Christina Aguilera’s appearance at the Hope For Haiti Now telethon may well be my favorite of all. It’s a lovely song (from her upcoming album, I believe) and one of the most breathtaking vocal performances of the night.
I’ve always been impressed with Aguilera as a vocalist. She pretty much blows all of her peers away and does it seemingly without trying. It’s hard to believe such a big voice belongs to a skinny white girl.
My fondness for Aguilera is notable because she’s the kind of artist for which I normally have very little patience, let alone affection. You can keep Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and the rest. I’ve never been all that impressed by their voices (particularly that god-awful Mariah squeak) or their music.
And I suppose I’ve made an exception for Aguilera because I do like her music, or at least the songs on the one album of hers I own (2006’s Back to Basics). Maybe that’s freed me up to appreciate her vocals in general. I also think she’s better at using those pipes than her peers, but I admit that opinion is diluted by the fact that I don’t know a whole lot about “technically good” singing, and I haven’t listened to any of the other women enough to really judge their performances.
Which is all a long-winded way of saying that Aguilera just works for me, and works particularly well in this telethon clip.
As the music fades
And I’m left here
With more than I can take
If you lift me up
Just get me through this night
I know I’ll rise tomorrow
And I’ll be strong enough to try
When the static clears
And all is said and done
I will realize
That we all need someone
If you lift me up
Just get me through this night
I know I’ll rise tomorrow
And I’ll be strong enough to try
So when you see me crashing
And there’s nowhere left to fall
Will you lift me even higher
To rise above this all
If you lift me up
Said if you lift me up
Will you lift me higher
When you see me crashing
And there’s nowhere left to fall
Will you lift me even higher
To rise above this all
If you lift me up
Said if you lift me up
If you lift me up
Just get me through this night
Meet Me In Montauk 
I agree that she has a good set of pipes, but, at least for me, she still falls into the category of a Celine Dion. Still, I will concede that I am not very familiar with her work, so perhaps her songs are more interesting than I give her credit for.
I found this performance good, but it did not blow me away like it did for you.
Two songs of hers that I’ve featured on the blog give a good indication of how her recent music is different from (and much better than) the Celine Dions of the world. And she co-wrote both of them, which is another big difference:
Save Me From Myself | Mercy On Me
I agree about The Celine Dions and Whitney Houstons of the world, it’s never done much for me; maybe if they were seen live in a broadway musical doing a show stopper, it would be move appreciated. Hasn’t Aguilera done broadway too? Thought I read some reviews awhile ago but I may have her confused with someone else.
She sang “Reflection,” the “show stopper” in Mulan. I appreciate her, but I don’t tend to listen to this type of music. Strange since I was a huge Barbra Streisand fan all those years ago. Ever since then, I don’t tend to listen to the divas.
Ah, the Streisand years. 🙂
Time to go to school:
and 30 years later…
Is it any wonder why I have no use for any of the rest of them?
Yes… your ears are so damaged from exposure to this one. 😉
I know you’re being funny, but others might not. Has there ever been another singer in the “diva mold” who comes close? I can’t think of one.
I don’t know… I’m not a fan of any of the divas so I don’t feel qualified to judge them. Streisand certainly has the most talent outside the recording studio (consider her film career both in front of and behind the camera) but I’m not a big fan of her voice.
I’m with you Amy!