1
00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:06,640
Speaker 1: Ring the alarm and were thrown albow live from NOO Familia, Joseph,

2
00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,640
Speaker 1: just checking in. Are you read miha? I got my

3
00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,080
Speaker 1: gloves on and I feel too dirty to clean my.

4
00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,200
Speaker 2: Acta you and me both, because today we are talking

5
00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:21,439
Speaker 2: about Extina, Joseph, let's get right into it. When did

6
00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,720
Speaker 2: you become a Christina Aguilera fan?

7
00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:31,360
Speaker 1: When she came out of the bottle? I instantaneously knew

8
00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,040
Speaker 1: just because, and to be honest, not only was she beautiful,

9
00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:36,519
Speaker 1: we love Brittany, but I saw her. She was beautiful

10
00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,760
Speaker 1: and her last name was Aguilera, and it was like WHOA.

11
00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:44,080
Speaker 1: I just immediately liked her. And being from Alpasso on

12
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,279
Speaker 1: the north of Mexico, there were a lot of blonde hair,

13
00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,479
Speaker 1: blue eyed Latina girls that I didn't think that she

14
00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,040
Speaker 1: looked like a white girl like most people. Oh Gania

15
00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,400
Speaker 1: bottle number one. So from the get, from the get,

16
00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:56,560
Speaker 1: what about you same? I think?

17
00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:58,560
Speaker 2: You know, I always remember there was this like are

18
00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,720
Speaker 2: you team Brittany or are you team Christina? And I thought, well,

19
00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:06,679
Speaker 2: what if I'm team bo And I love pop music?

20
00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:11,840
Speaker 2: So and their sound was different and I don't think

21
00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,199
Speaker 2: they were the same, but yes, for sure, I.

22
00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,800
Speaker 1: Question, have you ever been in the same room or

23
00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:18,440
Speaker 1: interviewed her?

24
00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,720
Speaker 3: So I have never professionally interviewed her.

25
00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:22,960
Speaker 1: Okay, I like that.

26
00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:28,760
Speaker 2: But I just saw her New Year's Eve eve in

27
00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:33,479
Speaker 2: Las Vegas at her brand new cabaret show, and it

28
00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:38,280
Speaker 2: was epic. I loved every second of the day. I'd

29
00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:42,080
Speaker 2: never seen her in concert before. Concerts love concerts. I

30
00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:44,399
Speaker 2: just had never seen her in concert before, and this

31
00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,960
Speaker 2: was such an intimate space compared to like a big arena,

32
00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 2: and her voice is so incredibly powerful that it just

33
00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:54,720
Speaker 2: vibrates the walls of the room.

34
00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:59,200
Speaker 3: And bitch can dance and sing at the same time.

35
00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,280
Speaker 2: So I think it's fair to say that we are

36
00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:04,760
Speaker 2: both Christina Hagul were a fans and once a fan,

37
00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:10,560
Speaker 2: always a fan, because she is a fide Now for

38
00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:12,639
Speaker 2: those of you that don't know a lot of history here,

39
00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,519
Speaker 2: we're going to take you back. So she came from

40
00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,920
Speaker 2: a broken home and it was immediately obvious that she

41
00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,239
Speaker 2: had boundless talent and incredible determination.

42
00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, because you need both facts, and.

43
00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,040
Speaker 2: With encouragement from her mom, she stuck to what she

44
00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:30,520
Speaker 2: loved the most.

45
00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,040
Speaker 1: Even though the wackness did not stop when she left

46
00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,480
Speaker 1: her childhood behind our girls been through it.

47
00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,079
Speaker 2: If you want to learn how the press can rile

48
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,560
Speaker 2: up conflict and controversy.

49
00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:42,880
Speaker 1: If you want to learn how record lybs can be

50
00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,480
Speaker 1: completely fucking unhelpful.

51
00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,440
Speaker 2: And most importantly, if you want to learn how to

52
00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,480
Speaker 2: define yourself when everybody is obsessed with comparing you to

53
00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:56,559
Speaker 2: somebody else Britney Speers, and when nobody seems to understand

54
00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,880
Speaker 2: the Olniviennis, look no further than Christina Aguilera, because while

55
00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:04,600
Speaker 2: stardom came early in her life, Christina would walk a

56
00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,639
Speaker 2: long road before finally stepping into her power and becoming

57
00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:09,160
Speaker 2: the boss.

58
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:11,919
Speaker 3: She was always meant to be the boss.

59
00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,400
Speaker 1: The fans always knew she could be. And girl, the fans.

60
00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,840
Speaker 2: Stood by her, and she stood by them in six

61
00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:20,640
Speaker 2: inch heels.

62
00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,480
Speaker 1: All right, Basa, yah, with the setup, I'm ready to

63
00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:23,799
Speaker 1: do this.

64
00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,399
Speaker 3: I'm your host Liliana Rosquez.

65
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,920
Speaker 1: And I'm Joseph Carrio and this is Becoming an Icon, a.

66
00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:37,480
Speaker 2: Weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on how

67
00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,080
Speaker 2: today's most famous.

68
00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,640
Speaker 3: LATINX stars have shaped pop culture.

69
00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:43,760
Speaker 1: And given the world some extra ubble.

70
00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:46,560
Speaker 3: Sit back and get comfortable.

71
00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,960
Speaker 1: Because we are going in the only way we know

72
00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:54,760
Speaker 1: how with whenas leave us, when assays some cheese and

73
00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,360
Speaker 1: a lot of opinions as we relive their greatest achievements

74
00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,600
Speaker 1: on our journey to find out what makes them still iconic.

