Listen to the lyrics of any song and you can gurantee that at some point they've been interpreted by a fan to mean something very personal about their own lives. In extreme cases it usually involves doing Beelzebub's bidding dressed in a nappy and carrying a sniper rifle, in others it might convince someone to take a job, ditch a girlfriend or never buy another Richard Blackwood record again. Lyrics can mean almost anything to anyone except in a recent case when an Eminem fan was listening to the lyrics of his Real Slim Shady single and heard her own name mentioned in the same breathe as Fred Durst (from Limp Bizkit) and US MTV video jockey Carson Daly. The venom-spitting rapper VD as well. That fan was Christina Aguilera.
"I was offeneded and really disgusted by it," Chrisitina explains to FHM, "the fact that he is talking about diseases and all that. My step-dad was all ready to get on a plane and kick his ass." This very personal lyrical message from Eminem was left for the 19-year-old peroxide siren because she once remarked of him, "He's cute and everthing, but he's got too many girls after him. Besides he's married, so I'm going to stay away from that." But his outburst wasn't completely unfounded. By her own admission Christina keeps name-checking guys in interviews as "being cute" and then ends up going out with them, in this case stepping out with Durst to a nightclub and with Daly to a strip joint.
One thing that Chrisitna does accept is that any public questioning of her chastity is a small price to pay for living out a dream that she has been busting a very tanned and very taught gut to achieve. She's had a burning ambition to sing since she was knee-high to a microphone stand. But she's a world away from being the product of pushy, fame-hungry parents. Her semi-estranged, Ecuadorian father, Fausto Aguilera was in the US Army and there was so much domestic violence flying around the household when she was young that Christina's only escape was to get lost in the world of Julie Andrews and The Sound Of Music.
A chain reaction of events then began with an apperance on Star Search, aged eight; singing the national anthem at a Pittsburgh Steelers game aged ten, and sharing the screen with Britney Spears in the Mickey Mouse Club , aged 12. But her real break came a few years later when desperate Disney executives needed someone who could reach "High E above middle C" for one of the tracks on the Mulan soundtrack. A smart A&R man remembered hearing Christina's demo and put the voice and the executives together. Since then things have gone crazy. Her self-titled debut album was released in August 1999 and has sold eight million copies worldwide and now a combination of desire, talent and a reported $rm "development costs" from RCA means she is ready to take her career to the next level.
The media is forever talking up a bottle royal between you and the lovely Britney Spears. What do you think about these comparisons?
I get it quite often and I suppose it's only natural because the media always want someone that they can compare to a new artist. Since I'm young and around the same age as Britney, we both dance, sing and do the same kind of pop music, people are bound to compare us. People haven't had enough time to get to know the both of us individually and to find out that there is a huge difference between Britney and I.
What do u think about the rumours regarding Britney's alleged breast implants?
I think that girls should be proud of the way that their bodies are naturally. I don't even know for sure that she did do it. But if Britney did do it, then I'm sure that she had her reasons. When you're young you do get a lot of pressure from people - maybe she's just trying to find herself. For whatever reason, it's nobody's business but her own.
There are also rumours that you've "augmented" your funbags.....
It's not true but that really made me laugh, because I heard that rumour too. There is loads of stuff that's been written about me recently that is such a lie. I was reading an article about how an "insider", who apparently knows me, was saying that I went on a vacation...and that's completely ridiculous because I can't even remember the last time I was on a vacation-it's been a couple of years. I don't know who that insider is, but it must be a person who doesn't know me. I don't know - everbody seems to want to say something or another.
So what's the most ridiculous tittle-tattle you've ever heard about yourself?
People will always spread those stupid rumours. Many journalists make things up just to get people to buy their magazines or papers and most of the time the rumours are negative. I can laugh at some of them, but many of them make me cry. The funniest rumour I've ever heard is that Prince William and I would be romantically involved. I've never met him, never talked to him, never e-mailed him - nothing!
Smitten fans are known for throwing soiled undergarments at their male objects of affection. What should someone throw on stage if they want to get your attention?
I try to pay attention to everything that comes on stage. I like sweet gifts like flowers - flowers catch my attention really quickly. They've very common, but very sweet!
Apart from lobbing foliage, what else would you look for in a man?
He needs to be really sweet and sincere, and creativity is a huge turn-on for me as well. Also he has to be intelligent and able to offer something to the relationship. He has to have real goals and really know what he wants to do with his life. I don't go for some hunky guys, I'm kind of weird in that way, but I go for people who are iteresting or intriguing, people that have quirks, people that stand out in the crowd. I go for edgy guys, I'm not really into dating a guy from a boyband. I'd be more into a rock star!
What's the oddest thing you've had to do for a fan?
I've had to sign some weird things. Once I had to sign loads of plastic chickens because they were giving them away at a signing session I was doing - they were
so difficult to write on!
What type of music do you enjoy?
I enjoy everything from rock to rap. I like Limp Bizkit, Jay-Z and DMX - they're some of my favourite artists. I have just found out about an artist called Shelia Shandra who has the most beautiful voice, she's from India I think.
What was it like knocking Puff Daddy off the top of the album charts?
It's crazy. I don't know if he'll be too nice to me of I ever got to meet him! I don't know him so maybe he will be nice. Puff Daddy is a hugely successful man. I bought his first record and I have his second one, too. So it's really crazy that me, this 19-year-old girl from Pittsburgh, conquered the charts like this.
Is there anything that you wouldn't do because of your image?
No, well, not so far! I always try to set a good example and there are certain things that I consider before I do them, but I can't please the whole world. There are always going to be people who disagree with what I do. I always try to make sure I'm sure to myself.
Do you have a tattoo?
No, but I'd like to have one. Maybe I'll get a little genie-bottle on my ankle, like the one from I Dream Of Jeannie - I love Barbara Eden (the actress who played Genie). I would love to do a photo shoot with her. I really wanted to dress up like her, as Jeannie, in the video, but the producers thought it would be too gimmicky. I love the series and I actually travel with a set of videos that I was given. I get into the whole genie thing, I think it's kind of cute.
Finally, tell us about the Chrisitna dolls...
Yeah, there's one back in the States already. It's kind of funny. I don't think dolls ever look like the real person...it's supposed to look like a replica of me, but it's too weird...
