PREVIEW
Christina Aguilera
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Openers: Pussycat Dolls and Danity Kane.
Where: Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center, 2000 Prospect Ave., Cleveland.
Tickets: $57-$87 at the box office and Ticketmaster outlets, or charge by phone, 216-241-5555 (Cleveland) or 330-945-9400 (Akron).
John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic
Christina Aguilera is on the road again with a lavish production involving no fewer than 10 costume changes, more than 600 moving lights and a carousel horse, among other razzle-dazzle elements.
So where does the shape-shifting pop singer, newly reincarnated with a retro makeover, get off calling this the "Back to Basics" Tour?
"At an arena, I think it's only fair to my audience to fill up the space and to give them a real show," said Aguilera, 26, who headlines Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center Friday night.
She promised a "spectacular" concert, complete with acrobatic dance routines and various sets designed to conjure a jazz club, a juke joint and a circus.
"It's the most fun I've ever had with a show," she said.
Her latest album happens to be titled "Back to Basics," too. Released in August, the sprawling two-CD set was inspired by her love of old-school blues, jazz and soul music.
"To me, nothing feels better than old music of the '20s and '30s and '40s," Aguilera said during a pre-tour teleconference with reporters.
"Soul music in general just feels so good to me. . . . I'm giving it a new spin and kind of a modern-day feel, doing my own interpretation, but still paying tribute to the old.
"Back in those times, we obviously weren't as technologically advanced. So you had to be able to touch people with raw emotion, touch them with your voice. Nowadays, anybody can make a record."
The swinging "Candyman," a Top 30 hit, channels the Andrews Sisters, although "Back to Basics" is no mere nostalgia trip. "Ain't No Other Man" and other tracks ride state-of-the-art grooves geared toward today's club scene, not yesteryear's speakeasies.
On the other hand, "I Got Trouble" sounds like a long-lost Etta James record, complete with vinyl scratches.
Aguilera recently met James, one of her idols, during a magazine photo shoot.
"She called me an old soul," Aguilera said. "She made my life with her compliments and the things she had to say.
"She also said, 'Don't pay attention to any of the negativity out there. . . . Every time you stand up for what you believe in, you're sticking up for so many artists before you [who] never had that opportunity or that chance to speak up for themselves.'
"I think a lot of artists shy away from that, because they're afraid of what other people might think of them."
Aguilera was born in New York City and raised in Wexford, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh. By the time she was 10, she was singing the national anthem at Steelers games. She joined the Disney Channel's "Mickey Mouse Club" two years later.
"Back to Basics" is her third studio album (not counting the bilingual vocalist's Spanish release, "Mi Reflejo"), preceded by a self-titled debut in 1999 and the racy "Stripped" in 2002.
Her string of hits includes "Beautiful" and the chart-toppers "What a Girl Wants" and "Genie in a Bottle." Aguilera has sold 25 million albums worldwide.
"With my first album . . . I kind of had to play by the rules," she said. "A few million records sold later, I was able to do what I wanted to do with 'Stripped,' which was kind of my own interpretation of [a] coming-of-age record.
"It was the first time that I felt that I could really be myself and write my own material and express myself as the woman I'd grown into at that point.
"Between 'Stripped' and 'Back to Basics,' I fell in love. I [was] in a relationship with my husband [marketing executive Jordan Bratman, whom she wed in 2005], discovering a new side of myself."
Each album has brought new sounds and new looks.
"If I didn't change, I would be lying to you," she said. "I do get bored easily. Not only is it important for me to challenge myself and evolve as an artist, but it's important for me personally.
"Life is all about changing and trying to continue your growth as a person. I'm not the same person I was on the last record . . . and I wasn't the same person on 'Stripped' I was when I first came out.
"It's just a constant evolution."
Along the way, she has managed to avoid flaming out, unlike some pop stars of her generation.
"I noticed early on that a lot of the people around me [who] came out at the same time, during that pop explosion . . . kept putting out things so quickly," Aguilera said. "I never wanted to rush through something, because going into this business, I knew that I wanted to be here for a long time. I didn't want to burn out right away.
"I wanted to make a conscious effort and choice early on, to make sure that it was about the quality and not the quantity.
"I really have a game plan. I know where I want to end up many, many years from now, and I'm extremely determined."
When pressed for details, Aguilera was vague.
"My main idea is . . . just to stick around," she said. "I'm exploring new ideas for what the next look is and what the next sound will be, which I'm really excited about, but I have to put that on the back burner [and] finish what I'm doing now with the tour."