned in my memory. Carrie Underwood could sing the classified and make them sound good and country - she's got some church in her. Mary J owned the stage. She had the perfect combination of genuine emotion and stage presence that makes her so good. Corinne Bailey Rae, John Legend and John Mayer, well this turned out to be one of my favorite performances of the evening. Corinne's voice is sweet and was accentd well by Mayer's deft guitar interjections. Legend's smokey vocals, phraseology and intonation are second to none. Mayer, well, he needed another 4 minutes to take his guitar solo to where it wanted to go - he is fast becoming quite well known for his play - Claptonesque.
Undoubtedly the performance of the evening was offered by Christina Aguilera.
After ascending to the stage, she stole what Mary J had owned earlier. She took four confident steps grabbed the mic like a weapon, and began slaying, "It's Man's . . .World". I'm not a big Aguilera fan but I watch the music award shows and when she performs on them, I have always been surprised at how great she is. She is a truly gifted performer with a very solid voice that she uses in any number of ways crossing from rock, to rap to ballads. There was just something about this performance that elavated it to legendary. The juxapsitions of man and woman, black and white, new and old and life and death tacitly suggested to me something I am ill equipped to articulate at this moment. This was not only the WOW performance of the evening, it has become one of my favorite live TV performances of all time.
Scott E. Bee
34 - lilya
i am a huge huge christina aguilera fan and this song has just proven to all those other crap artist like britney and beyonce that christina is the best artist of all time.justice is done. i love you christina u are the best, that performance made me cry.
35 - Mark
Her brilliant and passionate performance was more moving than any I have ever seen - I am not a big music lover and didn't even know it was "Xtina" - but I knew I had witnessed something extraordinary...
36 - zingzing
ok, someone is feeding a bunch of monkies pep pills. you people sound like zombies. in fact, a lot of you sound like the same exact zombie.
37 - clara
there's no doubt about it. this girl can flat out SING
38 - Irene
Oh my God! This young lady is AMAZING! I could not believe this! She is wonderful, soulful, and in my opinion, sung that song better than the Godfather, himself! Christina, you have truly made a fan out of me! I loved this performance and will definately be buying your music now!
39 - zingzing
give it a rest.
40 - Chris Evans
ZingZing...you're pathetic. Why are you wasting your time here?
41 - zingzing
ahh, the author. i've got no problem with you. don't you notice the similarities between the comments? i mean, the performance was good. it was fine. but the comments are a getting a little strange and obvious. if i were to have a conspiracy theory, i would say that a large amount of these comments are coming from the same i.p. address. shrug. just a theory--but i bet they are.
i only waste my time because they comments show up on the recent comments list... i see the similarity to other comments on the list... it doesn't take much of my time.
42 - VinnieBarb
Aguliera's performance at the Grammy's was nothing short of spectacular. She blew everybody away and made believers out of many skeptics. Spears & Simpson are now dots in Aguliera's rear view mirror. "Pop Princess?" - Not! Christina Aguilera has soul and she prooved it with that incredible performance. The King is smiling...
43 - dee dee
James! Did you hear that? This gurl did you proud! She sang it so beautifully, and I felt you, through her! No one else could have done it better! Ms. Aguilera sang the hell out of that song! I wish you could have been there!
44 - Mark
ZingZing:
I rarely post or even read blog sites, but I was so moved by this performance I felt I needed to find out who the artist was.....this is not the same person who is writing other comments....if you were not moved by her talent and intensity, I would like to know who performed better in your opinion....and maybe you should take some of those "pep pills", so you could stop being so incredibly lame....
45 - efaye
i've always believed in christina's talent and what she can do. and she did it once again. one of the best performance from her.. she's got soul,class and style.. ain't no other christina!
46 - hess
blew everyone's ass out of the water...go and get some girl
47 - elusivetoyou
Christina has the haters itching their wigs and rubbing Pink Oil on their scalps!
48 - zingzing
hey mark, did you see james brown doing "night train?" i thought that was good.
as far as great music goes, you probably aren't going to see much of it on the grammys.
49 - Glen Boyd
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50 - Leonel
I HAVE been a Christina Aguilera fan for a while. Since she started with Genie in a bottle... but
OMG! this performance was the best performance of her entire career. No joke. I mean i always knew she was able to sing and the crazy thing is that she never really sings a high note LIVE! so when i was waiting for the performance i thought.."oh well she's gonna sing Candyman" but who cares, because i'm stille excited. BUT NO!! she came out just by herself NO INTRODUCTION... NO INTRODUCTION that alone tells you.. CHRISTINA IS HERE, JUST LISTEN. You can never go wrong with Christina Aguilera and her microphone. Seriously.. after i saw it, i clapped, laughed, jumped, and called my friend and told him DUDE! THIS IS PROBABLY HER BEST PERFORMANCE EVER.. and to my surprise almost everyone is saying the same thing. It really was. It really was. This is HUGE! This is historic. She deserved every bit of that standing ovation. No one else could have done it, not even Prince [who was in the house]
51 - Luvbell
WOW girl "you nailed it "
the spirit moved in you big time !!!!
soul sister......
