The Queen of Teen Pop Christina Aguilera Delivers Pitch-Perfect Performance on Final Night of Expo 2020 Dubai
DUBAI, 30 March 2022 Speaking ahead of her performance on 31 March to bring the curtain down on Expo 2020 Dubai, Christina Aguilera promised her show would include her classic hits, with some new favourites thrown in too. With 2022 already in full swing, the Grammy-winning pop star hints that it’s going to be a big year for her, with the closing of Expo 2020 Dubai one of the many exciting things she has in store — including the hotly-anticipated release of the next two albums from her trilogy.
Aguilera rose to stardom with her eponymous debut album, for which she is credited for influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in television programs, Aguilera signed with RCA Records in 1998. Her debut album spawned three Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles — “Genie in a Bottle”, “What a Girl Wants” and “Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)” — and earned her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Established as a pop artist, she released her first Spanish record, Mi Reflejo (2000), which topped the Billboard Top Latin Albums for nineteen consecutive weeks. Aguilera’s fourth studio album Stripped (2002); “Beautiful”, “Fighter” and “Can’t Hold Us Down” became top-ten singles in many countries, and she was named the most successful female artist of 2003.
Her fifth album, Back to Basics (2006), became the second of her career to debut atop of the Billboard 200; singles “Ain’t No Other Man” and “Hurt” reached the top-ten positions in most countries. In 2010,
In the following years, she featured in the successful singles “Feel This Moment” and “Say Something”; in 2011, with “Moves Like Jagger”, she topped the Billboard Hot 100 in each three decade of her career, which song also became one of the best-selling digital singles.
Q&A
Throughout her career, she has accumulated numerous awards and accolades, including five Grammy Awards, one Latin Grammy Award, two MTV Video Music Awards (VMA), one Billboard Music Awards, one Guinness World Record, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is regarded as one of the most influential Latin artists in the entertainment industry
A self-confessed technology geek, the audience at Jubilee Park can anticipate a high-tech show from Aguilera, where the creative possibilities are endless — and very Instagrammable.
How does it feel to be headlining the closing ceremony at Expo 2020 Dubai — the largest global gathering since the start of the pandemic which has enjoyed more than 20 million visits?
I’m excited and proud to be headlining the Expo 2020 Dubai, it’s incredible how big this gathering is, and to be a part of it is an honour.
You’re no stranger to the art of reinvention, having re-innovated yourself multiple times throughout your two-decade music career. What can the world expect next?
I do love reinventing, and being creative, and reimagining. I’ve done this with everything from my songs to my performance looks. The evolution of art is so fun to watch, and for my fans to recognise my evolution is exciting. It inspires me to keep coming up with new ideas.
You have been embracing your Latina roots with your recent album La Fuerza. You were a teenager when you launched your first Spanish album. Why has it taken so long to release a Spanish-language track?
I had always planned on making new Spanish language music, and though it took longer than expected, I’m glad I waited and have now done this new music at the right time in my life.
You never shy away from a challenge and you’ve said it’s important to be a role model for your children. What other values are you imparting to them?
I just want to be the best mom I can be, so I do my best to give unconditional support, encouragement and love.
You’ve said playing video games with your children helps keep you connected. Expo 2020 Dubai showcases innovations and allows visitors to connect to a high-tech world — do you believe technology is changing the world of art?
Yes! I love how technology and art have come together to offer new ways to connect and celebrate.
The album is the first instalment in a trilogy that will be released throughout 2022. Can you give us a sneak preview into the other two albums?
I wish I could share details, but all I can say is there is much more to come this year!
JUBILEE STAGE PERFORMANCE
Following on from a stunning performance at Al Wasl Plaza, where she brought the house down with The Greatest Showman’s A Million Years, Grammy-winning pop star Christina Aguilera rocked Expo 2020 Dubai’s Jubilee Park on Thursday (31 March) with her iconic big voice. Greeting fans, a fired-up Christina Aguilera said: “Oh my gosh, what a celebration this is! Thank you all for being here.”
Dressed in a black catsuit and oversized silver chain belt, Aguilera introduced her first song by describing it as “the time where I really got to be myself, to shed the old version of myself and start listening to who I really was — and the kind of artist I wanted to be,” before launching into a powerful rendition of The Voice Within.
From contemporary R&B bangers to pop power-ballads, highlights included Lady Marmalade and Fighter — the latter against a feisty red backdrop and culminating in an eruption of fireballs and a burst of red streamers across the park. But it was Beautiful that had the pumped-up audience hanging on her every word — and then singing them back to the star with conviction. Switching between vocal ranges smoothly and swiftly, it was a pitch-perfect performance from the ultimate pop princess.
Delroy Constantine-Simms & Maureen Drackett-Fuller
