Beautiful (Christina Aguilera song)

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Beautiful
Christina Aguilera
publication December 24, 2002
length 3:59
Genre (s) pop
text Linda Perry
music Linda Perry
album Stripped

Beautiful is a song written and produced by Linda Perry , which became known through the interpretation of the American singer Christina Aguilera and became her biggest hit. It appeared on Aguilera's fourth album Stripped (2002), from which it was released as the second single. The pop ballad became a worldwide success and subsequently developed into a hymn of the movement in the LGBT scene.

background

Perry wrote Beautiful long before it was produced. She described the song as very personal and did not want to tell anyone about it for a long time. The first thing Pink Beautiful got to hear while working on the album was Missundaztood . Pink was so impressed with the song that she asked if she could record the song for her album. However, Perry wanted to use the song for her own career. A few months later, while working on Stripped , Aguilera also got to listen to Beautiful . Perry played the song on the piano and Aguilera sang along with it. After that, Aguilera told Perry that she needed this song for her album. Perry was so surprised by Aguilera's personality and her singing that she allowed him to record the song for her album.

Aguilera originally wanted to release Beautiful as the first single on the album, but her label insisted on releasing Dirrty first. After its commercial failure, Aguilera released Beautiful as a second single.

Beautiful was released on radio in the United States on December 24, 2002 and as a CD single in early 2003. Beautiful was released as a single in the UK on March 3, 2003, and across Europe in late 2003.

composition

Beautiful is a pop music ballad with 78 beats per minute. Aguilera's vocal range extends over two octaves from E ♭ 3 to G 5 . Aguilera also uses her melismatic singing.

criticism

Beautiful received critical acclaim. Entertainment Weekly called the song the highlight of the Stripped album . Stylus Magazine described the song as "a typical ballad that blends in perfectly with Aguilera's singing skills and acrobatics." Aguilera was also praised for changing her image from Dirrty to Beautiful . Perry said in an interview, “I'm really impressed with the song. To me it sounds like a Beatles song. I tried to write a song that everyone can identify with. "

Appearances

Aguilera sings Beautiful on her Back to Basics World Tour.

In 2003 Aguilera sang the song on the Late Show with David Letterman (with reduced show, just sitting on a chair), 2004 on the Ellen DeGeneres Show , 2006 on Good Morning America , 2008 on CNN Heroes Tribute Telecast (here Aguilera got standing ovation after the performance) and in December 2010 on the talent show The Voice . In addition, Aguilera sang the song on each of her world tours.

Music video

The music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund . At the beginning of the music video, Aguilera sings the line “Don't look at me”, then she sings the song alone in an empty room. Scenes of girls hurting themselves are shown, a girl tearing pages out of a fashion magazine and throwing them into the fire. In one sequence, a girl is bullied by several boys. The music video also deals with LGBT levels. One scene shows a gay couple, played by Jordan Shannon and Justin Croft, kissing and ignoring people staring at the couple.

Cultural influence

Beautiful has become an anthem in the LGBT scene. On October 5, 2010, several hundred people sang Beautiful in front of the Massachusetts State House , paying tribute to children who had committed suicide through bullying in the previous months.

The song was also featured in the Foundation for a Better Life advertisement.

The British LGBT organization in Stonewall named Beautiful the most suitable song for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Paul Gambaccini said of the song: “Many female singers from the States recorded anti-hymns against bullying , homophobia and misogyny . Some of them became world hits. Most important to us is Linda Perry's song Beautiful , made famous by Christina Aguilera. The song is a huge success that has influenced millions of people around the world. "

success

In the American Billboard Hot 100 , the song reached number 2 primarily through radio appearances and remained in the American top ten for twelve weeks. The song became a number one hit in the UK (her fourth number one), Australia (number one first time) and Canada (number one second hit). In New Zealand, the song also reached # 1 and # 60 for the most successful songs of all time.

The song also reached the top 5 in the charts in every European country. In 2004, Aguilera received a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and a nomination in the Song of the Year category for Beautiful . Beautiful became one of the most played songs on the radio in the first decade of the second millennium.

Chart placements
Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 4th (11 weeks) 11
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 5 (15 weeks) 15th
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 7th (21 weeks) 21st
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 1 (14 weeks) 14th
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 2 (27 weeks) 27
Annual charts
Charts (2003) placement
Annual charts (2003)
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 56
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 45
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 66
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 23
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 16

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful' Named Most Empowering Pop Song . Starpulse. April 8, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  2. ^ Mark Richardson, Resonant Frequency: Not Magic Yet . Pitchfork Media January 15, 2010; Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  3. Linda Perry, High Priestess of Pop . American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers . 2003; Retrieved June 12, 2007.
  4. a b c d Sheet music for “Beautiful”. Famous Music. 2002.
  5. David Browne: Stripped (Music - Christina Aguilera) . In: Entertainment Weekly , October 28, 2002; Retrieved June 12, 2007.
  6. Todd Burns: Christina Aguilera - Stripped - Review . In: Stylus Magazine , Jan. 9, 2003; Retrieved June 12, 2007.
  7. ^ Brian Hiatt: Beautiful Day . Entertainment Weekly , Jan. 28, 2003; Retrieved November 30, 2011.
  8. sputnikmusic.com
  9. Keith Caulfield: Beyonce Notches 4th Billboard 200 No. 1 with '4' . Billboard July 6, 2011; Retrieved November 30, 2011.
  10. a b Christina Aguilera to be Honored at 14th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Presented by Absolut Vodka in Los Angeles . Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation . February 8, 2003; Retrieved June 12, 2007.
  11. ^ Don Gorton: State House Vigil Remembers LGBT Suicide Victims . ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Join the Impact Massachusetts; Retrieved December 1, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / jointheimpactma.com
  12. Michael Jensen: Watch! “It Gets Better”: Columbus Children's Choir and the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus . AfterElton , April 4, 2011; accessed in December 2011.
  13. Cafeteria . Values.com ; Retrieved December 26, 2011.
  14. Christina Aguilera voted most inspirational pop act for gay people . ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Stonewall , 2011; Retrieved November 30, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stonewall.org.uk
  15. Chart History of Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
  16. charts.org.nz New Zealand charts portal
  17. mmr247.com
  18. Christina Aguilera - Beautiful chart placement Germany. GfK Entertainment , accessed on September 22, 2019 .
  19. Christina Aguilera - Beautiful chart placement Austria. In: Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien, accessed September 22, 2019 .
  20. Christina Aguilera - Beautiful chart placement Switzerland. In: Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed September 22, 2019 .
  21. Christina Aguilera - Beautiful Charthistory United Kingdom. Official Charts Company , accessed September 22, 2019 .
  22. Christina Aguilera - Beautiful chart placement United States. Billboard , accessed September 22, 2019 .
  23. ^ German year-end chart . ki.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de. 2003. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  24. ^ Austrian year-end chart . austriancharts.at. 2003. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  25. Hit Parade: Swiss year-end chart . swisscharts.com. 2003. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  26. Yearly Best Selling Singles . (PDF; 122 kB) British Phonographic Industry ; Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  27. ^ Billboard Top 100 - 2003 . Longboredsurfer.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 29, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / longboredsurfer.com