Artist Focus: Christina Aguilera

"A star is an image constructed from a range of materials"

So, in the music world, what do these materials include?

Dress, songs, genre, how they sound, attitude, interviews,

media, image, private life, live performance, music videos.

I focussed on music star Christina Aguilera, who releases pop and r'n'b music. Born in Staten Island in New York, she had an abusive unbringing (reflected in many of her songs) and entered lots of singing competitions such as 'star search', and became a member of the mickey mouse club along with britney spears and justin timberlake. She was signed to RCA record label after recording 'reflection' for Disney's 'Mulan', and her debut album was 'Christina Aguilera' (1999), followed by Stripped (2002), and then 'Back to Basics' (2006). She's sold over 30 million albums worldwide, has won 5 grammy awads and has had 16 nominations.

How was her status/image established in her earlier videos?

• Girl next door image, young popstar, like Britney, cute, pretty, teeny - e.g. 'Genie in a bottle'

How was that image devloped later in her career?

• She changed from 'poppy' teen, to sex symbol, to strong woman feminist, to a serious artist.
• Her image change was made most obvious in her music videos; for example, in Moulin Rouge she plays a prostitute in a very sexy outfit, whereas in her video 'fighter' she dresses in very ugly clothes, so the audience just focus on the message of girl power and independence. However, recently she has been playing a 50s actress in all her videos, particularly 'ain't no other man'.
• However, her motifs have always been her blonde hair, her stunning figure and her big powerful wailing voice.

Look at the very obvious differences between her first video (above) and then the slow delevopment of her image in the videos below.

Dirrty (2002)

Fighter (2003)

Ain't No Other Man (2006)

Are there Close-ups of the artist throughout her work?

• All the time, she is a solo artist, so it's all focussed around her.
• They are used to make her look attractive, they are very scopophillic and often voyeuristic.

How are camerawork and editing used to reinforce and develop the image of the star?

• It always cuts back to her, she is in almost every shot, and she mimes everything.
• The editing is often fast-paced because most of her videos are pop and dancy
• Her videos are often performance based (she always sings) and in a majority of them she breaks into a dance routine in the middle.

What do I consider the wider cutural significance of the star?

• A pop teen star who has grown up into a poweful woman
• A voice for women everywhere