75
00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:16,640
Speaker 2: Christina Maria Aguilera was born on December eighteenth, nineteen eighty.

76
00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,600
Speaker 1: I know my girl as a Sagittarius son. She's friendly,

77
00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,360
Speaker 1: she's enthusiastic about what she does avviy, and she sees

78
00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:27,680
Speaker 1: the big picture. When disappointments happen, she puts them behind

79
00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,640
Speaker 1: her and keeps on moving. But as a tourist moon

80
00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,559
Speaker 1: she has a clear picture of what the good life

81
00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,560
Speaker 1: looks like like me in this case, a loyal friends

82
00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:42,000
Speaker 1: and physical plage honey, and she don't care to settle.

83
00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,880
Speaker 2: For less, but less, unfortunately, is what she would start with.

84
00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,919
Speaker 2: Justa heads up for those who don't know, the story

85
00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,719
Speaker 2: of Christina Aguilera's early childhood is not a very happy one.

86
00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,120
Speaker 1: Fact, our queen was not born a princess.

87
00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,920
Speaker 3: Christina was born in New York, but grua kind of

88
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:02,520
Speaker 3: all over the place.

89
00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:07,039
Speaker 1: That's because her dad, Fauso Xavier Aguiletta, was an army man.

90
00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,440
Speaker 2: A sergeant to be precise, and as a Sergeant Fausto

91
00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,200
Speaker 2: would be assigned to various military bases all over the world.

92
00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,839
Speaker 1: And the rest of the Aguilera's aka Christina and her mother, Shelley,

93
00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:19,800
Speaker 1: didn't really have a choice but to.

94
00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,520
Speaker 2: Come with them, making young Christina a classic military brat

95
00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,960
Speaker 2: for all intents and purposes. She didn't have a hometown

96
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,080
Speaker 2: nor any means of real connection to the places where

97
00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:31,320
Speaker 2: her father was stationed.

98
00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,120
Speaker 3: Mostly, all she knew was her family, and.

99
00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:40,520
Speaker 1: That family was broken. Her mother, Shelley, says that from

100
00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,960
Speaker 1: the moment she said I do, she didn't become a wife,

101
00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:45,160
Speaker 1: she became an object.

102
00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,159
Speaker 2: Oh, which that's harsh and shouting in physical violence were

103
00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,920
Speaker 2: common occurrences in Christina's household. She was a frequent witness

104
00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,520
Speaker 2: to her father's abuse of her mother. She would remember

105
00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,680
Speaker 2: the physical altercations well into her adult years.

106
00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,000
Speaker 1: Christina felt powerless and her only refuge music.

107
00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,680
Speaker 2: When things got scary, she would hide in her room

108
00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,120
Speaker 2: and play the film soundtrack to the sound of music.

109
00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:11,800
Speaker 2: She would stand at her open window and sing along

110
00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,560
Speaker 2: to Julie Andrews. Music was both her way of escape

111
00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:17,400
Speaker 2: and her way of expressing pain.

112
00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,680
Speaker 1: She said those songs saved her life. Something her own

113
00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,000
Speaker 1: music would do for so many of her fans years later.

114
00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,160
Speaker 3: Isn't that amazing? Like it healed her? And then she

115
00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:27,440
Speaker 3: goes back that healing.

116
00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:29,120
Speaker 1: That's what I think that we're meant to do. That's

117
00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:30,920
Speaker 1: our purpose to help others.

118
00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:31,840
Speaker 3: I agree.

119
00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,239
Speaker 2: But all of this was not before she and Shelley escaped,

120
00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,120
Speaker 2: and before that things would actually get worse.

121
00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,799
Speaker 1: Fosta was stationed in Japan for three years, and there

122
00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:47,600
Speaker 1: Faust's abuse finally spread from Shelley to Christina.

123
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,760
Speaker 2: One day, Shelley heard a loud bang from upstairs. She

124
00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,320
Speaker 2: raced up and found little Christina, at just four years old,

125
00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:56,360
Speaker 2: with blood dripping down her chin.

126
00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,960
Speaker 1: Christina told Shelley quote, Dad wanted to take a nap

127
00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:01,839
Speaker 1: and I was making too much noise.

128
00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,880
Speaker 2: Little Christina was Shelley's one light in a dark situation,

129
00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,440
Speaker 2: and here she was bleeding from the face. They had

130
00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:11,560
Speaker 2: to get out of there and they would get their chance.

131
00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,920
Speaker 2: About two years later, when Fausto was again relocated to

132
00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,880
Speaker 2: Fort Dix, New Jersey, back in.

133
00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,360
Speaker 1: The States, Shelley loaded up the car with Christina, her

134
00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,320
Speaker 1: new baby daughter, Rachel, and whatever they could grab from

135
00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:25,960
Speaker 1: the house and enough money for gas and diapers. And

136
00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,560
Speaker 1: drove almost four hundred miles to her mother's house in Rochester,

137
00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:30,000
Speaker 1: New York.

138
00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,520
Speaker 2: The trip was scary for Christina. She remembers her daughter

139
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,000
Speaker 2: worrying aloud that Fasto would spot them on the road

140
00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:37,640
Speaker 2: on his way back home for lunch.

141
00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,880
Speaker 1: But in the end, they made it, and the next

142
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,160
Speaker 1: year Shelley and Fauso got a divorce. They were married

143
00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:45,520
Speaker 1: ten years.

