{"id":542488,"date":"2026-03-15T18:54:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542488\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T18:54:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:54:22","slug":"christina-aguilera-brings-dirrty-beautiful-and-fireworks-to-austins-sips-sounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542488\/","title":{"rendered":"Christina Aguilera brings \u2018Dirrty,\u2019 \u2018Beautiful\u2019 and fireworks to Austin\u2019s Sips & Sounds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Julie Andrews once said, \u201cA queen is never late; everyone else is simply early.\u201d<\/p>\n

Illuminated against Austin\u2019s panoramic skyline at Auditorium Shores, Christina Aguilera greeted the Sips & Sounds <\/a>spectators in a plunging red latex bodysuit, matching elbow gloves and thigh-high black boots. Her long platinum blond hair blew in the cool night air drifting off Lady Bird Lake.<\/p>\n

Sips & Sounds, a South by Southwest-adjacent\u00a0but separately ticketed event, felt like a mini-Austin City Limits Music Festival. Its expanded perimeter this year stretched from the Long Center lawn to the pond in Butler Park \u2014 and the space was needed. Attendance skyrocketed this year as\u00a0 fans rushed to buy tickets to this now sold-out fest.<\/p>\n

Just like ACL, concession prices were steep and mini activations peppered the field. However,\u00a0lines\u00a0were manageable compared to the Zilker Park behemoth. The majority of Sips & Sounds attendees seemed to be locals who opted to bypass the SXSW\u00a0Music Festival<\/a> this year. While lacking the thrill of music discovery,<\/a> this\u00a0mini-fest hosts superstar acts in a far more contained and manageable setting \u2014 especially for the many young families in attendance.<\/p>\n

‘Xtina’ danced, pranced and sang the house down\"Christina<\/p>\n

Christina Aguilera headlines the first day of the Sips & Sounds Music Festival during South by Southwest as the festival celebrates its 40th year in Austin Friday, March 13, 2026. (Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman)<\/p>\n

All of Austin echoed with Aguilera\u2019s growling vocal runs as she kicked off Friday night with \u201cDirrty,\u201d \u201cCan\u2019t Hold Us Down\u201d and \u201cFighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cXtina\u201d and a posse of background dancers upped the energy even more for \u201cGenie in a Bottle,\u201d the lead single from her 1999 self-titled debut album and the song that launched an 18-year-old Aguilera into stardom after her childhood on \u201cThe All-New Mickey Mouse Club\u201d alongside Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is dedicated to you all, for giving everything this little girl could ask for,\u201d Aguilera said before launching into her early hit \u201cWhat a Girl Wants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aguilera is arguably the millennial\u2019s Mariah Carey, comparable for her impressive vocal range and powerhouse delivery. However, unlike Carey, who was uneven in a 2024 Austin performance<\/a>, the 45-year-old singer maintains an incredibly dynamic onstage performance. She could probably get away with sitting down, letting her voice carry the show, but\u00a0Aguilera danced, pranced and showed genuine engagement with her sprawling audience.<\/p>\n

Vibes shifted as Xtina transitioned into her 2010 catalog, slaying into her electropop era as she strutted down the catwalk that extended\u00a0into the crowd during \u201cBionic,\u201d \u201cGlam,\u201d \u201cVanity\u201d and \u201cBobblehead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Christina<\/p>\n

Christina Aguilera headlines the first day of the Sips & Sounds Music Festival during South by Southwest as the festival celebrates its 40th year in Austin Friday, March 13, 2026. (Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no shame in being a little bit cocky \u2014 we just love ourselves,\u201d Aguilera said.<\/p>\n

She donned a fluffy, floor-length red fur coat for her 2006 hit \u201cCandyman,\u201d then abruptly shifted the vibe again with \u201cSay Something,\u201d her 2014 collaboration with A Great Big World.<\/p>\n

Next came Xtina\u2019s soundtrack staples: \u201cExpress\u201d from the 2010 musical she did with Cher and \u201cLady Marmalade,\u201d the song she covered with Lil\u2019 Kim, P!nk and Mya for \u201cMoulin Rouge!\u201d in 2001.<\/p>\n

Aguilera closed out with her power ballad \u201cBeautiful,\u201d the 2013 Pitbull collab \u201cFeel This Moment\u201d and \u201cLet There Be Love,\u201d which came with a fireworks show igniting the night sky.<\/p>\n

Is Sips & Sounds emerging as Austin’s new spring break destination? The SXSW-affiliated event packed the biggest punch of the festival so far, featuring one of the world\u2019s biggest stars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Julie Andrews once said, \u201cA queen is never late; everyone else is simply early.\u201d Illuminated against Austin\u2019s panoramic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,268784,63,25184,134,191558,136,103368,126443],"class_list":["post-542488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-austin-performance","tag-australia","tag-christina-aguilera","tag-entertainment","tag-julie-andrews","tag-music","tag-sips","tag-south-by-southwest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}