Homecoming queen

Aguilera, on the other hand, has taken the slow-burn approach to her career. And though she has flirted with disaster on more than one occasion8212;the backless chaps she wore in the porn-o-riffic video for Dirrty come to mind8212;she now finds herself sitting pretty as the Class of 19998217;s Most Likely to Succeed.

8220;I knew that I wanted to be here for a long time,8221; Aguilera, 26, told reporters during a conference call in February. 8220;I didn8217;t want to burn out right away8212;I8217;m not making comparisons with anyone else8212;but growing up where do you see the Debbie Gibsons burn out, you see people come and go so often.8221;

Aguilera was practically born into the pop world at the age of 12, when she joined the cast of the Disney Channel8217;s The New Mickey Mouse Club, alongside Spears, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling and others.

In a sea of cookie-cutter teen queens8212;Spears, Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore among them8212;Aguilera stood out because of her boundless range and booming voice, which was seasoned well beyond her years. Aguilera, who teased she was a 8220;Genie in a Bottle8221; in her smash single, but mostly played goody-two-shoes in her debut album8217;s singles and videos, shocked with the release of her second album, 20028217;s Stripped. On it, she belted over rock guitars Fighter, with hip-hop bad girls Lil Kim on Can8217;t Hold Us Down and made one genuinely raunchy strip club anthem Dirrty.

8220;Stripped was kind of my own interpretation of my coming-of-age record,8221; she says. 8220;It was the first time that I felt I could really be myself and write my own material and express myself as the woman that I8217;d grown into at that point.8221;

Though she tends to reinvent her sound and look with each album, Aguilera says it comes naturally, and she8217;s not doing it to be gimmicky. 8220;I think that life is all about changing and trying to continue your growth as a person,8221; she says. 8220;I8217;m not the same person that I was on the last record, and I wasn8217;t the same person on Stripped as I was when I first came out. To me, it8217;s just a constant evolution.8221;

Part of what colours the current Aguilera is her 2005 marriage to Jordan Bratman, a music executive whom she credits with bringing happiness and stability to her life. Bratman was the inspiration for Ain8217;t No Other Man, the lead single of Back to Basics.

8220;I really have a game plan for myself,8221; she says. 8220;I know where I want to end up many, many years from now, and I8217;m extremely determined. I have a drive in me that8217;s been with me since a really, really young age. I really kept my focus. And I think that8217;s why I was able to stay in it and kept putting out quality work that comes from the heart.8221;
Adam Graham The Detroit News