DrewLive: AOL Live welcomes RCA recording artist Christina Aguilera. Hey, Christina, how are you doing?

Christina Aguilera: Doing great.

DrewLive: We hear you have big announcement for us today, and we're very excited to have you at AOL. We're going to get to the questions now. First of all, we wanted to know what your newest single is.

Christina Aguilera: My new single is a song called "I Turn to You." It's the first ballad I've released, Dianne Warren ballad, and I'm really, really excited about it. It's a song I think that anybody can relate to in any situation. It's about turning to a loved one in your time of need, or the person that has always been there for you or is there for you whenever you need them. It can be love-oriented in the sense that it can be related to a boyfriend, girlfriend, mom, dad, etc.

DrewLive: OK, great. Also, we have a question from Ortega Soccer 10: Do you think you might go into acting?

Christina Aguilera: It's something I definitely do want to do in the future. Right now I have so much on my plate musically, considering three albums being made, including a Spanish album, a Christmas album and, of course, the follow-up to my debut, and also headlining my own tour this summer. I'm pretty busy and I can't -- I don't have any time to sit and really take any scripts seriously that have come in. But I will definitely do so in the future.

DrewLive: Caiif-101 says: Hey, Christina, besides singing, what else in the future would you like to accomplish?

Christina Aguilera: Well, my all-time goal is to become an all-around entertainer. That's why I really look up to -- a perfect example of that in the business as a strong, positive female, I think, being Madonna, a smart businesswoman, has been able to reinvent herself throughout the years, be daring enough to take chances that others maybe wouldn't, express herself creatively the way she likes and not really caring about other people's opinions. So I can really admire that and the fact that she's been able to stay on the stage, the studio, and the screen and have success at all three. That's something I'd like to do in the future as well.

DrewLive: You mention that you have a Latin album coming out soon. Do you speak Spanish fluently?

Christina Aguilera: I am in the process, actually, of getting my Spanish perfected, really. I grew up hearing it being spoken in my household. My father being from Ecuador, I'm half Latin. So making a Spanish album is something I've always wanted to do. Now that I've been given a chance, I'm really, really excited about it. I'm in Miami recording it. It should have a fall release date. It's going really, really well.

DrewLive: You have traveled to many places. Is there one that's your favorite?

Christina Aguilera: I really enjoy going to Japan. I spent some years growing up there when I was in my younger childhood. It's kind of almost like an international second home, so there's a lot of familiarity about it, and I really enjoy going to Spain. And London is another favorite place of mine, as well.

DrewLive: Are there any songs that you would consider covering?

Christina Aguilera: Well, the follow-up to my debut, I'm actually covering -- and in my live shows I tend to do it as well and will be doing it in the tour which I'll be headlining this summer -- a song by my favorite blues singer, Etta James, called "At Last," and I think we're looking to cover the old rock song "All Right Now." Who does that song? Maybe you can help me out with that.

DrewLive: Oh, I forget.

Christina Aguilera: I do too. But it's an old song.

DrewLive: That's awesome.

Christina Aguilera: I know.

DrewLive: OK, let's see, Xxgapgirl asks: When do you think you'll start your new CD?

Christina Aguilera: Well, we have to get these two other CDs finished with in the first place, so probably January of 2001 I will start recording my second album or getting ideas. We're getting together ideas and songs right now. I'll be having a lot more writing [credits] on my next album and exploring many, many new [ideas] musically, trying to put a lot of other musical inflections you might not expect, duets with people you might not expect too. That's the unexpected in the future. It's going to be a real exciting project for me to explore my creativity and take it where I haven't before, to the next level.

DrewLive: Very good. What artists [do you] find to be most inspirational, and who are your favorites?

Christina Aguilera: Most inspirational, as entertainers, I really look up to females like Madonna and Janet Jackson. Vocally, I've always listened to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Etta James. Brian McKnight is my favorite singer. And those are the main people that I really look up to.

DrewLive: Angel DNV asks: Christina, I think you have a beautiful voice. I too want to start singing and want to make something out of it, but I'm having a hard time getting started. Do you have any suggestions?

Christina Aguilera: Where is she from, does she say?

DrewLive: Unfortunately, it doesn't say.

