Pop genie 'uncorked'

Aguilera talks about cutting loose, good-girl image, getting dissed

At first we were infuriated that The Edmonton Sun didn't get an interview with Christina Aguilera.

 We were told her schedule is so tight only eight Canadian print interviews were granted to advance her PsykoBlast Tour, which hits Skyreach Centre on Sunday. Imagine being 19 and having your entire existence cut into 15-minute chunks with every hack in the world trying to grab one. What a life.

 Anyway, we got shut out. Blast and damn.

 Then I thought: what could I possibly ask this queen of teen pop, crowned in a seemingly desperate rush less than a year ago? Her short career is a matter of public record, but it's not very interesting: former Mousketeer releases debut album that sells six million copies, thanks to hit single Genie in a Bottle. She's considered a far better singer than her pal Britney Spears. Then she wins the best new artist Grammy to prove it. Er, that's about it.

 Only one question came to mind: "So, do you really want to be another Mariah Carey? The one we have is pretty annoying already."

 That probably wouldn't go over very well.

 Fortunately, there's a back-up source leering at us from every magazine stand in North America - the latest issue of Rolling Stone. There she is on the cover - CD walkman in hand, tousled, bleached blond hair, tongue licking lips, devilish grin and wearing a tiny tank top and cut-off shorts undone to reveal a peek of bikini bottom. The headline teases, "Guess what Christina Wants." Now if this isn't an invitation to plunk down six bucks for a once-great music magazine that seems to have turned into Teen People, I don't know what is.

 Upon reading the scintillating prose within, I never did find out What Christina Wants - beyond not wanting to be treated like a child - though I did learn a few things.

 1. She's a bad girl trapped in a good-girl image.

 It's established straight away that Christina likes hardcore rap music and midriff-baring T-shirts printed with suggestive slogans. Quote: "I think my personality is fighting to come out, fighting with the image that everyone has of me."

 2. She's dismayed by the feud between her and white rapper Eminem, who dissed her on his latest album. "Dis" is rap lingo for "insult."

 We can print this much: "I should download her audio on MP3 and show the whole world how you gave Eminem VD." She got off easy compared to Eminem's wife.

 Christina responds, "I was offended and really disgusted by it ... I can see where he would get a little mad and want to rebel against the Britney Spears, 'NSync, Backstreet Boys world of teen music. And if he has to do it that way and be immature about it, then fine, be that way."

 3. Growing up in an atmosphere of "domestic violence" is what made Aguilera so driven to be a singer. Few details are given. The article suggests it was at the hands of her natural father, who died when she was 12.

 Quote: "Music was my release to get away from it all. I would seriously run up to my bedroom and put on that Sound of Music tape. (Julie Andrews) was free and alive, and she was playful and rebellious against the nuns. I know it sounds cheesy, but that was my escape.."

 4. She's in love with one of her dancers.

 Quote: "He's cool. He's got a good body." According to the article, she has in the past expressed the hots for Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, Enrique Iglesias and even Eminem.

 5. She plans to show off her voice even more on her next album. During a soundcheck, she treats Rolling Stone writer Neil Strauss to a version of an Etta James song, "in a full, grandiose voice, packed with melismatic swoops and roaring crescendos."

 Quote: "My A&R executive guy, Ron Fair, produced (my first album) and he was always curbing my ad libs and all that R&B-dripping stuff ... so the second album will be my time to let loose, finally."

 Apparently, the answer to my one and only question is a resounding "yes."

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