144
00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:47,880
Speaker 3: That is a long time to live in hell.

145
00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,040
Speaker 2: Christina's memories of this time would last her entire life,

146
00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:56,239
Speaker 2: but so would memories of her mother's courage, and decades later,

147
00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:58,920
Speaker 2: she would make peace with these memories in the twenty

148
00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:00,520
Speaker 2: twenty two song no Es.

149
00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:04,640
Speaker 3: Get the Extrage. This song is incredibly powerful.

150
00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:10,040
Speaker 2: I felt like, even though her voice is powerful, it's

151
00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:14,880
Speaker 2: a different type of vibe for her. And maybe it's

152
00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,840
Speaker 2: because it's in Spanish and I just wasn't expecting it.

153
00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,920
Speaker 1: You just feel it more because it just it hurts,

154
00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,600
Speaker 1: and it's weird because you're just kind of like, wait,

155
00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,400
Speaker 1: am I talking about? Like what kind of love?

156
00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:26,680
Speaker 3: Like?

157
00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:28,360
Speaker 1: What am I missing? Like or not?

158
00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,160
Speaker 2: Now, for you, as a Christina fan, how did you

159
00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:33,400
Speaker 2: receive this song?

160
00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,360
Speaker 1: You know, being that it's a newer one, I think

161
00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,120
Speaker 1: about Christina Moore about like the gay pop stuff that

162
00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,520
Speaker 1: I loved, and so this is just a new version

163
00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:43,200
Speaker 1: of her that I guess I have to evolve and

164
00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:46,400
Speaker 1: grow with. I don't not like it. It's just a

165
00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,040
Speaker 1: little too powerful for me, and I don't identify it

166
00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:50,959
Speaker 1: with it at the moment.

167
00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:52,720
Speaker 3: I think that's very fair.

168
00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:54,760
Speaker 2: I think music is like it hits you at the

169
00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:56,600
Speaker 2: right time, right, You're like, this is not the song

170
00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:58,559
Speaker 2: I was looking for in twenty twenty two from her

171
00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,880
Speaker 2: for you, Right. I think for me what was interesting

172
00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:06,120
Speaker 2: about it was obviously we're both Latino, but I think

173
00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,920
Speaker 2: there's always been a difficult conversation to be had about

174
00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,559
Speaker 2: her Latini that, right, And I hate like talking about

175
00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,000
Speaker 2: that because one thing doesn't make you Latina, one thing

176
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,520
Speaker 2: doesn't make you more Latino than somebody else, Right, But

177
00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,280
Speaker 2: I do think that that's something that she's spoken about.

178
00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,439
Speaker 3: She said, you know, like it's been hard to connect

179
00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:32,720
Speaker 3: with her Latin heritage and that it's a fractured part

180
00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:34,719
Speaker 3: of her. So I think it's for her.

181
00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,319
Speaker 2: This song is not just an acknowledgment of the cycles

182
00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,880
Speaker 2: of abuse right from her father, but also a little

183
00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,320
Speaker 2: bit about her relationship with Latino culture.

184
00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:46,640
Speaker 1: You know. And I was going to stay that point.

185
00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:48,520
Speaker 1: I was going to stay to that point too. Here's

186
00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:52,079
Speaker 1: the thing. She didn't have a home, and she didn't

187
00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,360
Speaker 1: have friends. Where were the Latinos. She was in fucking Japan,

188
00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,680
Speaker 1: you know, so us to be like your Latina aguileta.

189
00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:01,920
Speaker 1: She's like, you know, I am, but like, I don't

190
00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,080
Speaker 1: know that yet. I So I could see that struggle.

191
00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:06,040
Speaker 3: Well and also think about it.

192
00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,800
Speaker 2: That side of her heritage and culture is what is

193
00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,520
Speaker 2: most closely aligned with her father Faustal, So totally would

194
00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:17,000
Speaker 2: she have been suppressing that side of her because she

195
00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:21,640
Speaker 2: wants to create distance and space between the abuse and

196
00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,760
Speaker 2: her dad, And maybe that was her way of separating,

197
00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,080
Speaker 2: being like, I don't want anything to do with that

198
00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:27,720
Speaker 2: part of me because it's so painful and it's so

199
00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,079
Speaker 2: deep and it hurts so bad. And maybe as she's

200
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,319
Speaker 2: gotten older and worked through it, and listen, we're big

201
00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,920
Speaker 2: fans of therapy around here, you know, she's been able

202
00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:36,680
Speaker 2: to process some of that pain and say, wait, just

203
00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,360
Speaker 2: because he's Latino doesn't mean that I can't own and

204
00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:40,920
Speaker 2: claim my own Latini.

205
00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:42,120
Speaker 3: That for myself.

206
00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,800
Speaker 1: I'm sure she was also just curious about where she

207
00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:47,680
Speaker 1: came from and what that culture is like, because you know,

208
00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:49,480
Speaker 1: when you grow up an army brat. I was not,

209
00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,600
Speaker 1: but I know a few, and it's just you just

210
00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:53,440
Speaker 1: are kind of like, where do I belong?

211
00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:55,800
Speaker 3: Nid that ki ni that yeah mm hm.

212
00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:59,680
Speaker 2: The song is an acknowledgment of the cycles of abuse

213
00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,240
Speaker 2: that Fausto hurt them because someone hurt him.