Luv
Love
thanks KK for sending this link , not to miss.
52 - Erin
The performance was great, a wonderful tribute to James Brown. I have to say though that I've never seen fans ridiculously overpraise Christina since "Fighter." It's was a great performance no doubt, but come back to reality and put the pipe down. Let's take it down a notch.
53 - Christopher Rose
I'd like to give Christina's performance a massive thumbs up too. If you weren't moved by that you better check you've still got a pulse!
54 - Christopher Rose
zingzing: all the comments are genuine. Getting a bit cynical in your old age?
55 - redawn
one of the best performance ever of ms. christina aguilera.
"WOW"
56 - Mark Saleski
yep, genuine comments for sure. i didn't even think it was unexpected. i saw her on snl singing with Tony Bennett and it was pretty clear that her singing chops are ready to go. that's what made me buy her most recent cd.
57 - brennyn
my girl...she ate up the stagee.she is the epitome of an amazing performer and deserved every award she took home!! her performance not only brought tears to me eyes but inspired me in so many ways....
58 - zingzing
chris, i'm even suspecting your comment. dittoheads.
59 - Mark Saleski
woa...that's definitely the first time i've been called a dittohead.
dat's pretty funny.
60 - Chris Evans
I've already pointed out multiple opinions of the performance from accredited critics that have praised it, and that's only a portion of the rave reviews she got--I didn't post them all in the article.
Why is it so hard to believe that there would just as many normal people who loved it, if not more--especially considering the resurgence in album sales after her performance?
61 - zingzing
it's not hard to believe. it's just that a majority of these people all sound exactly the same. they like her for the same reason. they voice their opinion in the same exact way, like it was the second coming or something.
i'm not bashing christina. i'm just sick of the fact that people are so easily led towards talents that are really nothing special. a lot of people can sing. she can sing pretty damn well, although what she chooses to sing could use a working over. singing james brown is just a momentary abberation, precipitated by his death and the need for the grammys to present some sort of tribute.
the world of music is so large... i bet that a lot of people who purchase her album will not go back and inspect the sources of her inspiration for that album. trust me, the talent she is inspired by far outweighs her own meager gifts.
how many of you went and bought some james brown based on this? how many of you have heard the original version of "it's a man's world?"
christina draws inspiration from a long line of female singers. go back and find some. then move forward, sideways, up, down... the world does not begin or end on the t.v. screen. a surface-level inspection of the world of music will only get you shallow rewards. christina aguilera exists on the very surface of music, the one in magazines, television and shopping malls.
i challenge each one of you christina fans to go out and buy a classic soul album, just to get you started. for god sakes, don't buy a stinking motown album. stax or atlantic. anything recorded and muscle shoals. explore music, dig into it. don't have it beamed into your eyes, playing through shitty t.v. speakers, mixed by t.v. engineers.
62 - Chris Evans
I find it funny that you're bashing Christina's music, when if you've even listened to her Back to Basics CD--it's better than the majority of pop music on the radio at the moment.
Yes, she's not as great as the legends she's inspired by, but who is? She doesn't claim to be, and has said that on multiple occasions.
Your comment sounds very condescending and patronizing. Everyone has different tastes in music, I don't see why you feel the need to put down someone else's just because Christina's music isn't up to par for you.
63 - Julia
I wouldn't go as far as to say that she sang it better than James Brown but she totally and completely out did herself... I think that she has always been mis-understood as an artist, for the simple fact that she is a leader and firmly believes in being herself no matter what. I would really like to hear a duet with JAmes Brown and Cristina on this song now a days in the studio I think someone could do a mixed duet on them but I definetly loved the way she sang I was feeling it and that my dear is the true soul...when the artist gives u sum of what they got. Although I wish they could have done something a bit more special for him the song was outstanding. As for all the people who have to hate on Britney and Beyonce well I just wanna say that it's ok to have luv for all of them it doesn't make u wrong or a trader if u like them all.. Each of these artist have outdone themselves and have out done us in there own unique way I love them all and will continue to be a fan of all their work and music til my dieing day.....!!!
64 - Kiera Jones
Im a 41 year old woman who doubt Christina's talent , Sunday night i was proven wrong.Her emotion and passion singing this song made me watch it over and over again. Christina Aguilera is definitely underrated.
65 - zingzing
"I find it funny that you're bashing Christina's music, when if you've even listened to her Back to Basics CD--it's better than the majority of pop music on the radio at the moment."
i made it perfectly clear that i wasn't bashing her music. it is what it is. but "better than a majority of pop music on the radio at the moment" isn't a compliment to her either. in fact, that's the main problem i am trying to address. stop listening to pop radio. it warps the senses.
every year, a couple of artists make it big in the charts. do you know how many try? thousands. the taste of the american public is fickle, and has never been particularily "good." of those thousands of pop albums that come out every year, 10-20 of them become popular. many more deserve this popularity. the truly talented, the quirky, those that are pushing pop music forward are not recognized next to "safe" artists like christina.
