Weekend Flashback Performance: Christina Aguilera At The 2002 MTV VMAs

The never-failing vocals of Christina Aguilera are here to help close out 2008. During her Stripped era, Christina performed both "Dirrty" & "Fighter" at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. Not only am I a fan of her dark-haired look during this time period, I also quite like the way her material allowed her to show off her best asset: her voice. Christina dominated the stage with special guests Redman & Dave Navarro. Ah, reminiscing.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Beyonce At The 2006 MTV VMAs

Oh, she made it hot like fire. When Beyonce took the stage at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards to perform her brand new single "Ring The Alarm," no one knew quite what to expect. Like she always does though, Beyonce put on quite a show by lowering herself down from the ceiling, which has practically become a tradition, doing her now-infamous dance routine, & ending up back above the crowd. Beyonce is a rare combination of an excellent vocalist & a phenomenal performer, which is displayed very well with this performance. Not to mention I've always loved "Ring The Alarm."

Weekend Flashback Performance: *NSYNC & Michael Jackson At The 2001 MTV VMAs

I'll say it once, I'll say it a million times: no matter how much we may be too cool for them these days, there's no denying the entertainers the guys of *NSYNC were. Their vibrant performance of "Pop" at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, however, was more than just the usual song-&-dance. The boy band brought out none other than the King of Pop himself, Mr. Michael Jackson, to bust a move & show the youngsters how it's done. This made for what would become quite an unforgettable moment. And hey, I'd still take *NSYNC over Justin Timberlake any day.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Pink At The 2002 MTV VMAs

Back when Pink was 'missundaztood,' America was ironically in love with her. Not until, well, now have they really accepted her in quite the same way. Personally, I think that throughout her career, Pink has been relatively underrated vocally. In this performance of "Just Like A Pill" during the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, Pink proved herself in one of her best vocal offerings thus far imo. It doesn't hurt that this was one of my favorite looks for her either. Note: Once again, sorry about the tags.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Beyonce At The 2003 MTV VMAs

I find it hard to believe that it's already been five years since Beyonce struck it out on her own with Dangerously In Love. Still, who could forget her debut solo single "Crazy In Love" & her performance of both it & "Baby Boy" at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. Beyonce herself later questioned why she decided to lower herself upside down from the ceiling, but it sure does make for one hot entrance. And isn't it nice to see that mad fly "Crazy In Love" dance routine again? Beyonce made sure we knew she was here to stay ... & she sure is.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Kelly Rowland At The 2006 MTV VMAs Japan

One of last year's most underrated albums imo is Kelly Rowland's Ms. Kelly. All three members of Destiny's Child bring something special to the table as soloists & this performance proves that point for Kelly Rowland. Before launching her last project with "Like This," Kelly planned on releasing "Gotsta Go," a song that would eventually not make the final tracklisting, as its first single. The track was properly performed at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards Japan & Kelly absolutely killed it. This just goes to show how much star power was packed into our favorite girl group of the last decade.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Mariah Carey At The Rosie O'Donnell Show

The year was 1998. Mariah Carey had just released a landmark album for her & one of the best of her career: Butterfly. Everybody knows the first single "Honey" & the subsequent #1 "My All," but Mariah chose instead to sing the better album track "Close My Eyes" when she appeared on The Rosie O'Donnell Show to promote the album. The rest is history. This is a classic Mariah performance of a fan favorite that just goes to show what a special talent MC really is.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Pink, Usher, & Mya At MTV Icon: Janet Jackson

A few years back, MTV paid tribute to Janet Jackson in the form of MTV Icon: Janet Jackson, which featured many of what are still today's young artists performing some of Janet's biggest hits. In this incredible clip, Pink, Usher, & Mya join forces to perform a medley of dance numbers to Janet's songs. Who knew Pink was a dancer? But, as you'll see here, she blows the crowd away with a crazy chair routine. Then Usher comes out &, boy, did I have a double take at those splits! Mya then performs an amazing solo routine. Finally, all three come together to perform the infamous "Rhythm Nation" dance. They did an outstanding job & this is definitely a standout performance from the careers of all three. Note: Aaliyah actually introduces the trio, which is a special moment.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Destiny's Child At 2004 NFL Kickoff

So, I was in the mood to watch DC3 perform "Lose My Breath." After scouring YouTube, I do believe that I've found the most scorching hot performance Destiny's Child ever gave of the song. The (at the time) recently reunited Beyonce, Kelly, & Michelle performed it, along with part of "Soldier," at the NFL Kickoff in 2004. The production was of epic proportions & the threesome sang & danced their butts off for a large & very excited crowd. Destiny's Child was a rare package of everything you could want in a group of entertainers &, if anything, this proves it.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Christina Aguilera At The 2007 NBA All-Star Game