214
00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:05,520
Speaker 1: And while Christina doesn't want to blame him or dwell

215
00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,079
Speaker 1: on what he did, she regrets that in the end

216
00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:09,240
Speaker 1: he hurt them both.

217
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,600
Speaker 2: I think that in doing the show, we have really

218
00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:18,440
Speaker 2: seen examples of all of the forces that can pull

219
00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:20,800
Speaker 2: Latino families apart.

220
00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,640
Speaker 1: And machismo is a big one. Those wounds take a

221
00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:25,720
Speaker 1: long time to heal.

222
00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,720
Speaker 2: But just as we heard, Christina would eventually find peace

223
00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:33,760
Speaker 2: without ever forgetting where she came from Gomdruz.

224
00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:49,760
Speaker 1: To forgive is to remember without pain. All right, hard parts.

225
00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,040
Speaker 2: Over well for us, at least for Christina, her work

226
00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:54,240
Speaker 2: is just beginning.

227
00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:57,800
Speaker 1: Because if there's one thing we've learned this season is

228
00:11:57,880 --> 00:11:59,599
Speaker 1: to start them when they're.

229
00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:06,280
Speaker 3: Young as usual. You're not wrong, Juanghi, Celia, Selina, Santana,

230
00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:07,800
Speaker 3: Los Vegas.

231
00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,640
Speaker 1: All started doing music before the age of ten. Do

232
00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:12,680
Speaker 1: you think we'll ever do an icon who did a

233
00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,160
Speaker 1: complete when eighty in life and hit it big?

234
00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:17,800
Speaker 3: I'm not really sure that they exist.

235
00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:20,160
Speaker 1: Wait to kill my inner child? Low.

236
00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,120
Speaker 2: You know what they say, bou kill your darlings. But

237
00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:27,000
Speaker 2: you can always live vicariously through Christina. I always have

238
00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:29,960
Speaker 2: like we we are a team.

239
00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:30,840
Speaker 3: We always have.

240
00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,440
Speaker 2: Okay, So Christina and her mom, along with baby Rachel,

241
00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,880
Speaker 2: left behind a dark past. But Christina holds onto the

242
00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:40,959
Speaker 2: thing that kept her head held high.

243
00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,880
Speaker 1: Mm hm. That flawless four octave vocal range, that.

244
00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:49,280
Speaker 2: Too, But I'm talking specifically about her deep love and

245
00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:53,640
Speaker 2: passion of music, and obviously the vocal range. I'm the

246
00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:56,440
Speaker 2: control of a season singer three times her age was

247
00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:57,640
Speaker 2: pretty impressive.

248
00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,800
Speaker 1: As well, which Christina's grandmother and the mothers of her

249
00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,080
Speaker 1: schoolmates immediately noticed, because how could you not.

250
00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:06,839
Speaker 2: At a first Great Talent show in her new home

251
00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:12,880
Speaker 2: of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Christina blew the audience and the competition away.

252
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,040
Speaker 1: Then the whole PTA swarmed Shelley after the show and

253
00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:21,360
Speaker 1: begged Nate demanded that she put that girl on star Search.

254
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:23,120
Speaker 3: Wait, do you know what star search is?

255
00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:28,160
Speaker 1: Yes? The singing competition launch pad for Brittany Aliyah Beyonce

256
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,480
Speaker 1: via the hip hop rapping Girls Time, the TV show

257
00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:35,360
Speaker 1: that gave us the iconic video of Tiny Extina belting

258
00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,520
Speaker 1: on stage wearing a belt the size of my vanity mirror.

259
00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:42,800
Speaker 2: I just got the best visual of that. And okay, yes, yes,

260
00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,560
Speaker 2: I just had to clarify because you don't know things

261
00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:48,480
Speaker 2: like Ed Sullivan, Like, you don't know what the Ed

262
00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:49,560
Speaker 2: Sullivan Show is.

263
00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:51,920
Speaker 1: Well, everyone under the age of forty five and asked

264
00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:54,840
Speaker 1: them if they know who Ed Sullivan is, then you

265
00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,959
Speaker 1: will see who's surprised. Let's watch the damn video. Fine,

266
00:13:58,040 --> 00:13:59,240
Speaker 1: we're fighting now, by the way.

267
00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,120
Speaker 3: Oh trust me, I know. Let's watch the video.

268
00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:02,760
Speaker 1: Fine.

269
00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:05,840
Speaker 3: Favorite moment in the.

270
00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,400
Speaker 1: Video, Oh my god, the velvet scrunchy in her hair.

271
00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,840
Speaker 2: You were the only person in the entire world that

272
00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,120
Speaker 2: would mention that after hearing a little ten year old

273
00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,200
Speaker 2: belt out what sounds like, I don't know, a forty

274
00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,920
Speaker 2: year old singing in a cabaret after smoking cigarettes like what?

275
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:27,760
Speaker 1: You have channeled the bully in me because I'm pissnoyed.

276
00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,600
Speaker 1: So it is the vevet scrunchy.

277
00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:38,920
Speaker 3: Okay, all I know is that I want that entire.

278
00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a look, you know, it's a little sing

279
00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,240
Speaker 2: yoda in a good way.

280
00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:46,040
Speaker 1: Also, I was going to say, yeah, they had to

281
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,120
Speaker 1: dress her up. It's also just so crazy that, like

282
00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:51,880
Speaker 1: they didn't opt to do a pink skirt and a

283
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:52,440
Speaker 1: this and.

284
00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:53,320
Speaker 3: A oh nobody.

