It’s no secret that Christina Aguilera has had a smashing year. Her first single, “Genie in a Bottle,” not only hit it big on the charts, but it earned Aguilera a Grammy for Best New Artist.
But how did the 19-year-old singer make the transition from mouseketeer to a chart-topping pop diva? An article in the March 6 issue of Time magazine -“Christina Aguilera: Building a 21st Century Star” — provides some clues. Here’s a look:
Early training: Almost every true-blue Christina fan knows she appeared on the Disney Channel’s “New Mickey Mouse Club” when she was 12. Time magazine says Aguilera’s Disney connection “gave her an early leg up.” It provided vocal and dance training for the teen.
Building buzz: Before her debut CD, Christina Aguilera, was released last year, Aguilera’s record label, RCA, set up small concerts in hotels and nightclubs in New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Toronto and Minneapolis. Accompanied only by a piano, Aguilera showed off her vocal talents to music critics and music-industry reps. She also turned down concert gigs with teen pop acts ‘N Sync and Backstreet Boys to tour with the all-female Lilith Fair.
Virtual stardom: RCA hired Electric Artists, a New York firm that specializes in Internet marketing, to spread word about her music on the Net. The company talked up Aguilera’s music in news groups and on message boards and hired Aguilera’s biggest on-line fans to keep promoting her work on the Net. In exchange, those fans got free concert tickets and other goodies.
What’s next? The Spanish Christina. Aguilera, whose father is from Ecuador, wants to be a Latin star too. She re-recorded her hit “Genie in a Bottle” in Spanish and is redoing her whole CD. Rudy Perez, who is producing the project, told Time: “She sees Ricky (Martin) and Jennifer (Lopez) and Marc (Anthony) and in her own way, she has come to realize she wants to connect with her own roots.” The only prob? Aguilera doesn’t speak much Spanish. She’s working with a language coach for her new CD.
