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Chattin' With Christina
Christina Aguilera is an interesting woman.
Very tough and very driven, full of complexities. I recently sat down with her in BevHills, some seven years after I first interviewed her. In many ways, she's the same person... talented and driven with a vision. Oh, and very late. My first interview with her all those years ago, she was more than an hour late. On this day, exactly an hour late. So maybe with maturity comes timeliness' I don't know... maybe Christina runs on a clock that has its own time zone... somewhere between Pacific and Eastern European' I almost showed up an hour late because I knew she'd be late. But if that's her worst fault, especially as things go in Hollywood, we're all good. (Hey, she didn't do a "no-show" and claim "exhaustion.")
What I like about Christina is that she's very much in control of her career and the direction it takes - and she's just 25. So, when I sit down with her, she knows what she's talking about - in detail. And oh - by the way - that doesn't always happen in this business. I also like the fact she's constantly pushing the creative envelope, changing... morphing... Christina the Chameleon - both in appearance AND in her music. She's never boring.
The one thing different about Christina now - compared with any other time I've sat down with her - is that she seems to be at peace, as much as one can, with what she says was a very tough and abusive childhood...relying on her mother to get them out of what she calls a domestic violence situation when she was young. There is a song on the new disc called "Oh Mother" that is dedicated to Christina's mom.
Add to all that, the fact she says she had a tough coupla years after exploding on the music scene... you know the stuff... people she trusts not being so trustworthy, especially men. (R U noticing a theme here')
So I asked Christina if she ever just gave up on men'
Here is the answer - an exact word-for-word transcription from the interview:
"There was a point where I was very hopeless. You know, I had lost a lot of hope, and I just... you know, you don't want to get to that place where you become bitter. But, you know, I can see some people kind of going there after, you know, kind of not been given very great examples from a young age - and then, yes, being thrown into the chaos of the business, and a lot of older men kind of doing inappropriate things and behaving inappropriately towards you as a very young girl... not knowing how to deal with that."
Now, I realize there is enough in there to fill a week of "Oprahs." But here is the amazing part - she's now married to a guy in the music biz!! She married Jordan Bratman, who (I get the feeling) had to jump through so many emotional hoops and knock down some big-time walls to get to the "real Christina" that he should get an X-Games gold medal. I'm serious.
Christina told me Jordan had to prove himself over the long haul to win her trust... and once that happened, bam! She was deeply in love and then happily married.
Which proves what I've always believed: marriage is nothing if not an extreme sport.
Hi Tony,
Just watched parts 3 & 4 of your Larry Birkhead interview...they were great. Just wondering if the Bravo special will air the full uninterupted version of the interview?
Thanks,
Kelli