Christina Aguilera Praised For VMA Appearance

Although Christina Aguilera left this year’s MTV Video Music Awards (Photos) without any of the three awards she was nominated for, she did receive much praise for her fashion, as well as her performance of “Tilt Ya Head Back” with Nelly…

MTV:
The crowd was energized with a dueling duet between Nelly and Christina Aguilera. Aguilera started off with a beautiful piano piece with Nelly interrupting her to begin their duet. Nelly and Aguilera performed “Tilt Ya Head Back” for the first time EVER. This single is from the Nelly not yet released double album “Sweat” and “Suit.”

Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Associated Press:
Christina Aguilera was classy, dressed sexy yet demurely as she debuted a jazzy number, “Tilt Ya Head Back” with rapper Nelly.

AFP:
Shop stoppers: Christina Aguilera, clad in a sexy gold dress, joined Nelly in singing “Tilt Ya Head Back,” from his upcoming album. The two put on a high-energy show reminiscent of Broadway’s Chicago.

MSNBC:
Best performance: Christina Aguilera and Nelly prove to all the lip-synchers out there, cough Britney cough, that it is actually possible to sing and dance at the same time.

Brian Hiatt, Entertainment Weekly:
Best Makeover: The newly curly-headed and blond Christina Aguilera looked and sounded rejuvenated during a performance of “Tilt Ya Head Back,” her “Superfly”-sampling new single with Nelly. Dancing and belting out bluesy riffs with equal proficiency, Aguilera seemed like a rising star again — not an aging teen-pop act fighting for relevance. Plus, in her flapper outfit, she was sexy but not particularly dirrty.

TV Guide:
I guess the Shirley Temple look was in because the gals broke out the rollers this year - Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera all sported big hair, but Aguilera stole the show with her sexy post-modern flapper look. That hip-hop-in-a-speakeasy production number was dynamite, giving Aguilera a chance to not only sing and dance, but also to grab Nelly’s trousers.

Corey Moss, MTV News:
Also impressive on the piano was none other than Nelly, who kicked off “Tilt Ya Head Back” playing the keys while Christina Aguilera sang and danced above him. The “Chicago”-inspired number also featured a couple of impressive dance breakdowns, including a tap routine.

Abbey Goodman, MTV News
Other elegant ladies were Christina Aguilera … Aguilera was in full-tilt Marilyn Monroe mode, down to a drawn-on mole. She wore a silver chandelier dress with a low-cut back, curly blond hair (short enough to see the “Xtina” tattoo on her neck) and - what else? - a girl’s best friend.

Liz Smith, Newsday:
I did think the performances of Usher, Christina Aguilera (with Nelly), Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder and Lenny Kravitz were pretty sensational. In fact, Christina, who was part rocking, sexy, soul sister and part ’20s flapper, looks like she is ready for a big-time Hollywood musical. What a voice on that girl!

Kevin D. Thompson, Palm Beach Post:
The Marilyn Meets Shirley Temple Look-Alike Award Goes To… Christina Aguilera. She rocked the Temple ‘do, a drawn-on Monroe-like mole and an eye-catching Roaring ’20s dress that left little to the imagination.

Nick Catucci, The Village Voice:
Best All-Around People: Lil Jon and Christina Aguilera. Two words: Pimp juice.

The I Don’t Know What to Call It: Al Sharpton provocatively complaining to Jon Stewart about the lack of black artists in the viewer’s choice category, then saying, “I already voted for my girl Christina!”

Adam Gonshor, andPOP:
Best performance: Nelly and Christina Aguilera were surprisingly tolerable, if not great, in their jazzy performance.