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 comments76 - zingzing
ahh, you did say it was such-n-such on amazon. my mistake.
77 - Chris Evans
Here's the exact quote from the article.
"Within hours of the telecast, Aguilera's now Grammy winning album Back to Basics (she won her fourth for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Ain't No Other Man") shot from near #400 all the way to #23 on Amazon.com"
78 - zingzing
but brady said, "the lowest the new ablum Back to basics ever charted was 66."
79 - Chris Evans
Yes, but now I think I've realized that Brady was also referring to the Billboard chart, not the Amazon one.
80 - zingzing
meh. i defend you writing, you bash me. whatever. i'm not here to be liked. one doesn't wander onto a christina aguilera discussion from where i stand expecting to be fully understood. but if just one person here reads this ends up, years from now, listening to some faust or terry riley or nick cave, a.r. kane, staples singers, p.i.l., out hud, etc., anything really that's out there on the cutting edge of music, then i've done some good for this world.
81 - J.J. Hunsecker
talk about a desperate need of attention. I reckon someone's mom didn't hold him enough when he was a kid.
"every year, a couple of artists make it big in the charts. do you know how many try? thousands."
Thanks for the great insight, but we've all heard of American Idol. You should think of changing zingzing to Capt. Obvious.
"you're not the person i'm writing this shit for then."
What an apropos description and in your own words.
"listening to sam cooke doing 'a change is gonna come.'"
Why bother when you should go back and listen to his influences?
82 - zingzing
"talk about a desperate need of attention. I reckon someone's mom didn't hold him enough when he was a kid."
aww... that really hurts. i'm cryin'. the tears are falling off my face.
"Thanks for the great insight, but we've all heard of American Idol. You should think of changing zingzing to Capt. Obvious."
what in the world does american idol have to do with anything? jesus christ, stop watching so much t.v. i was referring to the thousands of pop ALBUMS that come out every year. 99% of music doesn't become popular. why limit yourself to the 1% that does? because you want it easy? you should change your name to ShootsHisMouthOff.
"What an apropos description and in your own words."
yep.
"Why bother when you should go back and listen to his influences?"
i have.
83 - Jennean
The high note was off though...but it didnt matter
84 - Chris Evans
It wasn't a high note, it was a scream.
Watch some of James Brown's old performances, and you'll understand.
85 - Mark
I came back to read the blogs about this spectacular performance - it just seems that some people actually have a hard time admitting or accepting such a stunning display - because it makes us think about ourselves, and what have we done lately??
To "Put the pipe down?..." - sorry the performance made you jealous or insecure!
I am NOT going out to buy Chirstina's CD's, and I never cared enough about her or music in general to bother...all I know is I recorded the scene in HD, and I can"t imagine ever deleting it...
86 - benben
Got news for you jennean. That high note was not off. It was a very clear F. That note was part of the chord the band was playing at the time. Even JB himself rarely did a scream on pitch like that. He was well honored by that performance.
87 - Rose
You are truly blessed with an amazing voice....it was breathtaking, I have never seen anyone sing there heart out with such passion.
Truly amazing.
88 - Claire Carroll
Do your thang...
Ain't no other girl!
It's Christina Aguilera's world and James Brown is sayin' it loud: he's black and he's proud.
89 - Robert Revell
As a lifetime jazz guitarist, in my humble opinion Christina Aguilera is simply the best singer in modern music, and after that performance, has to be the most electrifying also. I would have started a national inquisition had she not received a grammy--hell they should have given her "album of the year " too! I love that woman, Go Christina!!!!!
90 - Brian Bonenfant
I'm going on 60...I've been a music lover all my life. I love pure voices...Celine comes to mind! My favorite genre is the blues. Up until I tuned into the Grammy's the other night I couldn't tell you what Christina looked like or what songs she sang!
After watching her performance It's A Mans Mans World I still didn't know who had delivered it. I went to work just bubbling over about this gal's performance and I'm sure everyone thought I was nuts.
