Xtina’s 1st Scots gig in 13 years
CHRISTINA VOWS TO BRING BACK STYLE ON SCOTTISH DATE The one-time bad girl of pop tells all as she announces her long-awaited UK tour
CHRISTINA Aguilera announced her first Scottish gig in 13 years yesterday and, yes, the infamous chaps are back. The 38-year-old Genie in a Bottle singer is now a mother of two and has battled weight gain.
But she’s back looking amazing and fans of that cowboy-style outfit that she first wore in the 2002 video for Dirrty will be pleased.
“There is a version in my show,” she said, laughing. “There were a few of them. There were a few different types.” We remember. In the noughties, the music industry pushed Britney Spears as the good girl and Christina as the bad girl.
Her 2002 album Stripped, which launched her Xtina alter-ego, threw out the bubblegum pop of her debut for songs about sex and being strong.
It allowed Britney and other female acts such as Beyonce to be more comfortable expressing themselves.
Artists including Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Sam Smith mention her as an inspiration and influence.
But Christina seemed to lose her way, with her Bionic and Lotus albums being received poorly.
She became a judge on America’s The Voice and took time out to raise her children.
She also made the news because of her weight. When pregnant with her son in 2007, she gained 40lb and struggled to lose it, especially when she separated from her first husband in 2010.
Eventually, using the Fresh Diet Program and yoga, Christina dropped 49lb in 2013 and managed her weight during and after her pregnancy with her daughter.
The Fighter singer loves a challenge and she is relishing a full steam ahead reboot, releasing Liberation, her first album in six years last year.
She also announced a Las Vegas
residency and has now unveiled four UK tour dates, which kick off at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on November 7, with tickets for The X Tour going on sale this Friday.
Christina said: “I do feel like I am a veteran. I have paid my dues, I have definitely grown up in this business.
“I have been working pretty much since I was seven, so with that and being a girl, facing certain double standards and things like that, sometimes you just have to work extra hard.
“I have definitely put in a lot of hard work but I am nowhere near done. I am very excited about the next chapter.”
Much of the last two decades have focused on Christina’s love life. She is engaged to Matthew Rutler, who proposed in 2014 – six months after the birth of their first child, Summer Rain.
A wedding day doesn’t seem to be happening any time soon with news of Las Vegas and now the tour.
Also along for the ride is Summer Rain, now four, with Max, her 11-yearold son with ex-husband Jordan Bratman, dropping in when school allows.
Christina said: “I love having my kids with me but it’s more of a mental strain and pressure, making sure they are OK, content and happy.
“It’s a lot but I don’t like to make it all about me. But my daughter loves the bus. She loves making forts.
“The way the buses are set up, you have the bunks and she totally has her own space with her little twinkle lights. It’s so cute.”
Christina’s first big hit was Reflection from the Disney film Mulan, when she was 17, so she’s happy her daughter’s favourite music comes from animated classics. She’s certainly not ready for her mum’s raunchier tunes.
She said: “At four years old, I am her hero but she’s all for Paw Patrol above anything else.
“She likes her theme songs and her Disney movies, which I’m all good with. My favourite thing to do on a day off is to pop on a Disney movie and colour in in bed. It’s great.
“She likes The Princess and the Frog, Alice In Wonderland and the Jungle Book.”
As for the wedding, she’ll only say “we’re working on it” but after rumours last year that the engagement is off, she said: “I am engaged. I just suck at wearing my ring. I don’t know why I’m so weird.
“Things fly off all of the time so I am like, ‘I am not losing this one.’”
Christina has been famous since 1993, when she joined The All-New Mickey Mouse Club along with Britney, Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling, who would all go on to have adult fame too.
She was 18 when she had a worldwide No1 with Genie in a Bottle. Since then, she’s had two No1 UK albums and four No1 singles in the UK, including Dirrty and Beautiful.
Looking back at her career, did she ever think she’d be where she is today? “Honestly? Yeah!” she said, laughing.
“I couldn’t imagine doing anything but this because it’s honestly what I was born to do on this earth.
“Doing this is in my blood and it’s been in my soul since I was in diapers. It’s all I have ever known. Even now, when I take a break from it, it feels like something is missing. It’s something I need to do.”
She’s also been through the years of CD dominance and is now having to deal with social media and a huge change in how music is delivered.
She said: “There is so much being given to the listener and the audience now. Things are definitely different. You don’t have to wait as long to get albums or info or content. I think that’s a plus and a minus.
“I do miss the days where there was anticipation for a record – although with me, I am holding that anticipation because it takes me a little while.”
On Liberation, she worked with Kanye West on the song Maria. But a duet with Pink, who’d she’d worked with on Lady Marmalade in 2001, didn’t make it. With Pink back too, surely it should be released?
“That’s a good question,” she said. “It’s in my back pocket. I know she mentioned it being a really cool, special song.
“There’s actually another really dope female vocalist on it as well. It’s a timeless classic and it could come out at any time.”
● Christina Aguilera plays The SSE Hydro, Glasgow on November 7. Tickets go on sale at 9am this Friday at LiveNation.co.uk
Doing this has been in my soul since I was in diapers
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