September 8, 2000

Christina designs one-of-
a-kind jacket for charity

We all know Christina's musical talents ... but have you seen her artistic talents?

In support of the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, Levi's wanted to bring out the artist in the Best New Artist nominees.

Levi's challenged each of the nominees to show off their artistic skills by decorating their very own denim jacket.

Christina took the challenge and fans bid to own this stunnning one-of-a-kind collectible. All proceeds went to one of Christina's favorite charities - The Foundation Fighting Blindness, Retina International.

Christina Aguilera was among those who performed at the MTV Video Music Awards on MTV held on Thursday, September 7, 2000 in New York City.

The final hour of the show was all about the performers reaching out to those in the audience, with some in the crowd deciding to reach back.

While his performance didn't exactly fill up the stage, Nelly more than admirably filled the slot originally intended for DMX as he took his St. Lou-loving rhymes out into the orchestra pit of the Radio City Music Hall.

Nelly's baggy pants threatened to drop around his ankles during the call-and-response rhymes of 'Country Grammar,' but the rapper managed to keep his wits (and waistband) about him, all while flashing a virtual mine of bling-bling diamonds likely paid for by royalties from his number one LP.

If Nelly kept it simple, then Christina Aguilera was seeking the sublime with her rendition of 'Come On Over Baby,' a performance that was set in decidedly 'Arabian Nights'-inspired surroundings, complete with belly dancers and fire-eaters.

Aguilera demonstrably belted out the tune in a manner that left little doubt which of the evening's VMA performers were live singers and which were lip-syncers.

At the tail end of Aguilera's set, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst rose from his seat in the house and walked up onstage in the middle of the song. After circling the singer, Durst proceeded to lead Aguilera and her backing band through an impromptu hardcore thrash that brought the stunned crowd to its feet.

The show scored water cooler points by pairing Durst with Aguilera for a performance that saw Aguilera stomping around the stage while Durst rocked the mic.

Considering Blink-182's off-key performance of 'All The Small Things' during last year's VMA pre-show at the Metropolitan Opera House, the band, at first, seemed like an odd choice to close out the 2000 ceremony with the same song.

But in keeping with the overall outré nature of the live performances at this year's event, Blink-182 easily fit in, although more than a few eyebrows were raised in the audience when the band launched into a surprisingly straightforward rendition of the 'TRL' fave.

About a minute into the song, the merry punk pranksters unveiled their performance punchline, as scores of vertically challenged folks surrounded the band and danced across the stage, with several of the 'small things' being suspended from wires above the trio while pyrotechnics exploded overhead.

- David Basham for MTV