A little while ago, I posted Toni Braxton performing at this very halftime show. Now, I would like to share Christina Aguilera's part with you. Christina performed both "Ain't No Other Man" & "Candyman" at the event. As she looks to the future with her new project, it seems fitting to take a look back at Christina's last album. While she always rocked "Ain't No Other Man," Christina always made her performances of "Candyman" very special. The Back To Basics era was an incredible time for her visually. However, I'm sure Christina will just 'keep gettin' better' as time goes on.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Aaliyah At The 1998 Oscars

Heading back ten years with this one, there's never a bad time to remember Aaliyah. The late singer performed the Oscar-nominated song "Journey To The Past," which she recorded for the animated film "Anastasia," at the 1998 Academy Awards & did a fabulous job. Aaliyah was an incredible talent & many people forget that about her. Luckily, this video also features a short red carpet interview with Aaliyah from that night, so it's wonderful to see her bubbly personality again as well. This was one of the first songs I ever heard from Aaliyah & it remains one of my favorites.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Pink At The 2007 MTV AVMAs

It may not have been so long ago, but as Pink launches her fifth studio album Circus, I want to look back on what an international success her last project I'm Not Dead was. Pink displayed her excellent performance skills with this medley of her hits "U + Ur Hand" & "Get The Party Started" as well as a cover of "Sweet Dreams" at the 2007 MTV Australian Video Music Awards. Starting off on a motorcycle, Pink makes her way down the massive set until she stops to, oh, do a few acrobatics. It probably also came as a delight to Pink that Australia doesn't censor television quite as much as America. This is just one of the many fun examples of why Pink is so special.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Mariah Carey At The 2001 VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards

This little known gem from Mariah Carey actually comes from an interesting time period: her Glitter era. Here, Mariah performs the song "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life" from the movie's soundtrack album with guest Fabolous. It was an elaborate performance too, with a motorcycle & several extras on a large stage. MC looked fabulous throughout the set as well. Her Glitter album is extremely underrated & I find this as one of the best ways to demonstrate just a bit of what is great about it.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Kelly Clarkson September

Here, we have the last performance from Kelly Clarkson at this live session. Kelly performs "Because Of You," the fourth single off her sophomore album Breakaway, in this clip. I was never huge on the song, but she won me over with this performance.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Kelly Clarkson September

Watch Kelly Clarkson flawlessly perform her third single & one of my favorite tracks off her sophomore album Breakaway, "Behind These Hazel Eyes."

Weekend Flashback Performance: Kelly Clarkson September

Check out this awesome performance by Kelly Clarkson of her hit "Since U Been Gone," the second single off her sophomore album Breakaway.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Kelly Clarkson September

So, scouring YouTube for an excellent choice for this weekend's flashback performance, I found this acoustic session Kelly Clarkson did, apparently for VH1, while promoting her album Breakaway that is simply incredible. Kelly sang alot of the songs from that album that became singles, so I decided to feature one for each weekend of September (just 'cause). This weekend is the title track "Breakaway," which was the first single taken from the album, but was also featured on the soundtrack for the film "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" (the song kicks the movie's butt). Kelly gives a flawless performance of the song & proves why she is the first & most successful Idol winner.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Destiny's Child At Michael Jackson Tribute

Following the news of Michael Jackson's 50th birthday this last week, I felt inclined to pay him tribute by way of one of Destiny's Child's finest performances. DC have always used a part of their song "Bootylicious," including a portion of the music video, to acknowledge the King of Pop's influence on them & this generation's group of performers. In this case, they played up the fact when they performed the song for Mr. Jackson himself. The girls showed off their talent at the height of their fame for the man himself & ended up with an excellent piece of work to look back on at, say, a time like this!

Weekend Flashback Performance: Christina Aguilera At The Late Show

In the midst of all the big awards show performances, every so often, a very special hidden gem arises. Recently, I ran across this Christina Aguilera performance from her Stripped era & fell in love. Here, Christina performs the album track "Walk Away" & creates a magical little moment for herself. This is the kind of performance that makes Christina such a special artist: every once in a while, she just 'strips' everything away & displays her amazing voice. Along with her talent, Christina brings along her emotions in the delivery of the song & it is just great. Hopefully with her next album, we will see more of this from Christina.

Weekend Flashback Performance: Destiny's Child At The 2001 Grammys

Ah, the days when DC3 reigned. Last night, I suddenly had the urge to watch "Charlie's Angels," so I pulled out my DVD & did just that. Courtesy of the credits at the end, I felt inclined to head straight to the special features menu & select Destiny's Child's "Independent Women Part 1" music video. As I enjoyed, I began to realize just how much I miss the group. Beyonce's B'Day, Kelly's Ms. Kelly, & Michelle's Unexpected have provided some of my favorite music of the last couple years, so Destiny's Child has become what would be somewhat of a supergroup. Naturally, I was reminded of their 2001 Grammy Awards performance, a medley of "Independent Women" & "Say My Name," which took place on a very special night for the group--the night they won their very first Grammys. An irreplaceable magic was created when these talented ladies were together, so it's always fun to relive the good ol' days. (Note: Sorry about the tags...)