Singer to show girl

CHRISTINA Aguilera is taking nothing for granted.

Although she’s been a millionaire global popstar for well over a decade, her hardscrabble upbringing in a violent household seems to be rarely far from her mind. Alongside her astonishing voice and vocal range, it might still be the major catalyst that is propelling her career forward.

From about the age of eight, Aguilera sought the limelight, first taking part in the US TV show Starsearch, from where she was quickly recruited to join Disney’s The Mickey Mouse Club, alongside Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. Seven years as a Mouseketeer was just the beginning, before she launched her solo career in 1999, with a debut album that sold 10m copies.

“My mom instilled in me at a young age not to take anything for granted, that anything I have can be taken in a heartbeat,” she tells The Irish Examiner over lunch at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. Quietly spoken and deliberative, Aguilera, 30, is an intense interviewee, interrogating herself before answering any question.

“Witnessing my mom feeling vulnerable in the situation with my father and not wanting to leave because of financial insecurity — I never wanted to be in that position. And I never wanted to be helpless to a man. At a young age, it really drove me to focus on the path of succeeding and not being swayed in a negative way by drugs or anything like that.”

Christina Aguilera is descended from Ecuadoran and Irish ancestry. Her father, Fausto Aguilera, was born in Ecuador and moved to the US as a young man, where he began a career in the US military. The family, which also included her younger sister Rachel, moved around a lot. Her father was violently abusive to their mother and the two girls, before leaving the family home when Christina was just seven. The emotional scars are still there, although she has attempted to channel the experience into hit songs such as I’m OK.

“I put all of my emotion into my music and singing has always been my first love,” she says in a voice so soft you almost forget the power she has as a singer. “I definitely didn’t come from a big city nor with a silver spoon in my mouth. We travelled a lot because of my father being in the military. It was a very chaotic household with a lot of domestic violence and growing up in that was very painful for me.

“When you grow up in that sort of chaos, you’re forced to grow up very quickly and then, entering the business I chose, I had to grow up tenfold. But although I was wide-eyed and green and full of hopes and dreams entering this business, I didn’t take no for an answer.”

Unlike some other child stars, including fellow Mouseketeer Britney Spears, Aguilera has almost never been written up in the tabloids or photographed falling out of nightclubs. Married for five years to Jordan Bratman, a music executive, the couple has one son. Although their impending divorce has since been made public, she credits him for being a great father and a very stabilising influence in her life.

“Not feeling safe growing up, or having the feeling of being guarded or protected, I was definitely drawn to Jordan in the first place because he represented a stability and I just knew he was going to be a great father. He didn’t disappoint — he’s a great father.”

Although they may be squabbling now, with stories that each of them is refusing to move out of the Beverly Hills home they’ve shared for several years, their three-year-old son Max’s welfare is their primary concern.

“It’s definitely a juggling act and not the easiest thing to do, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Becoming a mother, I went into it knowing that it would be one of many hats I wore. When some people have children, they sort of put themselves on the back burner and never get back to their hopes and dreams.

“I have so many different sides — my vulnerability, my sexuality, my goals and my dreams of branching off and experiencing new things in life. I only hope that Max will take this all as a good example and venture out and do the same for himself. He’s very musically inclined already and whenever we’re in a restaurant or out someplace, if he hears any singer hit a big note or a high note, he’s like ‘that’s mommy!’” she laughs.

Aguilera’s mother Shelley has Irish roots, in Mayo she believes, though she can’t be sure. She remarried James Kearns, whose ancestors came from Donegal, and with whom she had three more children.

“Ireland has always been an important place for us, emotionally and musically. My mother always played Van Morrison in the car and of course I adore U2. I’ve visited Dublin several times. My husband and I even went there to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in 2006. My mother and her new family even live in a place called Wexford in Pennsylvania. How’s that for you?” she asks, grinning.

From her early wholesome image as a young star, Aguilera embraced a more overtly sexual image for her second album in 2002, Stripped, deliberately subverting her butter-wouldn’t-melt-in- her-mouth persona by posing nude on the cover.

Now, she’s starring in her first major movie, playing an erotic Burlesque singer and dancer opposite Cher. While the story of the movie is unbelievably clichéd (small town girl with powerful pipes arrives in big city with dreams of stardom, plans thwarted until love conquers all), it is a very significant showcase for Aguilera, who has almost no acting experience. With a budget of $30m and co-stars such as Cher, Stanley Tucci and Kristen Bell, Sony is giving a huge push to this flabby movie, as awards season heats up in Hollywood.

“As my first film, I really wanted to approach it as a newcomer, engaging with everyone. I wanted to be like a sponge and absorb it all. At first, they didn’t recommend that I get an acting coach. The producers wanted my vulnerability. I wanted my tears to be real and to draw on pain from my own past in playing this character,” she said.

“It’s so different from doing a music video, where you’re portraying yourself. I’m all about self expression in my music and I can just get it out of me. But when you’re acting you have to become someone else and sort of put yourself on the back burner and that was a real challenge for me. I came out of that movie a changed woman. I really grew and learned a tremendous amount.

“I grew up in a house where I wasn’t allowed to watch Madonna or Cher. They were banned for me, just as I was becoming aware of who they were. Then of course I went on to wear chaps in my own music videos, so the censorship didn’t really work. But I’ve always been attracted to strong females with ideas and opinions and who don’t care what society thinks of them. We’re so labelled and shamed by society in a way that never happens to men.”

Burlesque is released on December 17.