Christina Aguilera reflects on kissing Madonna and Britney Spears at the VMAs

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Kevin Kane/WireImageChristina Aguilera looked back over some of her greatest musical moments recently, including that infamous kiss with Madonna and Britney Spears at the 2003 MTV VMA Awards, and says that now, she wonders what all the fuss was about.

Christina tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that she felt “left out” of the media firestorm that took place after the pop divas locked lips, but doesn’t think it was such a big deal in retrospect.

“Shock value gets more and more extreme or whatever,” she said. “But honestly, at the time, yeah, I never thought anything of it. It was like, ‘Okay, it’s two girls kissing.’  It wasn’t shocking back then.  It’s not shocking now, to me.  But it’s so many things.”

Aguilera goes on to call Madonna “the queen of reinventing herself” and “a huge inspiration,” in her career.

“When I was little, I was not allowed to listen to her or watch [Madonna’s] videos or anything. It was just like a no-no,” she recalls.  “But then whenever you grow up, and I discovered her catalog and her videos and the fact that she had such a message.”

Madonna’s penchant for reinvention is something the “Genie in a Bottle” singer now tries to do herself.

“Every single night, you’re playing music, and I don’t just play my music. I reinvent the old songs.  I put different spins on them, different twists, even what I’m inspired by as artists,” she explained.

Last month, Christina returned with a new take on “Reflection,” the song she originally recorded for the Disney animated film Mulan in 1998. The updated song appears on the live-action remake of the movie, which debuted September 4 on Disney+.

By George Costantino
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