285
00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,560
Speaker 2: She was taking her role as a cabaret singer.

286
00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:57,520
Speaker 3: You're serious.

287
00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,400
Speaker 1: It was the character she was. Yeah, and and then

288
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:01,600
Speaker 1: moved on rouge there you go.

289
00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:06,240
Speaker 2: I mean she definitely had a maturity to her voice. Yeah,

290
00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:09,320
Speaker 2: that did not match up with the tiny peanut.

291
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,120
Speaker 1: That show up stage and that haircut.

292
00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,840
Speaker 3: Do not come for the hair. Don't you already stop?

293
00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:19,400
Speaker 1: We started highlights young. I'm just saying that, Joseph.

294
00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,440
Speaker 2: We cannot stay mad at each other. We have a

295
00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:24,600
Speaker 2: podcast to record, we are paying for studio time, and

296
00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,480
Speaker 2: we are doing the Christina episodes. These are the Christina episodes.

297
00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:35,920
Speaker 2: We begged for these, Joseph. So as a peace offering,

298
00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:38,720
Speaker 2: I'm going to let you in on one of my

299
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:40,520
Speaker 2: favorite pastimes.

300
00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,040
Speaker 3: Go on judging other kids' moms'.

301
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:46,480
Speaker 1: I'm kidding.

302
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:48,600
Speaker 2: I don't judge other moms, all right, but I will

303
00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,720
Speaker 2: judge these moms. So those same moms who encourage Christina's

304
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,560
Speaker 2: mom to put her on Star Search then banned her

305
00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:59,560
Speaker 2: from the school Talent show because their kids were jealous

306
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:01,640
Speaker 2: of her voice, Like.

307
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,960
Speaker 1: Excuse me, your child is shining too bright. It's hurting

308
00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:07,640
Speaker 1: my little donna's ego. I mean her eyes.

309
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:12,480
Speaker 2: I mean that belt would have hurt anybody's, but they

310
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,800
Speaker 2: weren't talking about the belt.

311
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,320
Speaker 1: Fuck the PTA and their kids too, my.

312
00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,320
Speaker 2: GODK well not really okay, but you know what, those

313
00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,280
Speaker 2: little shits bullied her as well.

314
00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:23,920
Speaker 1: Never mind, fuck those kids.

315
00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:26,920
Speaker 3: Kids and I have one by the way, Okay, are

316
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,160
Speaker 3: we all good? Now? You know it all right, let's

317
00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:29,960
Speaker 3: keep the story moving.

318
00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,080
Speaker 2: So obviously you got a feel for Christina here, because

319
00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,720
Speaker 2: back in those days, being the kid who's really good

320
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,080
Speaker 2: at one thing, it kind of made you an easy target.

321
00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,080
Speaker 1: So did having the last name like Agui Letta. Let's

322
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:43,520
Speaker 1: be real facts and.

323
00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,920
Speaker 2: Remember she was also a military brat. She went from

324
00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,800
Speaker 2: Staten Island to Japan to Pittsburgh.

325
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,760
Speaker 1: She wasn't playing with other kids all those years. She

326
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,280
Speaker 1: was just having Julie Andrews sing a long time at

327
00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,920
Speaker 1: the window. Then she runs from a broken home to Pittsburgh,

328
00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,120
Speaker 1: like we were girls. She's different.

329
00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,119
Speaker 2: No shade here, but where all my different people at?

330
00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:06,679
Speaker 2: Because I think we're the top of that list, actually,

331
00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:10,000
Speaker 2: But it's also easy to see why it might have

332
00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,200
Speaker 2: been hard for Christina to relate to other kids her age.

333
00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:15,880
Speaker 1: But it doesn't matter because our girl was a star

334
00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:18,840
Speaker 1: on local TV and in the ice rink.

335
00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:20,200
Speaker 3: You heard him right.

336
00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,480
Speaker 2: Christina became the go to girl to sing the national

337
00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:27,920
Speaker 2: anthem at Pittsburgh Penguin's hockey games, and it turns out

338
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:29,359
Speaker 2: she was their lucky charm.

339
00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,200
Speaker 1: Every single game she sang at. The Penguins won.

340
00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:36,080
Speaker 2: By the way, I think this is the first time

341
00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,719
Speaker 2: either of us have ever cared about hockey.

342
00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,919
Speaker 1: Give a fuck about hockey. I care about little Donna

343
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,840
Speaker 1: in the bleachers seething while Tina hits the note in

344
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:52,680
Speaker 1: Land of the Free.

345
00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,639
Speaker 2: That was actually really good, That wasn't pitchy, dog, that

346
00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,919
Speaker 2: wasn't pitching. Well, you can bet that little Donna was

347
00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:05,080
Speaker 2: seething because unfortunately, the bullying at her school continued. Christina's

348
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,960
Speaker 2: schoolmates even went so far as to call her home

349
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,199
Speaker 2: at night to harass her aka the analog version of

350
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,119
Speaker 2: trolls Up in your DMS. Christina was so upset she

351
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:17,399
Speaker 2: started having nightmares.

352
00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,240
Speaker 1: Shit, can you imagine? Okay, Mom, Lily, what would you

353
00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:22,879
Speaker 1: do if this was something.

354
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:28,040
Speaker 2: You don't want to know, because I would go full Danielle.

355
00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,080
Speaker 2: Stop on those kids' moms, like you do not want

356
00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:35,359
Speaker 2: to unlock the Latina kid me when it comes to

357
00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,920
Speaker 2: my kid, like he should be afraid of me. My

358
00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:40,920
Speaker 2: husband is actually afraid of that. We talk about it.

