Christina Aguilera has come along way from her days as a Britney Spears lookalike singing Genie In A Bottle.
For the singer, her bold transformation has been some time coming. No more t-shirts and girl-next-door smiles, Christina 2003 is a very different character - sexier and far more daring.
"For a long time, I'd been uncomfortable with the image that had been built around me and my music," says the singer who has two sell-out nights at Birmingham NEC as part of her globe trotting Stripped tour.
"It felt like I was pretending, trying to hide the real me, and hurting inside because of it. This time I was determined to step beyond the hype and glitter, to take it back down to the bare necessities. It was like starting all over again."
Her music has also become more strident and confident, more rooted in R'n'B and urban rhythms than simple pop.