"Yes, she's not as great as the legends she's inspired by, but who is? She doesn't claim to be, and has said that on multiple occasions."
well, why bother then? there is so much great music out there, more than could be listened to in a lifetime, and you want to listen to unoriginal, second-rate music? why?
"Your comment sounds very condescending and patronizing."
oh, i know.
"Everyone has different tastes in music,"
no they don't. that's my point. people skim along the surface, lazily expected great music to come to them. you have to go in search of great music. only listening to pop radio is like only watching blockbuster films. there is a whole other world out there. you might have to read subtitles.
"I don't see why you feel the need to put down someone else's just because Christina's music isn't up to par for you."
because that's what people should do for each other. i'm not putting anyone down. i'm just trying to raise them up. why should people stay the same? go make a change. if all you listen to is commercial pop, go and buy something completely different. get an hour long disc of blaring noise. go get some 1920s recordings of baptist gospel. buy a hardcore punk ablum from 1984. just expand your horizons.
66 - Chris Evans
You're assuming that those who enjoy Christina Aguilera's music don't ALREADY have expanded horizons.
Just because someone listens to Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and Daughtry...doesn't mean that's the ONLY kind of music they have in their collection.
67 - zingzing
"You're assuming that those who enjoy Christina Aguilera's music don't ALREADY have expanded horizons."
not quite assuming. but those are the people i am talking to, yes. you have to realize my intentions here. you keep assuming that i here to bash christina or other people's tastes. nothing could be further from the truth. i think listening to christina represents an opportunity to further one's exploration into music and i have faith in people enough to believe that they can expand their horizons.
"Just because someone listens to Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and Daughtry...doesn't mean that's the ONLY kind of music they have in their collection."
one has to suspect that if you had a wide selection of music to draw from, you wouldn't necesarily have that much time to listen to the stuff that is nailed into your brain by the media.
come on... daughtry? feh. i like justin timberlake. he's entertaining. (but you should listen to michael jackson instead. then move on to prince, then scritti politti.)
are you going to respond to any of my points, or are you just going to point out the fact that i think that some christina aguilera listeners need to listen to more music?
68 - Chris Evans
See that's just the thing. When talking about Justin Timberlake, you mention Michael Jackson and Prince.
YES, I love Michael's music and Prince's as well. And I'm well aware that both his first and second album borrow from those two artists. But what does that have to do with someone enjoying Justin's music?
69 - Robin T.
I don't even understand why zingzing is here?
this article isn't even about christina's music, or anyone else's music for that matter--it's about her performance
if you don't like christina and/or her performance, why are you here?
go find some old music to listen to that you keep raving about
70 - zingzing
"See that's just the thing. When talking about Justin Timberlake, you mention Michael Jackson and Prince.
YES, I love Michael's music and Prince's as well. And I'm well aware that both his first and second album borrow from those two artists. But what does that have to do with someone enjoying Justin's music?"
you're not the person i'm writing this shit for then. if someone is listening to justin timberlake, then they have a couple albums to listen to. 3 hours of music at most. so, they like timberlake. if they are aware of mj and prince's influence upon jt, why not go listen to some of them as well? looky there! 40-50 hours of music is suddenly available. you know as well as i do that some jt listeners don't listen to mj and prince, but i think it would do them a world of good. especially prince. self-contained genius is the way to go.
robyn t.: "I don't even understand why zingzing is here?"
i don't understand what magic brings you here either.
"this article isn't even about christina's music, or anyone else's music for that matter--it's about her performance"
that makes absolutely no sense. what was she performing? hari kari?
"if you don't like christina and/or her performance, why are you here?"
first of all, i came because i wanted to. then because the comments were rather suspicious. now i'm here for the argument. got a problem?
"go find some old music to listen to that you keep raving about"
oh, i am. listening to sam cooke doing "a change is gonna come." tis fantastic. also there's a documentary about the fall that i've been watching off and on. i even listened to a bit of christina just to make sure she had some merit. i've got some unclassifiable australian music (i know! australians? making music... so strange, the world...) made out of thousands of samples of old r&b, golf instructionals, psychiatric tapes, sound affects and 50's television soundtracks...
71 - brady
nice you wrote about christina, but some of your info is worng, or maybe you were missinformed.
your first sentence about how she "stumbled" at the pre grammy bash, you must know she owned the stage at clives party. sista sang her heart out.
and about Back to basics being #400 to #23. she went from #63 to #23. Back to Basics was never around #400. the lowest the new ablum Back to basics ever charted was 66. those are the facts, from a fan that keeps his eye one her success'.
please dont make up stuff.
72 - zingzing
brady, there isn't even a #400 on the charts. it pretty much stops at 200... that should give you a hint about the possible intentions of the sentence.
73 - Chris Evans
Brady, I apologize for the misinformation--I was told B2B was at 394 pre-Grammys.
74 - Chris Evans
And zingzing, there you go again, wasting your time here.
The CHART only goes to 200. But if you go the specific page for a particular album, it tells you where it is on the chart whether it's #1 or #34214231987
75 - zingzing
you mean on amazon? amazon isn't the charts...