359
00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:43,440
Speaker 2: He's like, you know that you can't like be mean

360
00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:45,199
Speaker 2: to other kids. I'm like, I can be mean to

361
00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,040
Speaker 2: their moms. I can go after somebody my size.

362
00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:50,720
Speaker 1: Well, you would still be smaller, but you would beat

363
00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,040
Speaker 1: the ass. I know you would. If not, you call

364
00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:54,200
Speaker 1: me and I'll beat the ass.

365
00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,840
Speaker 2: Okay, But after I beat their ass, I'd probably take

366
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:00,000
Speaker 2: a page from Shelley's bok.

367
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,159
Speaker 3: She noticed how Christina was suffering and asked her, do

368
00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:05,919
Speaker 3: you love singing this much? Is it worth it?

369
00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,360
Speaker 1: Real? Like, a kid can be good at something without

370
00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:11,200
Speaker 1: loving it, and you have to make sure that you're

371
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,760
Speaker 1: not just doing it because you think you're supposed to.

372
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,520
Speaker 3: But little Christina told her mom that she loved singing

373
00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,600
Speaker 3: too much to give it up, and Shelley told her.

374
00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,200
Speaker 1: Well, then God must be preparing you for something bigger

375
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,760
Speaker 1: and better and listeners.

376
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,480
Speaker 3: She wasn't wrong, because soon after, Christina's grandmother would notice

377
00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,760
Speaker 3: the smallest ad in the newspaper an open call for

378
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,280
Speaker 3: auditions for the Mickey Mouse Club.

379
00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:42,480
Speaker 1: And it wasn't too long after that Christina would find

380
00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:49,480
Speaker 1: herself on National TV alongside Ryan Justin and it's Britney bitch,

381
00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:01,879
Speaker 1: so Leleana, We've known for a while that child stardom.

382
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:03,719
Speaker 2: Is a whirlpool that sucks in kids and families who

383
00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,320
Speaker 2: don't know any better. I mean, what could possibly give

384
00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:12,359
Speaker 2: anybody that idea? McCauley, Michael, Let's leave the Olsen Twins

385
00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:16,000
Speaker 2: out of this, because you know the row and hello

386
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:17,639
Speaker 2: Nicky jam Selena.

387
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,639
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you've mentioned quite on set a couple of

388
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:21,800
Speaker 1: times in other episodes.

389
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:25,480
Speaker 2: Y'all if you have not watched the show, watch it seriously.

390
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:26,120
Speaker 2: It's so good.

391
00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:27,840
Speaker 3: Have you seen it? No, we'll we'll do that when

392
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,320
Speaker 3: I go over Margarita's sata.

393
00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,440
Speaker 1: First of all, yes, absolutely, But before we do that,

394
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,480
Speaker 1: how do you feel when we watch these old clips

395
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,280
Speaker 1: of Christina and now this Mickey Mouse Club stuff with

396
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,560
Speaker 1: Brittany Jt et cetera.

397
00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:46,080
Speaker 3: I mean I feel a lot of different emotions.

398
00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:46,879
Speaker 1: Hmmm.

399
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:49,239
Speaker 3: I loved those shows growing up.

400
00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,040
Speaker 2: I actually was a Kids Incorporated fan. Oh yeah, and

401
00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:54,480
Speaker 2: I love a good variety show.

402
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:55,120
Speaker 1: I still do.

403
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,760
Speaker 3: But I do think there's something kind of like exploititive

404
00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:03,680
Speaker 3: about children and being consumed for adult entertainment. It's weird.

405
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,840
Speaker 2: It makes makes me uncomfortable. Doesn't make me feel icky,

406
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:08,680
Speaker 2: It just makes me slightly uncomfortable.

407
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,480
Speaker 1: Okay, oh whoa, whoa, Okay, this is this is interesting.

408
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,720
Speaker 1: So like, what if Santhi was an amazing singer and

409
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,200
Speaker 1: it's not so much that you want to I don't

410
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,600
Speaker 1: say that you would ever want to exploit Sonthi in

411
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,119
Speaker 1: any way, but I think that you definitely would want

412
00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,040
Speaker 1: because I think you would want to share his talent

413
00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,040
Speaker 1: with others because you're proud of him.

414
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:31,120
Speaker 2: I mean, I will say this is the million dollar

415
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:35,840
Speaker 2: question because back then, parents really only had vehicles like

416
00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:39,159
Speaker 2: these kids' shows or like these adult variety shows to

417
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,919
Speaker 2: showcase their child's talent. Right it was only you know,

418
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,040
Speaker 2: Star Search or the Mickey Bass Club or Kids Incorporated.

419
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:50,320
Speaker 2: Now that show is TikTok is TikTok, and so I

420
00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,399
Speaker 2: think you're touching on a very difficult question, and I

421
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,000
Speaker 2: go back and forth all of the time. You know,

422
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,200
Speaker 2: Sometimes I feel like I want to share him because

423
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,200
Speaker 2: he brings me joy and happiness. He's so fucking cute

424
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:02,720
Speaker 2: that I'm like, the world needs to see this. But

425
00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:05,479
Speaker 2: then other times I'm like, but the world is big

426
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,760
Speaker 2: and dark and fucking scary, and so maybe the world

427
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,399
Speaker 2: doesn't need to see this. So I think for me,

428
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:13,840
Speaker 2: I'm starting to pull back. Like I've noticed myself taking

429
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,200
Speaker 2: a lot more photos of him where I don't show

430
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,760
Speaker 2: his face, and I'm posting a lot more of that

431
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,720
Speaker 2: because I do think that the world has a weird

432
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:24,160
Speaker 2: fascination with child stars.

