14 DAY TRIAL // Sunday night at the Grammy Awards 2011, the awards ceremony kicked off with a look to the past: an all-star tribute to Aretha Franklin, who couldn’t be there but spoke from her home in Detroit via satellite transmission.
With the tribute, Christina Aguilera had her first live performance after last weekend’s much criticized Super Bowl, when she sang the National Anthem and got the words a bit mixed up. This time, she delivered.
As we also reported over the weekend, Aguilera led the way for an Aretha Franklin tribute, together with some of the greatest voices of our time: Jennifer Hudson, Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine, Martina McBride and Yolanda Adams.
The tribute started with the five ladies singing “Natural Woman,” after which every one of them had a solo. Christina’s was “Ain’t No Way,” as we also reported over the weekend.
The ladies closed the Aretha Franklin tribute with “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves.” The Queen of Soul herself thanked them for the performance, saying she was honored to have been considered for the tribute.
“I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to be with you this evening… I wish I could have been with you all tonight, but since I couldn’t, next year, OK?” Franklin said.
This year, she was said to have been battling pancreatic cancer.
As a side note to the otherwise superb performance, Aguilera still got a fair share of criticism: first, she fumbled some words in the opening “Natural Woman,” prompting bitter comments on Twitter and other social networks, The Hollywood Reporter says.
Secondly, at the end of the performance, as she bowed with the other ladies, she tripped and nearly fell. Thankfully, the other ladies caught her before she did and she steadied herself, regaining her composure.
However, her fans insist that, regardless of minor incidents, Christina remains one of the best, most impressive and powerful voices of our times – and a consummate performer as well, as last night’s show at the Grammys proves.
Below is Christina Aguilera leading the Aretha Franklin tribute at the Grammy Awards 2011. Judge for yourself – and enjoy.