MTV Interview:
Her Hit Album

MTV Radio Network: You've been busy the last few months: hit record, the VMAs, Leno, Letterman, "90210." Are you totally  overwhelmed right now? 
Christina Aguilera: Yeah, it's really, really crazy. I can't even believe it. It's really tiring, but I'm living my dream, you know what I mean? Seeing myself everywhere is kind of weird. It doesn't even look like me sometimes. 

MTV: You've been playing live gigs too. Do you have a full band with you? 
Christina: Yes, I do. The energy is a lot, lot different when you have live drums behind you and real guitar and keyboards.

MTV: That'll be interesting for a lot of people to see, because there aren't many solo female artists out there right now going out with live bands. You know, most of them just play the tracks. Was that important to you? 
Christina: Absolutely. I want the kids to see a side of me that they
haven't seen yet. "Genie In A Bottle" will be done differently, sometimes. We'll put some cool Arabian intonations into the whole vibe of it, to get people into a Middle Eastern mood. And then, of course, I can also do my piano ballads that couldn't be on the record, such as the Etta James song that I love to cover, "At Last." Certain people want to see me as solely a pop act, but there are many different sides to Christina Aguilera besides the pop girl. 

MTV: Does that annoy you sometimes, 'cause you definitely get put in that "strictly-pop" category? 
Christina: Yes, people that only want to hear "Genie In A Bottle" on the surface and not get into it. The fact is, this might be a pop song, but with soul and gospel and ad-libs that I'm doing are very R&B. And that really gives people a chance to say, "Oh well, maybe she's something else than what we categorized her as being, a one-hit pop girl." That's the last thing I want to be. Pop is actually my least favorite kind of music, because I think it lacks real depth. 

MTV: "Genie In A Bottle" is just everywhere. How do you follow that up? 
Christina: I was just discussing with the label what the next single is going to be. You know, some people do want me to stay in that very pop scene, and I want to grow from there. I always want to continue growing and getting to that level of, "Oh, she's a real singer, a real ballad singer, she can do it." But I want to pace myself. The next single will be "What A Girl Wants," but a totally cool remix of it. 

MTV: Would you like to appeal to an older audience? 
Christina: The more I grow and continue to show different sides of
myself, the more I'll get a variety of fans of all ages. And that will be something I'm really looking forward to getting into

 MTV Interview:
Working With Others

MTV: You know, you worked with so many people on this album, and you were schooled by so many producers, it probably took so much away from that. 
Christina: Of course. Whenever you work with so many different people at once, it's a little confusing, because certain people have their own ways of doing things. You have to remember what ways
are whose. But you do take a little something from each person you work with, and it's really cool with what you end up having. All the knowledge that you end up storing after working with so many people, and taking a piece from all of them. It's really, really cool. 

MTV: I guess you kind of have less time to yourself these days. 
Christina: I do. 

MTV: Is it tough to try and find that time? 
Christina: It is. But I try to do it as soon as I get to my hotel room.
Whatever city I'm in that particular day, I really like to try and just take a nice warm bubble bath and reflect on everything, really think, and write, and listen to music. 

MTV: Will you be taking any crews out with you on tour to film for a video or anything like that? 
Christina: Yes, we're getting a lot of footage as these weeks are rolling by, for a home video, possibly out in December. 

MTV: And what will the fans get to see on it? Is this live stuff, or is it just behind the scenes? 
Christina: Me, throwing my tantrums! No, I'm just kidding. It will be
really interesting to see all kinds of sides of me. Because you do get to see Christina Aguilera on stage. But I'm a really different person from what I seem to be publicly. I'm very, very introverted. I'm a really deep thinker, and a lot of people don't get to see that side of me. So it should be interesting to see what ends up on this video.