433
00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,199
Speaker 1: So like, for you right now, like is TikTok? Do

434
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:29,680
Speaker 1: you think TikTok right now? And like we're going to

435
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:31,760
Speaker 1: call that the new show? Right So is TikTok and

436
00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,200
Speaker 1: all that stuff for these is that? Do you think

437
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:33,800
Speaker 1: that's ethical?

438
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,560
Speaker 3: I think it's for every parent to decide interest what

439
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,680
Speaker 3: is ethical or okay in their home. I can tell

440
00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,320
Speaker 3: you that right now, as the mother to a toddler,

441
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,160
Speaker 3: I'm going to keep him as far away from all

442
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,760
Speaker 3: things social media as long as I can, because not

443
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,840
Speaker 3: only do I see what's happening to this generation of kids.

444
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:57,560
Speaker 2: But in this podcast, think about what we've learned about

445
00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:59,439
Speaker 2: a lot of these people that started off when they

446
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 2: were super young. So I just want to keep him

447
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 2: innocent and childlike as long as I can, even if

448
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,640
Speaker 2: he is the best guitarist, drummer, singer, actor ever.

449
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,160
Speaker 1: I think for me, like what if he's like, Mom,

450
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,639
Speaker 1: I'm a fucking really good DJ in middle school, Like you.

451
00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 3: Know these you should go DJ at your middle.

452
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:18,960
Speaker 1: But do it on TikTok No.

453
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 2: No, you have the rest of your world to be

454
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,920
Speaker 2: a grown up, be a child. But that's my opinion

455
00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:28,160
Speaker 2: today as a mom in twenty twenty four. When I

456
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:30,480
Speaker 2: was a kid in the late eighties and early nineties,

457
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,000
Speaker 2: I mean, these conversations didn't exist. By the way, My

458
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,680
Speaker 2: mom probably wanted me to be on Mickey Mask Club

459
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,280
Speaker 2: and Kids Incorporated.

460
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,200
Speaker 1: Bitch not us in the line with Barney come.

461
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 3: On really, And I definitely took acting classes. So when

462
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,160
Speaker 3: Christina Aguire's grandmother told her and her mom about the ad, clearly,

463
00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:48,600
Speaker 3: like many of us, there was like zero hesitation, like

464
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:49,880
Speaker 3: let's fucking go.

465
00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,560
Speaker 1: Eight hundred kids showed up to this audition ready to

466
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,240
Speaker 1: sing dance and act their little baby hearts out, and

467
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,720
Speaker 1: when the casting director called Agia up to the audition room,

468
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,760
Speaker 1: our girl rolled in a suitcase full of cassette tapes

469
00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:06,760
Speaker 1: and told them pick one.

470
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,919
Speaker 2: According to casting director of Matt Cassella, She's sang Vision.

471
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,800
Speaker 1: Of Love Marijah Honey at ten years old, once again,

472
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,920
Speaker 1: four octave vocal range and wisdom beyond her years.

473
00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:25,040
Speaker 2: Christina gives an unforgettable performance that stuns the entire room

474
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:29,040
Speaker 2: into silence, from the casting executives to the kids waiting

475
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:30,440
Speaker 2: for their turn. I mean those kids should have just

476
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,359
Speaker 2: gone home right then, right, and all of the kids

477
00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:35,440
Speaker 2: in this room go nuts with.

478
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,400
Speaker 1: Applause after all that boolling she went through back in Pittsburgh,

479
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,560
Speaker 1: here's hundreds of kids giving her her propers. That's how

480
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,440
Speaker 1: you know you found your people, Cassella.

481
00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 3: The casting director claimed that a star had been born.

482
00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,680
Speaker 1: But no, but she's a star, a star, I tell you.

483
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:54,320
Speaker 3: No question about it.

484
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:58,560
Speaker 2: But unfortunately the producers thought that Christina was still too

485
00:24:58,680 --> 00:24:59,960
Speaker 2: young to be a mouse.

486
00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:05,679
Speaker 1: I'm Azmilski. That's like being too drama for the Real Housewives.

487
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:06,560
Speaker 1: What does that mean?

488
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,760
Speaker 2: I know, it's actually shocking with all of our child

489
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,080
Speaker 2: star talk earlier. The ad in the paper hadn't specified

490
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,919
Speaker 2: a minimum age requirement and for contacts. Full House had

491
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,000
Speaker 2: been on for at least three years by that point,

492
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:24,600
Speaker 2: and that show had literal like HODLERSHONSI would be aged

493
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:26,240
Speaker 2: out a full House at this way.

494
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:28,960
Speaker 1: Show me a toddler who can sing like Mariah, and

495
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 1: I will buy awe of their merch. Bitch.

496
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,160
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm subscribing right. I would feel weird about it.

497
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,560
Speaker 2: But the point is Christina was so close and yet

498
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 2: so far.

499
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:40,920
Speaker 3: She was crushed.

500
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:46,359
Speaker 1: Exit Little Christina rolling her suitcase of cassettes behind her head,

501
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:47,200
Speaker 1: hanging low.

502
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,360
Speaker 3: Okay, now I'm crushed.

