Not a novel idea and certainly something pop princess Christina Aguilera should know. But when her Back to Basics tour stops at a sold-out TD tomorrow, the emphasis will be on sophisticated style, not ldquo;Dirrty rdquo; sex.
For her 2006 ldquo;Back to Basics rdquo; double CD, Aguilera wanted to be taken seriously.
So she pulled together a collection of songs inspired by her fascination with the early r b and jazz scenes.
It rsquo;s not a new trick. Nor is it one with a blockbuster track record.
Both Madonna (with 1990 rsquo;s ldquo;I rsquo;m Breathless rdquo;) and Prince (with 1986 rsquo;s ldquo;Parade rdquo;) tried to infuse their pop with Jazz Age style. Both albums were commercial and critical missteps. Turns out fans liked Madonna rsquo;s conical brassiere and Prince rsquo;s heavy breathing more than homages to Dietrich and DiMaggio.
 gif> ldquo;I am the kind of artist that constantly likes to change and constantly likes to challenge myself and give my audience a new look and a new me, rdquo; Aguilera told the Herald during a telephone press interview. ldquo;It wouldn rsquo;t be fun if I didn rsquo;t take those risks and those chances. Sure, there rsquo;s always an element of failure that could be a possibility, but it rsquo;s a risk that I rsquo;m willing to take as an artist and as a person just trying to stay true to my art and to myself. rdquo; Right now staying true to her art means trading in the ultrasexy chaps that defined her ldquo;Stripped rdquo; era for her take on old-school Hollywood glamour. The tour has Xtina slipping into 10 distinct Jazz Age-inspired outfits - think more glitter, less material - designed by Roberto Cavalli and director Jamie King (a Madonna and Prince alum) leading 20 dancers and musicians through jitterbugs, jazz charts and even some trapeze acrobatics. If it seems like the change from sweet Christina to sexy Xtina to sophisticated Ms. Aguilera has been severe, that rsquo;s the way she wants it to seem. ldquo;On my first album I kind of had to play by the rules, rdquo; she said. ldquo;I came out during this huge sort of pop explosion and that was kind of what I had to do to kind of earn some credit and some respect for myself. A few million records sold later, I was able to do what I wanted to do with lsquo;Stripped. rsquo; rdquo; ldquo;There was the three- or four-year period in between lsquo;Stripped rsquo; and lsquo;Back to Basics, rsquo; rdquo; she added. ldquo;Between albums I did fall in love. I rsquo;d been in a relationship with my new husband, just discovering a new side of myself. It took me to this kind of feel-good place, and to me there rsquo;s nothing that feels better than old music of the rsquo;20s and rsquo;30s and rsquo;40s and on. I just felt that it all made sense to go along with that whole style and feel and even visually.
Keywords: Jazz Age
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