Christina Aguilera: OK. Well, thank you very much. Of course, if you have this dream, totally go for it and never look back. A good way to start is exploring your own creativity to its fullest and trying to come up with your own melody ideas, lyric ideas. Writing your own music is kind of a first step. That's what you can make -- in trying to get your foot in the door as far as regular labels are concerned, getting together with a producer and making demos together, getting some sort of management to represent you so that you can put together a package deal, maybe a head shot, your demos and -- we did a videotape of things that I had done television-wise and internationally-wise. It's sort of a background tape. Put together a package like that, and trying your hardest and never giving up.

DrewLive: Sounds inspirational. We have Mellow Cav 10 asking: Where was your video filmed, your most recent one?

Christina Aguilera: My recent video was filmed out of LA.

DrewLive: Here, from Chitown 67: Hi, Christina Aguilera, my name is Chi, and I'm your biggest fan. I want to know what it was like being in the Mickey Mouse Club with Britney Spears and the rest of the gang.

Christina Aguilera: Hey, Chi. Being in the Mickey Mouse Club was a really, really good experience for me. First of all, of course, because of the experience, being able to show three different sides of yourself as far as your acting ability, dancing ability and vocal ability, because of the fact that it was a variety show for kids, you have to know how to do all three, and it was good exercising that. And working with, second of all, other kids on the show, so many other kids on the show, a cast of 20 that truly enjoyed performing and saw it as a future career choice as much as I did. It was really, really cool to be able to be with other kids that could relate to those dreams of mine and that passion and that love for music and film as much as I did.

DrewLive: Also, have you considered going to college? Have you thought about any schools yet?

Christina Aguilera: College is something that I could definitely get into maybe in a few years, going back. I'd probably major in something like psychology, which I was really interested in, which I studied the last few years I was in high school. It was fun for me. So I'd probably major in that. But I mean, I'm in what I love to do now, and maybe when I take a break from this, I might head back over to think about picking a college.

DrewLive: Castortrer68 asks: How did you like "Saturday Night Live"?

Christina Aguilera: I had a blast. Waiting around was kind of a drag, because to be on the show, you don't know, but you're there from like -- like 10:00 in the morning, run through after run through, till the actual midnight filming. So it's kind of like waiting around for a while in hair and makeup. But the actual performance was really, really cool. The cast members were really funny and cool to be around and hang out with afterwards. It was a good vibe, a good show.

DrewLive: Sounds kind of rigorous. Do you use the Internet, and have you ever been on AOL?

Christina Aguilera: Oh, yeah. I've totally -- I try to use it as often as I can, considering my schedule. I don't really get as many chances as I like, but I'm in the process of getting a laptop so I can get on more often and talk to more people out there.

DrewLive: What was it like to win a Grammy? How did it feel?

Christina Aguilera: Winning a Grammy was truly incredible. I had dreamt about actually winning a Grammy since I was, oh, 7 or 8 years old. Best New Artist is funny enough, that happened to be the category I looked at hoping to one day at least be nominated for, and actually, you know, being 19 now and living in the moment, it was incredible. I mean, I didn't expect it whatsoever, just because my album had been out the shortest amount of time out of everyone I was up against, but I was shocked, completely shocked and overwhelmed. The greatest moment careerwise to date.

DrewLive: Calia14 asks: How do you think the media handles stars of your age group?

Christina Aguilera: That's a really good question. Well, I think the media -- well, I think there's a lot of lazy journalists out there over the past year who had looked at the teens -- everyone likes to call it the teen phenomenon thing this year, because there were a lot of teen acts who had hit singles out at the same time, who had certain similarities involving backgrounds and hair color and tummies, and it was just a little bit lazy for everyone to just pan everyone together as being the same thing. If you take the time to listen to a record, if you take the time to watch a live show and to hear vocals and different sounds, then you'll see how different we all are. And I think it's just a matter of time before everyone starts to realize just how different it is and how different the paths that we all proceed to go on will be. But it's going to be really interesting, and it's just been kind of hard over the past year with certain comparisons, but I think in the future everything's going to be fine.

DrewLive: One of our MCs just told me that you have 13,000 questions.

Christina Aguilera: Oh, dang.

DrewLive: That's a lot.

Christina Aguilera: How many questions do you usually get?

