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To some extent, we all have an idea of the so-called «American
dream». If you need to give a succinct definition of this concept, it will be
something like «strive to achieve success, find the idea that would bring such
success, put in a lot of work, and sacrifice a lot to eventually earn your
million dollars which is universally recognized equivalent to success».
However, as we know, nothing is eternal under the moon, so
that the traditional American dream in the third millennium has
undergone some
changes. Today, it can be paraphrased as follows: «discover in yourself
any
talent as early as possible (ideally - as early as preschool age),
deprive
yourself of a normal childhood, find your way to any TV show, make a
career in
show business, earn your ten million dollars before you're thirteen,
become
famous with your disorderly sex life and wild parties, and then - after
us, the
deluge». Though both ways to the upper floor of success include 7 figure
amounts of money, these dreams are different like night and day. For the
personification
of the «new American dream» names of many younger generation celebrities
spring
to mind, but only Christina Aguilera cuts it, as an unorthodox sense of
fashion
combined with amazing vocals sets apart Christina from her peers.
However, a concession should be made - Christina Aguilera is
really a talented singer who is often compared to Madonna for her
notorious
behavior though Aguilera is probably a more gifted singer than the pop
icon. A
devout catholic, Christina was born in December 18, 1980 to a U.S. Army
sergeant
and a teacher of the Spanish language. From her early years she knew
exactly
what she wanted to do in life and what heights wanted to reach aiming at
that
elusive «American dream». As a child, Aguilera aspired to be a singer.
She was
known locally as «the little girl with the big voice», singing in local
talent
shows and competitions.
Along with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, Aguilera
hosted The Mickey Mouse TV Show in the early 90's. She had many musical
influences in her life while she was growing up, some of her
inspirations were
Madonna, Etta James, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson,
Aretha
Franklin and the hit musical The Sound of Music. She gained media
attention very early, all
because of her voice and at one time she was dubbed as «the little girl
with
the big voice». When The Mickey Mouse Show ultimately came to an end in
the
year 1994, Christina started recording demo songs in an attempt to be
signed up
by a recording company. In 1998, Aguilera was selected to record the
song «Reflection»
for the Disney production of Mulan. Recording «Reflection» led to
Aguilera
earning a contract with RCA Records the same week. «Reflection» peaked
within
the top twenty on the Adult Contemporary Singles Chart, and it was
nominated
for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1998. Under the
exclusive
representation of Steve Kurtz, Aguilera's self-titled debut album
Christina
Aguilera was released in 1999. It reached the top of the Billboard 200
and
Canadian album charts, selling eight million copies in the U.S. and over
seventeen
million copies worldwide.
And it was only the beginning, as each of her next albums
sold several million copies, and she has become one of the most
successful
recording artists of the decade, selling more than 43 million records
worldwide. Some of the other major albums recorded by Christina are
Stripped,
Back to Basics, Mi Reflejo, Just be Free and My Kind of Christmas. She
has done
numerous television appearances, but till now has not made any movie
appearances. In 2007 Aguilera was named
the 19th richest woman in entertainment by Forbes magazine, with a net
worth of
$60 million.
Through Procter and Gamble Aguilera released her signature
fragrance, Simply Christina in 2007 which became the number one perfume
in the
UK, and later in 2009 it became the 4th best selling perfume in the UK
and
Germany where it topped sales for the year. In 2008, Aguilera released
her
third fragrance, Inspire, accompanied with a body care collection.
Aguilera often took part in photoshoots for magazines; many
of these photographs featured her nude or semi-nude. For instance, her
cover
for Rolling Stone featured the singer only wearing boots and a
well-placed
electric guitar. It was during this time Aguilera referred to herself as
«Xtina»,
even getting a tattoo of her nickname on the back of her neck and
several
piercings. In May 2006, she posed nude for a Marilyn Monroe-inspired
photoshoot
in GQ magazine where she re-created several photographs done by Monroe.
In 2008, Aguilera earned another $20 million thus becoming
the 7-th richest woman in the world with Madonna being number one with
$72
million. However, after starting a family with a music marketing
executive
Jordan Bratman in 2005 and giving birth to a son, Max Liron Bratman
(Latin
first name and Hebrew middle name roughly translate into «My Greatest
Song») in
2008, Aguilera's capital slightly reduced and her current net worth is
estimated at $75 million. However, this number is kilely to change
quickly as
Aguilera's performance is rumored to cost you $2.25 million.
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