SI: Christina Aguilera Goes Bionic In “Not Myself Tonight”

[Christopher]

“Not Myself Tonight” is a new song by the Sony Music (RCA) recording artist Christina Aguilera. The song serves as the lead single from her forthcoming fourth studio album, Bionic. The track was written and produced by hip hop writer and producer Ester Dean and Polow da Don. The song, along with its accompanying music video, was positively received by critics, praising Aguilera’s return to her style in 2002’s Stripped; however some were critical, calling the song and video “unoriginal”.

The video itself features a strong sexual theme with scenes of S&M and bondage, as well as scenes in a church and several prestigious-looking buildings. Aguilera sporting several hairstyles and outfits, including many which were dominatrix-style. Actress Jenna Dewan appears in the video as a woman that Aguilera straddles. The video was inspired by several artists. James Montgomery of MTV News compared her scenes in the church to a slimmed down version of Madonna’s scenes in her video for “Like a Prayer”. He also said that the S&M features in the video were reminiscent of her video for “Human Nature”, commenting, “The influence on “Tonight” is pretty evident, most notably in Christina’s leather get-ups, her dominatrix attitude and the sultry chair-related activities she engages in throughout.”

The video also pays direct homage to Madonna’s “Express Yourself” in the scene where Aguilera wears a monocle, where she crawls on the floor and reaches for a bowl, and in the “dancing in the rain” scenes. In the bowl scene, she later pours black milk on herself, similar to what Christina Milian did with black oil in her “Dip It Low” video. Aguilera goes back and forth between several hairstyles in the video, which have been compared to styles of Bettie Page, Lady Gaga, Beyonc