June 26, 2001

More on 'Lady Marmalade'

From Music Digest:

Christina: Queen of Creative

Pop goddess Christina Aguilera knows how to keep her fans engaged and wondering. Aguilera has changed her look for all her videos and appearances to date. This latest project, 'Lady Marmalade' is no different. Aguilera's vocals on the song are outstanding and eerily similar to those on the original.

Christina added, 'I love collaborating first of all, especially with artists who I think would be fun and whose music I admire like Lil' Kim. Something new, something different. Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott is extremely talented. Mya, Pink - it was so fun. It really, really was. To be working with a bunch of females and getting in the studio. Making that video was really, really fun too, being part of the whole thing - the show jewelry and the lingerie.'

Aguilera, Pink, Mya and Lil' Kim transform themselves into gothic madames of the street for the video. While many will put down Aguilera for taking on the more mature look, many will realize this is her first step in separating herself from her slightly dull female pop counterparts. She has opened herself up to new avenues in the music world and will most likely remain a fixture in the years to come.

From In Style:

In the video for 'Lady Marmalade' - a cover of Patti LaBelle's hit recorded for Moulin Rouge - Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink vamp it up as 'turn-of-the-century cancan dancers working at a peep show,' says director Paul Hunter. 'We wanted to be beautiful and fierce in our nakedness!' jokes Pink.

Stylist Trish Summerville outfitted the quintet in corsets, bustles and garters inspired by the film but 'funked up the period costumes with modern shoes, hair and makeup.' Also as colorful as a Toulouse-Lautrec canvas: the three-day shoot. While the song describes streetwalking, the soundstage location required a bit more of the performers. 'Downtown L.A. has a lot of rats,' notes Lil' Kim. 'Sometimes we'd have to run to the set to avoid them.'

Face
'It was all about being over the top,' says Christina. 'Big hair, big lashes, flashy nails, rhinestones galore - on the face & hair. I wanted really strong makeup," Aguilera says. 'I had pink & black shadows, rhinestone sideburns and real diamonds on the ends of my lashes.'

Clothes
'The clothes were not comfortable,' states Christina, who wore a bustier inspired by a red dress in the movie. 'the tight corsets, high lace-up boots and big bustle - I could not even sit down - were really awkward at times. I definitely waited until the last possible minute to get dressed.' Painful or not, the look worked. 'Whether it was top hats, garter belts, feathers or rhinestone head pieces,' say Christina, 'we all stood out in our own unique way.'

Hosiery
The girls got their kicks wearing sheer stockings. For similar styles, try Gerbe Passion thigh-highs, Wolford Skyline tights, Gerber Resille thigh-highs and Wolford Versailles tights with gold sparkles.

See full layout featuring Christina

From Launch.com:

Missy Elliott and Mya talked to Launch.com about 'Lady Marmalade' as the single hit number 1 saying, 'In listening to the record, we knew that whoever sung the lightest would sing first, and Mya has the lightest voice. So Mya would sing first, and then we would gradually build because Christina has the strongest voice, so Pink would go second, and we would put Kim in the middle, with the little rhyming part, and then we would let Christina take it out along with everybody else. So that's how we were able to fit who would go where.'

Mya said that working with Christina, Lil' Kim, and Pink was a positive experience. 'It went really, really well,' she said. 'We were all in the studio together, so we got along, no cat fighting. But it's a hot song,' Mya said of the foursome's re-recording of '70s girl group LaBelle's hit. 'It's a great thing - females getting along for a change.'

The original 'Lady Marmalade' hit #1 in 1975.