Aguilera Aims for Tabloid-Free Future

Aug. 15, 2006 — -- From a Mouseketeer to "Genie in a Bottle" to "Stripped," Christina Aguilera shifts gears as frequently as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and as violently as Will Ferrell in "Talladega Nights."

Aguilera hit stores today with "Back to Basics," a 22-track, double CD with two distinct flavors. One disc features dance tracks that mix electronic beats with samples of classic soul and blues, and it includes her current hit "Ain't No Other Man." The other, a collaboration with producer-songwriter Linda Perry, bubbles with live instrumentation, no samples, and a vintage feel.

The 25-year-old pop star has already sold more than 25 million albums, and for an artist who's taken so many sharp turns, she says it was time to turn to legends like Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Ella Fitzgerald to explore her future.

"I really dove in there and I took songs that I was inspired by wholeheartedly," she says. "I put together a producer package saying, 'Dear Producer, this is the music I'm inspired by. Feel free to experiment, chop things up. Take inspiration from this music. … Let's re-create the old in a different modern-day sense.'"

Aguilera emerged, along with Britney Spears, as a top female artist during the pop music revival in the mid-1990s. But these days, Spears makes news largely with details of her personal travails. Aguilera, meanwhile, is recommitting herself to music.

On Friday she'll perform as part of "Good Morning America's" Summer Concert Series, and at the end of the month, she can look forward to MTV's Video Music Awards, where "Ain't No Other Man" competes for video of the year.

Aguilera is also up for best pop video and best choreography in a video.

All this comes just as "Ain't No Other Man" has been voted "favorite pop song of the summer" on Popdirt.com, taking 39 percent of the vote, beating out Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous," Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack," and Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair."