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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Christina Aguilera

  • Dearest Miss Aguilera: Hypocrisy Much?

    From Blender Magazine’s December 2003 issue:

    “The VMAs were so…so vanilla. So safe, so predictable, no edge. Apart from Madonna, Mary J. Blige and myself, I cannot think of another female performer who had her mic switched on. That is very disappointing to me…”

    “I’d much rather just wash my hands of the whole nonsense, actually. These people aren’t artists, they’re just performers-fake and superficial, like the entire event. I’m very disappointed with MTV…”

    Fast-forward five years. Ohhh how things have changed.

  • New Music: Christina Aguilera’s “Keeps Gettin’ Better”

    Christina Aguilera. Photo by John Yale.
    Christina Aguilera. Photo by John Yale.

    It’s been said a million times, but out of the whole influx of teenage girl singers that arrived on the scene, Christina Aguilera was obviously the one blessed with the talent. Her albums haven’t always been easy listens, but there have been some great spots within them. Her work with DJ Premier on 2006’s “Back to Basics” was excellent,and it seemed that those great pipes would work fantastically with hip-hop production.

    Maybe I should cut her some slack because of the whole new mommy thing, but I was a little distressed by what I saw on the VMAs from her last night. Not only did her outfit look like it belonged on the set of Janet Jackson’s lame-ass “Feedback” video, but the song she performed sounded like a Britney castoff with better (OK, much better) vocals…which weren’t live, by the way. I decided to check out the studio version of the song (which will be on Xtina’s upcoming Greatest Hits album…apparently only available at Target and Target.com…way to piss retail off Christina), and…well, it’s not as bad as I thought it was the first time. It’s a bouncy, electro-influenced tune, way different from anything she’s released prior, and fits right in with what’s going on at radio these days. Maybe the not-explosive sales of “Back to Basics” (about 1.6 mil, which is not too shabby) scared Christina and her people enough that they played it safe this time around? Either way, if we’re going to get “commercial and radio friendly”, at least the girl can sing, right?

    I love the chorus…”sometimes I’m a super bitch!!”…at least she gets it, right?

  • MHW Liveblogs The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards: This Could Be Interesting…

    Tonight marks the 25th anniversary of the MTV Video Music Awards. If you’re like the majority of people, this event doesn’t excite you. The show has taken such a dive in quality over the past decade or so that I actually skipped last year’s ceremony-and I’m a music awards show junkie. I almost skipped tonight’s show as well, but since my plans for the evening fell through, I’m hanging out here with you, live, as the magic, the drama, and/or the disaster unfolds.

    *I have already noticed one good thing-this year’s show is only two hours long (I wrote two years originally…Freudian slip?). It’s the perfect amount of time for me to get annoyed without feeling like I want to kick a hole in the TV.

    *I’ve actually already noticed another thing: this Russell Brand or Bland or whatever his name is? Douchebag.

    *I’ve only caught about 15 minutes of the pre-show. The hosts are a bunch of no-name guys, the pretty blank space country singer Taylor Swift, some obnoxious Brit (this seems like a running gag tonight), Sway’s sellout ass and John Norris, who is older than all the other co-hosts combined.

    *Britney is opening tonight. You’ve gotta figure anything would be better than that performance of “Gimme More”, right?

    *Sorry. I want to marry Jonah Hill. There, I said it. If Jonah Hill has a gay twin brother, please call or email me.

    (more…)