After finding out who blew me away I have purchased 3 of her cd's and tracked down her performance to view over and over. It moved me beyond what I have felt with many many live performances I've seen over many years! Simply stunning...a beautiful performance!!!
91 - brady
just for the record I was reffering to the Amazon chart. the lowes Back to Basics ever went on Amazon was 66.
92 - Ronnie-of-NJ
I'm a 47 year old man. Not a Christina Aguilera fan and never been a James Brown fan, but I gotta say that Christina Aguilera's performance at the Grammys was electrifying and spectacular! Yes, she has a great voice, but she's got heart and soul too. It amazes me that such a powerful voice comes out of that little girl. Christina, You Rock!
93 - just
she killed it. i was actually at the ceremony, and everyone was just astonished. she's major.
94 - Danser
There is no one, ever or now, or probably ever that can touch the talent of that girl. I have never heard a voice like that. She can do anything. She is a whole package. She makes Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears look sick, along with others. None of the talent shown at the grammy's were even close to as dynamic as that performance.
95 - daryl d
I love Christina Aguilera. She does oversing many of her songs, but I think "Beautiful" is one of the greatest performed songs I've ever heard. Christina puts heart and soul into that song and the video is great too. Surprise, I also like "Dirty." It's an addicting song. I'm also feeling her new single "Candy Man."
96 - ilo
nakshoota! ane kagaling i Xtina. pamate ya bosis!
she's really the music "bomb"
there never existed a Xtina-Britney rivalry to begin with.
i don't even have to say that because Xtina's vocal prowess is definitely unmatched. but there, i said it anyway.
97 - trish
man she was excellent and i enjoyed listing 2 hea
98 - trish
i liked hea she was good i kno james brown would hav enjoyed listing 2 her voice. i jus hope she can keep up da good work n keep rising 2 the top.
99 - Nadia
This girl is so incredible i cant begin to put into words how big she iS!!!!!!!!! Christina you are a God Sent, Voice and Drama puts you right next to The Great Celine dion!!!!! You both make music sound like perfection!!
100 - Christopher Rose
Glad you like Christina too, Nadia, but I was gobsmacked to see you compare her to Celine Dion! Are you sure about that?
101 - Chris Evans
I think as a technical singer, Celine beats Christina. But I think the Grammy performance shows, Christina shines when she's not being the classy powerbelting diva that makes sure she hits every single little note perfectly.
Christina also beats Celine in overall artistry, versatility, and stage presence. She's essentially Madonna with better music and a better voice.
Love me some Celine though. Can't wait for her next album!
Btw, she's performing at the Oscars this Sunday.
102 - Christopher Rose
Celine is one of those artists, like Mariah Carey and *whispers* Bruce, that I just don't get. On the other hand, I actually bought Christina's last two albums but doubt I'd buy her earlier stuff.
103 - Teo
I like Christina a lot, but let's be honest here. She's not even in the same class with Celine. Celine is a class of her own, in terms of voice technique, vocal power, the way she can transmit emotion, stage presence and so on. Christina is not even in the same class with Whitney or even Mariah, even though I think Mariah lacks any stage command whatsoever, so I'm reffering more to voice here.
104 - John
Ya, Christina sings really well, but she can't really deliver when singing live. You have to make a difference between singing and screaming. What Christina does is screaming, what Celine does when hitting those amazing notes, is singing.
105 - Chris Evans
As I said, Celine trumps Christina as far as technical singing goes. But imagine Celine singing a song like "Welcome", "Back in the Day", or even "It's A Man's World". She wouldn't be able to handle it.
106 - Christopher Rose
Not only can I not agree with Teo and John, I'm disturbed that two people with such identically dodgy musical taste as to prefer Dion to Christina share the same IP address...
107 - zingzing
"She's essentially Madonna with better music and a better voice."
i won't argue about the "better voice" thing. but better music? maybe these days... i dunno, i haven't listened to any new madonna this decade, but you must not have been around in the 80s. madonna actually has songwriting talent and a lot more. madonna made it possible (on nearly every level) for christina to exist as a musical artist. in fact, christina has so far mocked madonna's career (minus all of the wonderful media fucking) up to this point.
christina just makes it all seem so dull as she does it.
celine dion represents the worst in music: soft, safe and music your mother would like.