DrewLive: It can vary. Sometimes it's just a few hundred. Sometimes it's less, sometimes it's more -- 13,000, though, it might be one of our records.

Christina Aguilera: Really?

DrewLive: It's definitely a lot.

Christina Aguilera: Oh, cool.

DrewLive: Testament to your popularity. G. lity asks: When did you start singing?

Christina Aguilera: Practically since I was out of diapers. I totally gravitated to music as being a complete love and release and, of course, eventually a career choice. But I would have those childhood stories of spreading towels on the floor and using bottles of shampoo as a -- as I used to call it, "ikaphone." And really "The Sound of Music" was my real real music inspiration that I just said, wow, at like 5 years old.

DrewLive: Wow. Rolbowski asks: Have you ever considered doing a blues album?

Christina Aguilera: That would be hot. It would be really, really fun for me to sink my teeth into something like that. I think we're starting little by little to get in that direction. A good start for me is coming up on my Christmas album. I have a duet, actually, that I'll be doing with Etta James on "Merry Christmas, Baby." It's a Christmas song. We'll see what happens. Maybe when I get a bit older, I'll be able to truly release a full album of that kind of music. But you'll definitely hear more inflections of that type of style on my next record and on records thereafter.

DrewLive: Arat 8619 asks you: Has your singing career affected your relationship with anyone in your family? If so, how?

Christina Aguilera: It's hard to stay in touch as regularly as you would if you were closer or your schedule wasn't so hectic and you had to deal with time differences, international dilemmas, problems, connections, things like that. But it's just a matter of really making time to talk to family, taking time out for friends. Even if it's two minutes, just to call and check in and say hey and see how everybody is and getting back to them as much as possible. It's always been really important to me, especially now in my life, whenever there's so many fake aspects of the business and superficial people trying to get at you for superficial reasons, it's so important to keep those old friends and stay close to your family who you know has always supported you with or without the success.

DrewLive: Your name has been associated with a lot of big stars. Are you currently dating anyone?

Christina Aguilera: The rumor this year, they've been really, really crazy about who I've been linked to. You know, especially now that -- well, I don't know. Anyway....

DrewLive: Moving on, right?

Christina Aguilera: We won't go where I was going to go, but anyway.

DrewLive: Well, let's see. Someone asked what was it like touring with TLC.

Christina Aguilera: Oh, touring with TLC was really, really great. That was incredible just because it was my first time living on a tour bus, basically, for that month, playing in huge venues night after night. It was really, really fun for me, just because I'm such a lover of live performing. It's the biggest high in the world to hear, you know, thousands of people sometimes sing back the lyrics of your songs and see their appreciation for your music and what you do. That was really incredible, and it was a good learning experience for me to be around the girls, to be on that tour, and good preparation for the tour this summer.

DrewLive: That's right. That must be amazing hearing everyone singing your songs back to you, like such a rush, you know?

Christina Aguilera: Totally.

DrewLive: Do you have a cause that you feel passionate about? And how can your fame help?

Christina Aguilera: Well, I definitely try whenever I can to donate to charities involving abused children and battered women. That's a cause that I really feel strongly about and where I can help out. I mean I'm more than glad to. Trying to affect people's lives means more to me than selling how many millions of records. That's something I've felt really strongly about, because I've been around certain situations myself. It's kind of an important thing for me to use my fame to try to help those situations.

Christina Aguilera: In the future, you know, I'd like to really -- actually go to schools and talk to kids who may be in those situations and open up some of my own experiences and try to, you know, reach out to other kids and help them get out of those situations. And maybe opening up a shelter myself one day. You know, I even try to visit children's hospitals sometimes as well, which I've done over the past year.

DrewLive: That's great. We have another question here for you from Yankeez113: How do you feel about going on tour with Destiny's Child, and when does it start?

Christina Aguilera: I was so thrilled when I heard that Destiny's Child was going to be joining me on the road. They're incredible vocalists, and "The Writing on the Wall" was one of my favorite records that I played out over the past year that I've been out on the road. The tour begins in July and will be continuing on through October, ending in October. So it's going to be really, really fun to go out there and do this for the first time.

DrewLive: Then we also have a follow-up question to that, which is: Will Destiny's Child be with you for the whole tour, or other artists?

