The Voice Within

Infobox Single
Name = The Voice Within


Artist = Christina Aguilera
Album = Stripped"'| B-side =
"Released = December 23 2003
Format = CD single, airplay
Recorded = The Record Plant
(Hollywood, Los Angeles, California)
NRG Recording Studios
(North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California)
Genre = Pop
Length = 5:04
Label = RCA
Writer = Christina Aguilera, Glen Ballard
Producer = Glen Ballard"
Certification =
Last single = "Can't Hold Us Down"
(2003)
This single = "The Voice Within"
(2003)
Next single = "Car Wash"
(2004)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = single


Lower caption = German pocket single cover Audiosample
Upper caption = Audio sample
Name = The Voice Within
Audio file = TheVoiceWithinSample.ogg

"The Voice Within" is the fifth and final single from Christina Aguilera's second album, "Stripped". Released in 2003, the single peaked at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Aguilera's 11th Top 40 hit. The single also peaked at #9 in the UK and #19 in Australia. The single is most known for its simplistic, but critically acclaimed music video that was filmed in black and white as a single continuous camera shot. The video was nominated for three 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, Best Female Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Cinematography. For reasons unknown, the song was only included as a bonus track for Aguilera's greatest hits album "Keeps Gettin' Better — A Decade of Hits", despite placing higher on the US Hot 100 than "Dirrty", which is included.

ong information

"The Voice Within" was written by both Aguilera and Glen Ballard, and was produced by the latter. The album version of song the extends the song about five seconds and blends it with the next track, "I'm OK".

Aguilera did not want "The Voice Within" to be released as the fifth single. She was lobbying for "Impossible", a track from "Stripped", which was produced by Alicia Keys, as she felt it would help her break into the urban market. RCA Records wanted to release a big ballad during the holiday season like they did the year prior with "Beautiful" and felt that 'The Voice Within' was the perfect candidate. Eventually, Aguilera's label made the final decision and the idea of 'Impossible' being the final single was scrapped.

It was performed on the third season of "Australian Idol" during "Contestant's Choice" week (Top 9) by Roxane LeBrasse. Despite receiving good reviews from the judges, LeBrasse was eliminated the next night.

The song was performed later by "American Idol 5" runner-up Katharine McPhee during 'Songs from the 21st Century' week (Top 10). During this performance, judge Simon Cowell compared McPhee's abilities to that of Aguilera's, saying the former's performance was almost as good as the original singer. He then said it was mediocre during the result show the night after, where McPhee landed in the bottom two.

Music video

The song's music video was directed by David LaChapelle. It opens with a close-up of Aguilera and zooms out to her wearing a slip and sitting in an abandoned prop room. In one continuous black-and-white shot, Aguilera walks through several rooms, exits the building, and finally lays on a light box. The video was filmed at a deserted theater in downtown Los Angeles, California. It is inspired by neorealist works. [Moss, Corey. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1479845/20031020/aguilera_christina.jhtml "Stripped-Down Christina Aguilera Displays 'A Voice Within': Lens Recap"] . MTV News. October 20, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2007.]

"The Voice Within'" was the eleventh video for Aguilera to appear on TRL. The video hit number one twice and spent thirty-seven days on the countdown.

Track listing

CD Maxi-single
#"The Voice Within" [Album Version] — 5:04
#"The Voice Within" [Radio Edit] — 4:15
#"Beautiful" [Fug Remix] — 5:47
#"Can't Hold Us Down" [Da Yard Riddim Mix] — 4:16

Official remixes

* Almighty Remix — 8:01 [a.k.a. Almighty Definitive Mix & Almighty 12" Club Mix]
* Almighty PA — 8:01
* Almighty Dub — 7:57
* Almighty Radio [Edit 1] — 3:31
* Almighty Radio [Edit 2] — 4:01
* Almighty Mix Show

Chart performance

{| class="wikitable sortable"!align="left"|Charts (2003) [Chart peak positions:
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gcfoxqyjldje~T51 Christina Aguilera's Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles]
* [http://www.musicsquare.net/charts/song/333 Christina Aguilera - The Voice Within] "Musicsquare.net"
* [http://www.apcchart.com/ Apcchart.com] ] !align="left"|Peak
position
-
align="left"|Italian Singles Chart
align="center"|19
-
align="left"|New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart
align="center"|16
-
align="left"|Norway Singles Chart
align="center"|13
-
align="left"|Swedish Singles Chart
align="center"|10
-
align="left"|Swiss Singles Chart
align="center"|3
-
align="left"|UK Singles Chart
align="center"|9
-
align="left"|Euro 200 Singles & Tracks
align="center"|13
-
align="left"|U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100
align="center"|33
-
align="left"|U.S. "Billboard" Top 40 Mainstream
align="center"|11
-
align="left"|United World Chart
align="center"|7
-

References