108 - Mark Saleski
christina just makes it all seem so dull as she does it.
so you've heard the latest cd? both discs? c'mon fess up.
look, here i am, mr. i love weird jazz hooey, and i've gotta say that her latest is a big ball of fun. and also, she really sounded great both on the grammy's and on snl when she did her duet with Tony Bennett.
109 - Christopher Rose
Madonna and Christina are both great creative artists.
110 - Christopher Rose
Hi Mark, glad to know you're feeling the Christina vibe too. As I'm sure you know already, there's no reason at all not to like great pop AND "weird jazz hooey"! Indeed, I'd say some of the music on "Back To Basics" has a definite jazz flavour about it. It's certainly pop art, just like the best of Madonna.
111 - Mark Saleski
all i know is i saw her on snl backed by that horn section doing "Ain't No Other Man"...and headed to the store the next day.
yea, the stuff on the second disc definitely has a jazzy flair.
112 - zingzing
well. someone has a radio playing somewhere in here and "into the groove" just came on. name one christina song that is that good. come on. i haven't listened to both discs of the latest christina. i admit it. i've listened to some of it, but only out of fairness. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that interesting either. then again, i've been listening to nothing but jandek and keith hudson lately, so it might not appeal to me at the moment, where it might later.
113 - Mark Saleski
hey, now there's a mashup idea: Jandek<->Aquilera
(hmm, wonder if the number of bc'ers owning any Jandek is below 5?)
off the top of my head: "Ain't No Other Man", "Candyman", "Nasty, Naughty Boy"
114 - Chris Evans
""She's essentially Madonna with better music and a better voice."
i won't argue about the "better voice" thing. but better music? maybe these days... i dunno, i haven't listened to any new madonna this decade, but you must not have been around in the 80s. madonna actually has songwriting talent and a lot more. madonna made it possible (on nearly every level) for christina to exist as a musical artist. in fact, christina has so far mocked madonna's career (minus all of the wonderful media fucking) up to this point."
I never said Madonna DIDN'T have songwriting talent, and I'm not trying to put down Madonna in any way. Christina herself has stated Madonna is one of her biggest influences, if it wasn't already apparent enough.
But for me, Madonna's music is very hit or miss. For every album of hers that I've listened to, there's been 2 or 3 GREAT tracks, and then the rest were forgettable.
Now obviously, Christina has only had 3 CDs, the first of which wasn't really "her" music, so it's hard to compare to Madonna's extensive catalogue. But from where I sit, both of Christina's latest CDs have the same number of amazing tracks that Madonna has forgettable ones.
Something tells me this is going to turn into an argument of me not knowing enough about music and your opinion being superior to mine in some way.
115 - zingzing
"Something tells me this is going to turn into an argument of me not knowing enough about music and your opinion being superior to mine in some way."
oh, shut it. you're so negative.
"But for me, Madonna's music is very hit or miss. For every album of hers that I've listened to, there's been 2 or 3 GREAT tracks, and then the rest were forgettable."
madonna's music is hit or miss. her albums are hit or miss. she's put out a couple of classics, like her first album and "like a prayer," but for the most part, she's a singles artist, like any pop artist worth their snuff. pop music is not just about music, as i'm sure you know. madonna is equally impressive for how she manipulated the media and molded pop culture to her liking. if she wore one of her socks high and the other low at a concert in miami, every 12-17 year old girl in the city was doing the same thing later that night and by the next school day, every girl in america was doing the same. madonna had POWER.
christina plays with her image, and while she attaches the same amount of substance to her image that madonna did in her day (ie-not much), madonna created her image and music with confidence, while it seems like christina tries at one thing, and if it fails, tries at another. this latest version of christina may have been a hit, but let's see her do it for a dozen years, without losing half her audience along the way.
