What a Girl Wants (song)
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| "What a Girl Wants" | ||
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| Single by Christina Aguilera | ||
| from the album Christina Aguilera | ||
| Released | December 28, 1999 (U.S.) February 26, 2000 (U.K.) |
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| Format | CD Single CD Maxi Single Cassette Single 12" Maxi Single |
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| Recorded | 1999 | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Length | 3:33 | |
| Label | RCA Records | |
| Writer(s) | Shelly Peiken Guy Roche |
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| Producer(s) | Guy Roche | |
| Certification | Gold (RIAA, ARIA) | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Christina Aguilera singles chronology | ||
| "Genie in a Bottle" (1999) |
"What a Girl Wants" (1999) |
"The Christmas Song" (1999) |
"What a Girl Wants" is the second single from Christina Aguilera's debut album, Christina Aguilera. Released in late 1999, the single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, becoming Aguilera's second number-one single. The single also peaked at number three in the UK and at number five in Australia. Often considered one of her signature songs, the single is most known for establishing Aguilera's placement in the music industry. Many critics had written off the success of her last single, "Genie in a Bottle", as a fluke; "What a Girl Wants" proved that Aguilera wasn't a one-hit wonder. The single earned her five MTV Video Music Awards nominations; Best Female Video, Best New Artist, Best Pop Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Choreography (Tina Landon), and also a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2001.
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[edit] Song information
"What a Girl Wants" was written by Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche, and was produced by Roche as well. In her first anthem dedicated to appreciating gentlemen, Aguilera wants to thank a man who stood by her, and did not abandon her while she was confused and needed time to breathe. Like a rock he stood patiently, and knew exactly what his girl wanted and needed. To show her appreciation for the gentleman in her life, Aguilera coos, "What a girl wants, what a girl needs; Whatever makes me happy and sets you free, and I'm thanking you for knowing exactly..". Unlike her previous single, "Genie in a Bottle", this song is not meant to deal with the sexual aspect of relationships, but rather the romantic and loving part of them.
Besides "Genie in a Bottle" and "Beautiful", the song is often considered to be one of her signature songs, but ironically, it almost did not become the second single. Aguilera's record company, RCA had originally felt that the track "So Emotional" should become the second single. Aguilera became horrified as she felt that the single was a poor choice and that she would end up as a one hit wonder if it became the next single.
Originally her insecurities were brushed off by RCA, but Aguilera continued to fight. Her record company finally relented, and "What a Girl Wants" was given the go-ahead to be the next single. However, Aguilera was still not comfortable as she felt that the song did not have single potential in its current form. Instead, she decided that the song needed to be remixed and re-recorded (as the original album version of "What a Girl Wants" had been a slow jam unsuitable for pop radio at the time). When redone, the new version of "What a Girl Wants" kept much of the original melody, but showed new energy and zest as the song was now uptempo, had new lyrics, a new bridge, a Baroque style breakdown and new powerful vocals (since the original album version had been recorded, Aguilera's vocal strength had increased considerably).
As the new version of the song was not on the original album, the album was re-released with the Video Version of the new version replacing the original version. For fans of Aguilera who already had the album and did not want to buy it again, the Radio Edit of the new version was also released as one of the last major releases of CD Singles in the USA.
[edit] Live Version
Christina has sung What A Girl Wants differently from the album version since around 2002. Her most noticable change has been on the Stripped Tour, where she changed tempo, and sings the word knew in "You're the one who always knew" regularly, but built up into whistle register and whistle register vocal acrobatics. Christina also sang the song in her 2006 - 2007's tour Back To Basics Tour but sang it in a reggae style with no whistle notes.
[edit] Chart success
After the massive success of Aguilera's number-one debut single "Genie in a Bottle", there was pressure for its follow-up to succeed, as well. "What a Girl Wants" proved to be another big hit, though not to quite the same degree as "Genie In A Bottle". The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot 100 Singles Sales charts for two weeks, and peaked at number two on the Hot 100 Airplay; the single's strong sales would later assure it a gold certification. Once again, the song was an all-around huge hit, topping the Top 40 Tracks, Top 40 Mainstream and Rhythmic Top 40 charts. It is also the first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 at the turn of the millennium, giving it a place in history.