Christina Aguilera: They'll be on for the majority, but there will be other artists -- you know, it will be interchangeable throughout the tour.

DrewLive: Andicat asks: What will be your next single after this one? Do you know yet?

Christina Aguilera: I think we are either considering "Come on Over" or "So Emotional," but both will be changed a bit. I'm a different artist now than I was whenever I recorded the things, and that's why I'd like to change them up a little bit, put different beats behind them, change some things vocally, just because I've learned a lot throughout the past year and have grown a lot as an artist. We're going to get back in the studio and see what we come up with for the next single.

DrewLive: We have a dance music fan here asking: A lot of times your songs are remixed into dance remixes. Does that bother you, or do you like it? And do you like dance music?

Christina Aguilera: I absolutely love being able to play around with music and put a whole different feel to maybe a ballad into a dance, up-tempo song. I totally love being able to do that and experimenting musically like that. So it doesn't bother me at all. I enjoy it, continuing to do it in the future, and I think the music is really, really cool, so I'm a fan of all kind of music, so it's cool.

DrewLive: Next question is: When you were younger, did you have a crush on anyone famous?

Christina Aguilera: When I was 15 years old, I had the biggest crush on David Navarro, the guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the time. I used to sleep with the inside cover of their CD every night underneath my pillow. For Halloween, I seriously carved a Dave Navarro pumpkin. I was hard-core. I was a fan, hard-core fan, whatever you want to call it. So yes, I did have a celebrity crush.

DrewLive: And your web site, someone is asking about. Do you know what the address is?

Christina Aguilera: Yes. You can check out more details about the tour -- full details about the tour and what I'm up to, what I'm going to be doing throughout the next year, details on Christina-a.com.

DrewLive: I'm not sure if you know this, but if you go to keyword Christina Aguilera through AOL, it will go right to your site. We make it even easier, right? There's even more. Cdbabyblue2000 asks: How does it feel to go on your own headlining tour?

Christina Aguilera: I cannot tell you how psyched I am about this tour. We've got so many cool things going on, change-ups to songs you might not expect, maybe special appearances. It's going to be really, really exciting. I've always wanted to headline my own tour. It's going to be a real, shall we say, carpet ride. It's going to be really, really fun. It's going to be a great experience for, I think, everybody. I'm taking my whole band, all my dancers. It will be a great thing.

DrewLive: Our next question is from G.I. Joe 31711. He asks: Have any fans ever done anything super creative in their attempts to meet you?

Christina Aguilera: In their attempts to meet me?

DrewLive: I don't know if you'd want to share or not.

Christina Aguilera: Let's skip that question, do you mind?

DrewLive: No problem. Next one is: Have you met other stars in your age group like Jessica Simpson or Mandy Moore or Britney Spears? And do the comparisons bother you, or do you like them?
Christina Aguilera: I have met all three, actually. I think they're all really sweet girls, talented in their own different ways. They all have differences, and so do I. So I think that the comparisons, you know -- I think they're all really talented artists, but the only thing is, you know, whenever you overlook everybody for being the same thing, that's what bothered me a little bit, you know? I mean, we all have our differences, different styles in live performances, you know? So it's all different things. Whenever you get lazy and put it all together, then it's not cool. Again, it's kind of a repeat of the last question, it's just a matter of time before it's all out.

DrewLive: That's understandable, definitely.

Christina Aguilera: I really respect Jessica's vocal ability.

DrewLive: Excellent, isn't it? Here we have dundamkid25. They want to know how your weeks usually go. What is your schedule like?

Christina Aguilera: It varies pretty much every day. This week, I'm in Miami recording my Spanish record. Next week, I'm in Los Angeles recording my Christmas record. I'll be in Europe afterwards promoting my new single, "I Turn to You." Then I return to the States to open my tour. So it's a pretty crazy schedule that varies day by day, second by second. But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I have a blast.

Christina Aguilera: Well, it's been fun chatting with everyone. Thanks for sending in all your questions. I hope to see you on the road, on the tour very shortly. And don't forget to check out www.Christina-a.com for more details on upcoming tour dates, information, and what I am doing in the near and far future. Thanks again for all your support and appreciation. It means the world to me that you have given me the chance to get out there and do what I need to do everyday. Hugs & kisses! Love, Christina.