Christina Aguilera looks back at her former relevance.

Regardless of her few remaining fans’ selective memories, there is no denying that Christina Aguilera’s career has sunk to an all time low. In fact, she has tumbled from her position as one of her generation’s leading Pop stars to a hook singer for more relevant artists. Luckily, all is not lost.

With the raw talent Aguilera possesses, it is difficult to declare her career completely over. However, she needs to a major overhaul before she could return to the top of the charts and the good graces of the music fans who now only buy her albums as lining for their kitties’ litter boxes. Reading the preceding sentence to myself while watching the above picture of Aguilera has given me the worst possible visual in my mind…

So, let’s get straight to the point of this special Flaming Feature. Check out the five steps Aguilera can employ to secure a much needed career boost below:

5. Try a Style Change

Christina Aguilera…why?

Some of us have made fat jokes regarding Aguilera’s current weight but that’s simply because of how she dresses. She is far from petite yet she wears outfits that artists half her size wouldn’t dare, thus make her look even bigger as every roll, lump and chunk fights for a gasp of air under her fishnets.

The real point here is that we live in a visual era of media, and young music fans – the iTunes generation – judge what they see before they actually listen to the music. Hence, when Aguilera parades onstage in her painfully skimpy outfits or flaunts what I can only assume is her “sex appeal” in her rather tacky videos, she is repelling more people instead than she attracts.

Aguilera claimed that Adele was major inspiration for her Lotus album so perhaps she should a hint from her peer and dress to suit her frame. Seriously, we already have to deal with one Snooki on MTV and we don’t need another one in a slightly larger size.

4. Learn to be Likeable

Aguilera is known throughout the industry as being one of the most difficult artists with whom to work and she has a list of feuds with other artists that is almost too long to track. From Britney Spears to Mary J. Blige, it seems as though few people could tolerate her abrasive arrogance for longer than a few minutes.

So, Aguilera needs to either develop some humility and change the condescending tone that makes her interviews almost unbearable or at least pretend to be nice. People today need the illusion that their favourite Pop stars are relatable and Aguilera’s “everything I do is perfect and you’re stupid if you can’t see that” attitude prevents them from accepting her.

How dare Justin Bieber touch Legendtina Aguilera?!

3. Utilise Social Media

I just mentioned the importance of artists being relatable and likeable, and there is a simple tool to help make that possible – social media. By tweeting their fans on Twitter or responding to Facebook comments, acts bridge the gap between celebrity and common fan, therefore creating the illusion that they are just like us.

Aguilera does have a Twitter page but she rarely tweets anything except promotional messages for The Voice and her random products. Basically, it appears as though she thinks she is too good to interact with the people who still care about her and that isn’t doing her any favours.

Perhaps Aguilera should follow more of her fans and retweet their Twitter comments more often. Also, she could follow in Mariah Carey and Brandy’s footsteps by posting YouTube clips of her singing or having fun to help her seem more human. Come on Aguilera, let down your hair from that ivory tower and allow your fans to see the ‘real’ you.

2. Stop Screaming

Aguilera has a powerhouse voice but do we really need to hear her scream, wail, yell and screech during every performance? The true beauty of her instrument – well, what’s left of it – shines when she exhibits restraint and focuses on the meaning of the music instead of trying to impress us with strangled high notes.

As I pointed out in a previous article regarding the struggles of big-voiced singers on modern radio, the current breed of music fans isn’t chasing high octave riffs and runs. Rather, they crave catchy hooks and easy to follow melodies. So, Aguilera would benefit from understanding that less is truly more in 2013.

1. Find Her Own Sound

Throughout her career, Aguilera has reinvented her sound on many occasions yet never developed a style of her own. Her debut album was an ode to Mariah Carey and  Stripped introduced us to a mix of Carey (inspirational ballads), Pink (the Linda Perry-tinged Pop/Rock edge) and Britney Spears (that “Dirrty” video). Back to Basics was somewhat unique if you overlooked the bad throwback cabaret music, Bionic combined Carey, M.I.A., Madonna and Santigold, and Lotus was a confusing mess of sound.

Yet, which album gave us the real Aguilera? Similar to Beyonce, she has emulated so many acts over the years – the only difference is that her voice lends more character to the material – that she hasn’t developed her own artistic identity. Not only has that splintered Aguilera’s audience but it makes her music difficult to support since her imitations are never as good as the originals.

Now you know my suggestions for fixing Aguilera’s career. Hopefully, she gets the right advice because the chances of rebounding from two consecutive flop albums are slimmer than her.

To end this piece on a positive note, watch one of her best live showings of “I Loves You, Porgy” below:

Thoughts?