Since the first time I heard "Genie In A Bottle," I have been a Christina Aguilera fan. I just love her voice. Besides being impressed by her vocal control, I find her tone to be pleasant to my ears. There are many technically impressive singers that grate on my nerves. Celine Dion's voice, for example, is like nails on a chalk board to me. I have enjoyed each of Aguilera's albums, especially the latest,
Back To Basics.
Christina Aguilera: Stripped... Live In The UK was filmed during the tour to promote Christina Aguilera’s second English studio album, “Stripped.” The concert was filmed during the second leg of the tour, which began as a co-headlining tour in the United States with Justin Timberlake; the “Justified-Stripped Tour.” I had purchased tickets to one of the dates for that tour but the venue’s roof partially collapsed and the date was never rescheduled. Refunds were issued and I was happy to have the opportunity to see the concert, even if it wasn’t in person. Luckily for me, my luck was far better for her most recent tour. My fiance and I were able to see her concert at the same venue and there were no structural problems.
I found this concert DVD to be quite enjoyable. The set list focuses on Aguilera’s sophomore album, with a cover and tracks from her debut and Spanish albums sprinkled in. I felt the vocals were better on this DVD than on her previous concert DVD, with less over-singing and more emotion. It could be that the riffs just fit the songs better, but my overall impression wasn’t one of, “that was over the top.” The choreography was light, but enough to be visually interesting. It is obvious that great care is taken to balance the dancing with her singing, but there was enough choreography to not leave her standing awkwardly on stage. There are plenty of cheesy introductions and little skits, but some amused me and the others did not lessen my enjoyment of the concert.
There were a few things that disappointed me about this DVD. First were some of the omissions from the original concert. The song “Make Over” and the cover of Etta James’ “I Prefer You” were both omitted from the DVD, despite having been in the set list for that concert. A portion of the dance break in “What a Girl Wants” was also omitted, but this wasn’t to my dismay as I found it unnecessary to begin with. The extras on this DVD were pointless and repetitive. An interview with Christina Aguilera is one of them, but it was nothing different than what we heard in every other interview to promote that album. Empowerment, stripped down, real her, yada yada… Fans won’t be any more enlightened by this information. One of the dancers also gives fans a tour of the tour bus. As a die hard fan, I can honestly say this was extremely boring. Perhaps if you’re in the market for a tour bus, you’ll find this mildly attention-grabbing, but odds are you wouldn’t buy this DVD with that purpose in mind.
I was happy all but the aforementioned details. The performances were entertaining and engaging. My favorite was the performance of “Walk Away,” a song detailing the difficulty of walking away from a toxic relationship. Christina’s vocals were very striking and powerful for this song, as she crawled across the stage while a male dancer is thrusting suggestively behind a shade. I was happy that a European tour date was chosen for this taping, since one of my favorite songs on the album, “Cruz,” was added to the set list. The performance of this song was another favorite of mine and one of the more stripped-down moments of the show. Christina performed the song sitting on a stool next to a few backup singers. There was no choreography at all; very appropriate for the song. Her vocals for this one had a very raw feel. It gave me the impression that she was more interested in communicated her feelings in the song than perfect vocals to match the CD. For me, that has been one of the things I liked most about this artist. I don’t necessarily want to come to a show and hear the exact vocals from the CD (lip syncing is out of the question too). I like hearing the less polished versions of the music I like. In many ways, I think they’re more beautiful that way. “Come on Over Baby” was given the same sort of treatment. An acoustic version was performed. Although I very much love the original, this remix was simple and beautiful. You appreciate her voice so much more without tons of background vocals and synthetic sounds to drown it out.
I thought she performed every song well, even my least favorite, “The Voice Within.” I was happy that “What a Girl Wants” was left in its original form (with the addition of an unnecessary dance break to introduce the dancers) and Christina appeared to have a lot of fun singing the song. The more fun the performer is having, the better for those of us watching it. Toward the end of the song, she tackles some of those dog whistle notes. It is either annoying or impressive, depending on your appreciation for those sounds. This song was the only debut album hit that was not remixed, as “Genie In a Bottle” was given a rock makeover, which Christina performed while strapped to some contraption.
This concert featured the staple Etta James’ cover “At Last.” Christina did a good enough job with it, though some of the emotion was strangled toward the end by the “look how long I can hold this” high notes. It was impressive, though, and the crowd seemed to love it. I guess if you pay to see her, she’s going to make sure she reminds you why the tickets were worth it. I loved the performances of “Contigo En La Distancia” and “Falsas Esperanzas” from Aguilera’s Spanish album, “Mi Reflejo.” Beginning with a lovely dance sequence, the music transitions from a Latin dance number to an acoustic guitar and Christina’s voice. This was another more simple moment of the DVD. I thought the vocals on this performance were wonderful and the transition from the ballad to the upbeat dance number was very appropriate. The outfit she wore for this part of the performance was my favorite of the concert, which featured a costume change every song or two. One costume tweak even occurs between songs when Christina’s skirt is pulled off by a dancer in one of the concert’s more scripted moments.
Recommendation
This DVD was a lot of fun to watch. I originally paid $17.99 for the DVD and it was certainly worth it. I think most fans (if not all) will enjoy
Christina Aguilera: Stripped... Live In The UK. It offers a diverse set of songs we all know and love. Non-fans will enjoy it too, but won’t be as forgiving of the scripted moments. Either way, I think her live singing will universally impress and entertain.
Other Christina Aguilera DVDs:
Genie Gets Her Wish
France
Germany
United Kingdom
Australia
USA
