Legendary Vocalist Christina Aguilera Rocks the Hollywood Bowl With Gustavo Dudamel and LA Phil
Christina Aguilera headlined a full capacity Hollywood Bowl this past weekend for two nights (July 16 and 17) performing alongside Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil Orchestra, her band, and background singers. To say she brought the house down is an understatement.
Aguilera brought back all of her glorious hits and belted them out the only way a world-class diva could, with perfection. There’s something about paring one of the best conductors and composers of our lifetime with the full support of LA Phil, a majestic light show, choreography and wardrobe changes, and a crowd of fans young and old.
Christina wasted no time showing off her vocal range opening night two with “At Last.” She treated fans to the best of her discography and a few covers with “Ain’t No Other Man,” “Genie in a Bottle,” “The Voice Within,” “Dirrty,” “Lady Marmalade,” “What a Girl Wants,” “It’s a Man’s World,” “Fighter,” and “Beautiful,” to name just a few. Fans were showing the love right back to her with a true appreciation for her amazing vocals with roaring screams and cheers along with cell phone lights turned on, which literally brought the iconic legend to happy tears by the end of night two. Aguilera professed her love for classical music and growing up watching and singing along to The Sound of Music. She stated that rehearsal brought her to tears, moved by the orchestra and participating talent.
After a year and a half suffering under COVID-19 isolation and the great loss that our country felt with over 32 million cases and 601K deaths, fans were excited to be back at the Hollywood Bowl in full capacity. And not just be back to the old normal of 2019 but also having an incredible and inspiring talented stage of creatives to celebrate the night. It’s been a tough time for many, and the excitement and joy were beaming from the Bowl.
Gustavo Dudamel stated to a sold-out crowd, “This feels like a beautiful, beautiful resurrection,” as he led the LA Phil Orchestra through Christina’s discography with a twist, visibly and vocally expressing how happy he was to be back to full capacity with these electric performances.
Celebs came out to support Christina’s performance with Ariana Grande and husband Dalton Gomez spotted in the crowd, signing autographs incognito in a cute bucket hat, and later sharing clips of the show to her Instagram story captioning, “Screaming,’ at Christina’s mesmerizing vocals.
Stylist Mel Ottenberg stated in Interview magazine, “I wanted Xtina’s look to be rude and snatched and all about silhouette.” We can say, with confidence, he did exactly that. L.A. Roxx designed her interchangeable catsuit and are the creative minds behind George Michael’s leather jacket in the “Faith” video and Rihanna’s brown leather bustier for her Anti tour. Ottenberg, with precision, accessorized each look for various songs, including but not limited to, a draped metallic skirt by M’Lynn Hass, a Laurel DeWitt jaw-dropping neckpiece, a pair of diamanté cuffs from the Swarovski archives, Versace sunglasses, and custom leather gloves from Gaspar. For “Dirty,” Ottenberg turned to designer Zaldy (Michael Jackson, Britney) for tuxedo chaps and a stoned thong which looked incredible.
Some of our most beloved and distinguished actors and musicians have graced the stage beginning with the last week of performances, including Viola Davis. Upcoming performances include H.E.R and Cynthia Enrivo, plus so many more artists slated for some really genius and amazing collabs.
Along with the annual Sound of Music Sing-A-Long, events include Marvel Studios’ Black Panther in concert and The Princess Bride in concert, both with the LA Phil. Also on the calendar is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with the score performed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. They even have a night of “Club Quarantine” with DJ D-Nice.
For more information and to view the full LA Phil and Hollywood Bowl calendar, visit their website here.
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