A CD Maxi Single release late into the song's run helped the song peak at number two on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales; unfortunately in terms of club play, the song was not as successful peaking at number eighteen on Hot Dance Club Play. A Spanish version of "What A Girl Wants", known as "Una Mujer", does exist. However, the Spanish version did not chart as it had not even been recorded at the time.
Elsewhere , the single fared success within the top twenty in most countries. The single also reached #1 in New Zealand, where it held that position for 5 consecutive weeks. During the week of 13th March, 2000, Christina visited the country while the single remained at #1.
[edit] Alternative Covers
| Commercial | U.K. | Japan | Maxi-Remixes |
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| Poland-Remix | Mexico | Taiwan |
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[edit] Charts
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
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| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 31 |
| Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles | 5 |
| Austrian Top 75 Singles | 22 |
| Canadian Top 100 Singles | 5 |
| Dutch Top 40 Singles | 9 |
| Finnish Top 20 Singles | 12 |
| French Top 100 Singles | 11 |
| German Top 100 Singles | 18 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Top 50 Singles | 1 |
| Swedish Top 60 Singles | 24 |
| Swiss Top 100 Singles | 17 |
| 'Tokio Hot 100' | 14 |
| U.K. Official Top 75 Singles | 3 |
| United World Chart | 1 |
[edit] Controversy
In the U.S. and France, this song made a small controversy with a famous French singer : Ophélie Winter. Actually, the two artists, who had one same producer, released the same song the same year (1998). The Aguilera's one (What A Girl Wants) had been the most popular whereas the Winter's one (Ce Que Je Suis and What A Girl Wants which was realesed in the international version of Privacy) had a small success in its country. However, Aguilera and Winter decided to meet together and resolved the problem one year later.
[edit] Remixes
A different version was used as the single version than the album version. In the video, there is a slightly altered version of the single version is used, which includes a classical-themed breakdown in the video and an extended ending in the video version as well. Four official remixes were released in the US on the CD maxi-single, including two each by Eddie Arroyo and Thunderpuss. Further remixes were released on international versions of the single.
[edit] Trivia
- The music video for What a Girl Wants features a then-20-year-old Brandon Routh, who went on to portray Superman in the movie Superman Returns.
- A poster of Dragon Ball GT can be seen in the background of the music video.
- The place on the video is the same of Paula Abdul´s Coldhearted video.
[edit] References
| Preceded by "Smooth" by Santana featuring Rob Thomas |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single January 15, 2000- January 22, 2000 |
Succeeded by "I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden |
| Preceded by "I Try" by Macy Gray |
RIANZ (New Zealand) number one single 6 February 2000 |
Succeeded by "Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)" by Vengaboys |
| Preceded by "Kiss (When the Sun Don't Shine)" by Vengaboys |
RIANZ (New Zealand) number one single 20 February 2000 |
Succeeded by "LA Song (out of This Town)" by Beth Hart |
| Preceded by "LA Song (out of This Town)" by Beth Hart |
RIANZ (New Zealand) number one single 5 March 2000 |
Succeeded by "Two In A Million" by S Club 7 |
| Christina Aguilera |
|---|
| Discography |
| Albums |
| Christina Aguilera (1999) • Stripped (2002) • Back to Basics (2006) |
| Other Albums |
| Mi Reflejo (2000) · My Kind of Christmas (2000) · Just Be Free (2001) |
| Singles |
| "Reflection" · "Genie in a Bottle" · "The Christmas Song" · "What a Girl Wants" · "I Turn to You" · "Come on Over Baby" · "Pero me acuerdo de ti" · "Christmas Time" · "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" · "Falsas Esperanzas" · "Lady Marmalade" · "Dirrty" · "Beautiful" · "Fighter" · "Can't Hold Us Down" · "Infatuation" · "The Voice Within" · "Car Wash" · "Tilt Ya Head Back" · "Ain't No Other Man" · "Hurt" · "Tell Me" · "Candyman" |
| Related articles |
| Discography · Awards · B-Sides/Unreleased songs · RCA Records |
