Seriously, I’d probably think of Zappa before Sinatra.
Of course, how could I forget him? Granted, I’ve never heard any of his songs, but he is (or was) a big enough name that I should have thought of him anyway.
“First name: Mister.
Second name: That dot.
Third name: T”
I just tried that - the first name that came up was Christine O’Donnell.
Off the top of my head, I can think of…
Christina Applegate
Christina Ricci
Christina Hendricks
Christina Perri
Christina Millian
OK, the last two would have been stretches. But as you can see, the name is nowhere near exclusive to Ms. Aguilera. How many other pop stars named “Beyonce” or “Madonna” can you name?
In fact, when I was asking myself “Christina who?” My first guess was going to be Applegate.
I was watching a “making of” special recently about a movie in which Mr. T appeared. And the directors said they didn’t know how to address him. Were they supposed to call him Mister? Or T? Or Mr. T? Or Larry?
That’s not even the same name. You’re probably referring to the autofill, which isn’t the same thing. type in ‘Christina’, and then search.
They’re all actresses, besides Milian. In the world of pop music, there is only one Christina who could just be ‘Christina’. And she’s the one. I think Beyonce and Madonna are not nearly as common names, so the one name thing is an easier sell for them.
While I definitely agree that Michael Jackson isn’t a one name act (if nothing else, because he had such a darn common name), I’d say that if I said, “I listen to a lot of MJ,” most folks would know what I mean. Still not Cher or anything, but certainly more recognizable than “Michael.”
Also, as a bit of a pop music aficionado, it’s worth noting that Christina Aguilera (and um, how else would you pronounce that if not that way she does? The only other way someone could say it would be “Ahh-gee-ler-uh” instead of “Ag-you-ler-uh” but neither is wrong) has never tried to bill herself as a one name act, except during that brief and oh-so-scandalous “Dirrty” phase, where she was Xtina.
Her last album was a big ol’ flop and while the one before that sold well, she’s been sort of wrapped up in this weird, attempting to be a 1940s singer/ burlesque act thing that people don’t seem to like. Speaking as someone who LOVED the Dirrty album, I wish she’d go back to that, instead of this thing she’s been doing since she got married. Hopefully with her divorce, she’ll go back to assless chaps Xtina ;).
This movie is supposed to be the big boost her career needs. We’ll see how it goes, I suppose. She does look great in the trailers, though- it’s nice to see her without ugly red lips, platinum fried hair, and drawn on eyebrows.
Wasn’t she at one time trying “Xtina”? She was acting like a slut a few years ago before changing her act, getting married, etc.
Vocally she may be the best of the “young girl singers” that appeared a decade ago: Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff, Jennifer Love Hewitt. I don’t think it’s much of s stretch for her management to pass her off as a “one name” act. Just don’t try an unpronounceable glyph like some purple-dressed short man from Minnesota did.
Come on, we all know who’s going to get the real boost from this movie - Cher! Get ready everyone, Cher’s coming back… again!
“Xtina” always slightly annoyed me - if she’s basing it on the shortening of “Christmas” to “Xmas”, shouldn’t she be “Xina”?
It’s too bad about her last album Bionic, it probably had the most enjoyable songs out of any Xtina (argh) record (I loved the singles from Stripped but found the full album overlong and boring). She has so much potential but really needs a massive image overhaul, with every album she connects less and less with the public and if Burlesque isn’t a success she’ll be dangerously close to riding solely on the success she had from 1999-2003.
Hang on, massive image overhaul? Maybe she can drop the “Aguilera” and just be “Christina”! Oh wait…
Oh man, see, I loved Stripped. I mean, it’s definitely a certain kind of album (ie: for fucking to :D), but I love it. It’s sort of like Blackout in that it’s just a solid album from top to bottom, but certainly has a. . .theme (ie: fucking).
It certainly is consistent, I like to see that in a modern pop album. I love that it had a uniting theme, and I reckon even though I wasn’t taken with the album itself, that whole “Dirrty Xtina” era from ‘Lady Marmalade’ through to ‘The Voice Within’ was just brilliant.
What she had back then (and needs now) was a purpose, not just a loose concept - for Back To Basics she was like “Let’s pretend it’s the 40s!!” and now for Bionic she’s like “Let’s pretend it’s the 2040s!!”, it’s just not working for her.
(Britney’s Blackout, on the other hand, is my favourite pure pop album of the decade. So, so good.)
You’re totally right. Bionic was very. . . try too hard, imho. You’re right, it was totally: “YAY! IT’S THE FUTURE! And omg, I’m so scandalous, he wants to put his mouth on my woohoo!” I suppose in the day and age of Gaga, you’ve got to be a little more creative with your sexual references (it’s not necessarily a matter of subtle, just. . . creative. Like “Dance in the Dark” or “Monster,” both of which remind me loosely of Prince songs from back in the day with how the lyrics are).
Personally, I detested the whole Back to Basics era after Candy Man. It was cute then, but it just. kept. going. Ugh. I think what’s most distressing, on a totally shallow, non musical level, is that she really is a beautiful woman, but goddamn does she ugly herself up sometimes. She looks great in the promos for this movie though, so who knows.
And yes, Blackout is pure epicness. Anyone who says anything different is of no importance to me :). I listen to I Got a Plan every single time I’m in the car.
Interestingly enough, according to Forbes, Judge Judy made more money that Christina this year.
Seconded. I even like them both, but Zappa’s the one I think of first.
It would have made for a very different movie if they had cast Zappa instead of Sinatra in Ocean’s Eleven.
Didn’t know John Wayne was a singer :smack:
I guess then they’d be worried about people mixing her up with Lucy Lawless’s character.
And I for one like the retro-styled songs.
This was an ad for a movie.
In music, if you just said Christina, I wouldn’t think of anyone in particular. Ms Aguilera wouldn’t enter my mind, but neither would anyone else. I’d have to read on/listen further to find out who you were talking about.
Does anyone ever refer to Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra etc by their first names only, except in articles where their first name has already been mentioned and then later mentions are shorter? (I presume their friends use the short names, too). It’s nothing to do with level of fame - it’s just not the way they style themselves. Michael, Tina and Frank are far too common to be used as standalone stage names, anyway.
Elvis is different - famous person, unusual name, so the surname is often unnecessary. (But not always, due to Elvis Costello).
That was supposed to be an I. Her name should be pronounced Ag-ee-LER-rah, but it is most usually pronounced Ag-you-LER-rah. The I is silent, and the U becomes the American long U.
And I knew there was only one R. I just mistyped. But a few people do roll that R despite it only being a single R. And even with the Spanish accent, they say Ag-you-LERRRR-rah.
And the only reason why Ms. Lohan is in the news is because of the tabloids, who have decided a one name moniker fits her. Even Britney had gotten to one name status before the tabloids took over.