Genius in a Bottle
| Genius in a Bottle | |
|---|---|
| Christina Aguilera | |
| publication | June 22, 1999 |
| length | 3:36 |
| Genre (s) | Dance-Pop , Teen Pop , Contemporary R&B |
| Author (s) | David Frank, Steve Kipner |
| Producer (s) | David Frank, Steve Kipner, Pamela Sheyne |
| Label | RCA |
| album | Christina Aguilera |
Genie in a Bottle is a song written by Steve Kipner, David Frank and Pam Sheyne and performed by Christina Aguilera . The piece was released in June 1999 as a pre- release single to her debut album Christina Aguilera . The title was Aguilera's breakthrough and stayed at # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks . The song was awarded platinum several times and Aguilera was nominated for a Grammy in the category "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance".
Emergence
The songwriting team Steve Kipner and David Frank had known each other since working for Ophélie Winter . In addition, Frank worked with various British composers and lyricists, who suggested Pam Sheyne as the third member of the team. Sheyne was from New Zealand and had just moved to the US from the UK. On the first day they worked together, Frank came up with an idea for a new song based on a simple eight-bar loop . Together the trio completed the work on the piece. The first line of text of the song was "If you want to be with me", based on this, the song text was improvised. The line "I'm a genie in a bottle", which later became the song title, comes from Kipner.
After the song was finished, the trio recorded a demo that same day and sent it to the A&R departments of various record companies. Several interested people got in touch, among them Ron Fair from RCA Records , who wanted the piece for Christina Aguilera. Aguilera wanted to start her career with a ballad like Mariah Carey , but Fair insisted on starting it with a rhythmic song first. The songwriters initially had concerns because they only knew Aguilera from the piece Reflections for the soundtrack to the film Mulan and thought her voice was unsuitable for the song. However, during an audition, Aguilera was able to convince the songwriting trio. The soundtracks of the demo were used as the basis for recording the song. The vocals were overdubbed with Aguilera's voice , she not only sang the lead vocals , but also took over all the backing vocals . The first mix sounded too hard and too powerful, so the end mix was a bit softer to underline Aguilera's innocent and vulnerable character.
Release and remakes
Originally the song was supposed to be called "If You Want to Be with Me", but this was too boring for the manager of Aguilera, so the song was released as a single on June 22, 1999 as Genie in a Bottle . Within the first month of its release, the single sold around 100,000 times in the US. The release of the single was followed by a music video directed by Diane Martell.
Aguilera sang a remake version of the song called Genie 2.0 at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards in Hollywood ; she was only lightly dressed again during the performance. Genie 2.0 is also featured on their first greatest hits album, Keeps Gettin 'Better a Decade of Hits .
Controversy over the text
The text was viewed critically, various radio stations, especially the Disney group, had reservations about playing it. The song is provocative and propagates the right of women to sexual satisfaction. Aguilera defended herself, stating that the song wasn't about sex, but about self-respect. Nobody should give up before they receive the necessary respect. She also complained that double standards were applied, because boy bands like * NSYNC were not criticized for their revealing stage shows and the sexual innuendos in the lyrics to the same extent as the female pop stars.
Commercial win
Chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
2 (21 weeks) | 21st |
 Austria (Ö3)
|
1 (19 weeks) | 19th |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
2 (30 weeks) | 30th |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
1 (29 weeks) | 29 |
 United States (Billboard)
|
1 (25 weeks) | 25th |
The song was released on June 22nd, 1999 and reached number 1 on the Billboard Pop Charts as well as the “Top 40 Mainstream” charts, “Top 40 Tracks” and “Rhythmic Top 40” charts and the “Top 40 Adult” “Charts. The Spanish version of Genie in a Bottle, Genio Atrapado became a top hit on the Latin charts.
Genie in a Bottle stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 25 weeks and on the UK charts for 43 weeks, where, as in Canada, it stayed at number 1 for several weeks.
The song is Aguilera's second biggest chart success, behind Lady Marmalade , a collaboration with Lil 'Kim , Mýa and Pink . Genie in a Bottle was also awarded platinum in Germany for over 500,000 units sold.
Awards for music sales
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Australia (ARIA)
|
 platinum
|
70,000 |
 Belgium (BEA)
|
platinum
|
50,000 |
|
Germany (BVMI)
|
platinum
|
500,000 |
 France (SNEP)
|
 gold
|
300,000 |
 New Zealand (RMNZ)
|
platinum
|
15,000 |
 Sweden (IFPI)
|
platinum
|
40,000 |
|
Switzerland (IFPI)
|
gold
|
25,000 |
|
United States (RIAA)
|
platinum
|
1,000,000 |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
platinum
|
712,000 |
| All in all |
2 × gold 7 × platinum |
2,212,000 |
Main article: Christina Aguilera / Music Sales Awards
Artist awards
For Genie in a Bottle Aguilera was nominated in 1999 for a Grammy in the category "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". The single brought Aguilera many awards, such as "Best Selling New Artist" at the World Music Awards.
| year | event | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Grammys | Best Female Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated |
| 1999 | MTV Asia Awards | Hot Seat Artist of the Month | Won |
| 1999 | Blockbuster Award | Favorite single | Won |
| 2000 | World Music Awards | Best Selling New Artist | Won |
| 2000 | Ivor Novello Awards | International Hit of the Year | Won |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Fred Bronson: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . Updated and Expanded 5th Edition. Billboard Books, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-8230-7677-2 , pp. 885 .
- ^ Dylan Siegler: Pop Vets Join Forces As Hitmaking Duo . In: Billboard . August 21, 1999, p. 36 .
- ↑ a b Larry Flick: Aguilera's Expanding Beyond 'Genie' . In: Billboard . July 24, 1999, p. 12 .
- ↑ a b Ben Shapiro: Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future . Regnery Publishing, 2005, ISBN 978-0-89526-016-1 , pp. 53 f .
- ↑ Kerry Mallan, Sharyn Pearce (Ed.): Youth Cultures: Texts, Images, and Identities . Greenwood Publishing, 2003, ISBN 978-0-275-97409-1 , pp. 36 .
- ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ musikindustrie.de
- ↑ Justin Myers: Christina Aguilera's Official Top 20 biggest songs. In: Official Charts Company. April 19, 2017, accessed May 2, 2017 .