503
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:51,119
Speaker 1: I refuse to suffer alone.

504
00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:55,000
Speaker 2: Okay, in thirty years when we are ye hitos, We're

505
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 2: going to have a big friendship anniversary party and I'm

506
00:25:58,080 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 2: writing that on the cake.

507
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:00,320
Speaker 1: Anyway.

508
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:04,399
Speaker 2: Casella refused to let Christina suffer rejection for long. He

509
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:07,000
Speaker 2: went to bat for her, held on to her audition materials,

510
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,960
Speaker 2: and called her mother up as soon as Christina was

511
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,720
Speaker 2: old enough for the show, and after a private audition

512
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,200
Speaker 2: with the producers.

513
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 1: Christina was a mouse goot tear bitch.

514
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:24,880
Speaker 3: Holly whoa wait wait, wait, wait, wait, Joseph, you mean Orlando, Florida.

515
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:26,119
Speaker 1: Okay, you're killing me.

516
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:31,200
Speaker 2: I refuse to suffer alone. And Christina, for the first

517
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,879
Speaker 2: time in her dark, difficult childhood, was not alone.

518
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:39,280
Speaker 1: Girl just had to find her tribe. Performing arts kids.

519
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,440
Speaker 2: How about performing arts kids on steroids? I mean, if

520
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:48,320
Speaker 2: we're talking about this cast which had Ryan Gosling, Carrie Russell,

521
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:49,119
Speaker 2: J C.

522
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:53,200
Speaker 3: Chase, also Matt Morris aka co writer.

523
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,919
Speaker 1: Of Can't Hold Us Down and Hello, Britney Spears, and

524
00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:58,679
Speaker 1: Justin Timberlake.

525
00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 3: Which we are going to get into. Do not worry

526
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 3: for now.

527
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:06,720
Speaker 2: We'll just say big Summer camp slash theater camp Vibes.

528
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,080
Speaker 1: Camp mouse Keutier is the place for theater kids summer.

529
00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:12,840
Speaker 2: I know that you never watched The Mickey Mouse Club,

530
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,600
Speaker 2: but for an entire generation of people, like myself.

531
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:18,720
Speaker 1: Watch Kids Incorporated. Though okay, good.

532
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:20,520
Speaker 2: Well, it was just like Kids Incorporated, but it was

533
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 2: Disney themed and it was like church like. I really

534
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,120
Speaker 2: looked forward to this thing once a week. I wanted

535
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,080
Speaker 2: to be like them. I wanted to dress like them.

536
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 2: I mean, they were my, they were my they were cool.

537
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,480
Speaker 2: I was following them. They were my influencers. At the time.

538
00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:42,640
Speaker 2: Kid influencers of the ogs like SNL Yeah. Basically, well

539
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:44,280
Speaker 2: that's how I thought your Kids Incorporator was.

540
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:44,919
Speaker 3: It's the same thing.

541
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:49,879
Speaker 2: It's kind of felting, acting, dancing, all of it. I

542
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,560
Speaker 2: would pay at least like fifty grand to be teleported

543
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:58,600
Speaker 2: back in time to see what I said. Yeah, like

544
00:27:58,600 --> 00:27:59,880
Speaker 2: like what it was happening?

545
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:01,720
Speaker 1: Crazy? Yeah.

546
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 2: By all accounts, Christina had the time of her life

547
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:06,320
Speaker 2: during her run on The Mickey Mouse Club.

548
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,160
Speaker 1: She got to do what she loved without any bullies

549
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 1: or complaining ask parents dimming her chine.

550
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:14,960
Speaker 2: She had found her people and her place after a

551
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:19,320
Speaker 2: whole childhood with neither. But unfortunately, I hate it when

552
00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 2: you do this, her time would be cut short.

553
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:22,920
Speaker 1: We're fighting again.

554
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,080
Speaker 2: Don't blame me, blame TV programming execs, because while Christina

555
00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:29,800
Speaker 2: had signed a five year contract, the Disney Channel would

556
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,560
Speaker 2: cancel The Mickey Mouse Club in nineteen ninety four, giving

557
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,560
Speaker 2: Christina just two seasons with her friends and castmates.

558
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,240
Speaker 1: Camp Mouseketeer closes forever.

559
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:43,400
Speaker 2: This is devastating, but all of that is what makes

560
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:44,920
Speaker 2: her a fire.

561
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,640
Speaker 1: Hey, She's been through hell and back and she said

562
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,520
Speaker 1: it herself. She loves singing, too much to give it up.

563
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 2: So at just seventeen, Christina goes to New York to

564
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,600
Speaker 2: find her first manager, and shortly thereafter she was off

565
00:28:58,640 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 2: too not.

566
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:00,920
Speaker 1: Doing this again. You're gonna tell meus she went to

567
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 1: Tampa or Phoenix.

568
00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:08,320
Speaker 2: No, fine, I'll say it, Holly Wood.

569
00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,040
Speaker 1: Just kidding. Booth. Isn't it fun being in the same room?

570
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 3: Honestly, every room is better with you in it, and

571
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:14,440
Speaker 3: that's true.

572
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 2: On the next Becoming an Icon, Christina's golden age starts

573
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 2: as soon as she steps in the recording.

574
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,480
Speaker 1: Booth, and so does the rumor mail.

575
00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,440
Speaker 3: Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoo and Iheart's Michael

576
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,360
Speaker 3: Duda podcast network. Listen to Becoming an Icon on the

577
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,960
Speaker 3: iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast