Christina Aguilera has returned to the stage in the UK for the first time in over a decade, with The X Tour, and there is no doubt we have missed her.
From the very second she kicked off her performance – sitting on a throne rising from under the stage – it was clear to see that she is back to her best, and the deafening screams from a packed out crowd at Wembley Stadium proved that, 21 years after she first came on the scene, we’ve still got a lot more to come.
The 38-year-old opened with Bionic, from her 2010 album, before reminding us all of her 2012 banger, Your Body. But it was when she blessed us with Genie In A Bottle that the show really lifted off. And she showed off that impressive vocal talent by sliding effortlessly into a shortened version The Voice Within, giving us all kinds of feels.
One very quick costume change and video interlude later, Christina was back on stage. She didn’t address the crowd too much, aside from telling us how delighted she was to be back in London, choosing instead to rattle through more of her iconic discography. And, given that the concert lasted around an hour-and-a-half, this was more than welcomed.
But it was her earlier songs that hogged the limelight. She belted out Dirrty, Lady Marmalade, What A Girl Wants and a criminally short version of Come On Over (All I Want Is You) without taking a breath. And messages of ‘Power, Courage, Passion, Strength’ were displayed as she belted out Can’t Hold Us Down, with videos of the women’s march playing behind her and confetti falling all over the place.
She finished things off by throwing it back to her Stripped era, with fans shoving their phone torches in the air as she belted out Beautiful, singing the words back to her with more emotion than Wembley has probably ever seen before. Honestly, it was a moment. And then, in true Christina form, she switched up the atmosphere with Fighter, getting us all ready to do battle for ourselves and those around us.
Let There Be Love – from Lotus – marked the end of the night, with the Christina bringing out her adorable five-year-old daughter Summer to say goodbye to the crowd with her.
If there’s one criticism, she wasn’t on stage for long enough. When the curtain came down after the finale, the audience were still calling out for more. And, after waiting not so patiently for 13 years to get a glimpse at the Beautiful singer in action, who could really blame them?
One thing is for sure, Christina Aguilera is definitely still a Fighter, and there is definitely no holding her down – just please don’t leave us hanging for a decade for the next concert!