116 - Chris Evans
"christina plays with her image, and while she attaches the same amount of substance to her image that madonna did in her day (ie-not much), madonna created her image and music with confidence, while it seems like christina tries at one thing, and if it fails, tries at another. this latest version of christina may have been a hit, but let's see her do it for a dozen years, without losing half her audience along the way."
How and when has she failed? Her previous image sold her 12 million copies of a single album worldwide.
117 - zingzing
would that be her first album? her second garnered her a bit of a negative backlash (not that that never happened to madonna) in the media, the music press and with fans, as stripped only sold about a third of what her debut did.
118 - Chris Evans
No, I'm talking about her second album, Stripped.
There are discrepancies between different sources as to how many copies it sold, but they range from 10 million to 12 million worldwide.
And even if it were the former, that is hardly ONE THIRD of her debut's sales.
Additionally, if the 10 million figure is correct, taking into account the teen pop explosion of the 90s, as well as the burst of illegal downloading, in no way could you call that a failure.
I'm not sure why you seem so fixated on this article, when you're not even that familiar with Christina's music.
119 - zingzing
"I'm not sure why you seem so fixated on this article, when you're not even that familiar with Christina's music."
jesus christ. i made a comment, it went on from there. happy? that okay with you?
the sales figures i saw said that her first album sold 9 million in the united states, and her second sold 3. i'm not sure if that is correct, but her image changed from a saucy teenager (debut) to a sexpot (stripped) to something more mature (back to basics). obviously, if the sales figures are even close to correct, the second album was a bit of a misstep. her first image was totally manufactured for her, while her second showed a bit of insolence on her part (which i commend her for), and the third image was probably a bit of damage control from the second, which, while it worked, can be seen as a bit of a retreat. maybe i'm being overly-critical, and i'm sure i am, but she obviously doesn't have the same grasp on her image that madonna showed.
of course, madonna was something special, while christina is a bit of a modanna wannabe... which doesn't make her unusual at all.
120 - Chris Evans
You're not making any sense. I just told you the figures for her second album, which are almost identical to that of her previous album. Not only did it sell better Worldwide, but it gained her credibility because of the quality of the disc.
How exactly is she retreating? Because she changed her image? Did Madonna not in fact do the same exact thing?
I think you need to go back to your soul records and condescening music posts because you're criticizing an artist who you have limited knowledge of.
121 - zingzing
hmm. getting a banned word. which is it mr. rose?
122 - zingzing
i don't believe your sales figures any more than i believe the other ones i have seen, which suggested that she suffered a significant (-66%) backlash on her sales in america. also, i remember the album getting HORRIBLE reviews. (look at metacritic. it won't let me link to it... but you can see that a majority of the reviews are terrible.)
madonna never seemed to retreat. she changed her image as she saw fit, continuously pissing off bigger and bigger targets, until she had the FUCKING POPE and catholic church breathing down her neck. that's utterly amazing. you think the POPE gives two shits about christina?
"I think you need to go back to your soul records and condescening music posts because you're criticizing an artist who you have limited knowledge of."
maybe i will. you go back to your teen pop and american idol shit. i never claimed any large amount of knowledge of christina's comings and goings, just her image and the music (most of the singles, some of the albums) i have heard.
123 - Mark Saleski
...while christina is a bit of a modanna wannabe
don't agree. Aquilera has waaay more in the way of vocal chops than Madonna does. (and i like Madonna)
124 - zingzing
madonna doesn't have the greatest voice. that's true, and christina's voice is technically superior. (i'm no big fan of technical anything, however... it's a bit of a useless point, really.) but you have to look at any post-madonna female solo artist, especially the teenie boppers, and wonder. with christina's censor-baiting and swift image changing, she's definitely in the madonna mold.
125 - Mark Saleski
i agree with the sensor-baiting stuff (especially looking back at things like the "Dirty" video), but there has been something of a maturing process that is pretty evident on the latest record.
i mean, 3 or 4 years ago it would have been unthinkable that she could have been on the same stage as Tony Bennett and not embarrassed herself.