What a Girl Wants (Lied)

"What a Girl Wants" is the second single from Christina Aguilera's debut album, Christina Aguilera. Released in late 1999, the single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 15, 2000 for two weeks, becoming Aguilera's second number-one single. In the U.S., it became the first #1 single of the decade of the 2000s. The single also peaked at number three in the UK and at number five in Australia. Often considered one of her signature songs, the single is most known for establishing Aguilera's placement in the music industry.Vorlage:Fact Many critics had written off the success of her last single, "Genie in a Bottle", as a fluke; "What a Girl Wants" served to prove that Aguilera wasn't a one-hit wonder. The single earned her five MTV Video Music Awards nominations;Vorlage:Fact Best Female Video, Best New Artist, Best Pop Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Choreography (Tina Landon), and also a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2001.

The song appears on the game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol.

The song's music video was directed by Diane Martel.

Song information

"What a Girl Wants" was written by Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche, and was produced by Roche as well. In her first anthem dedicated to appreciating gentlemen, Aguilera wants to thank a man who stood by her, and did not abandon her while she was confused and needed time to 'breathe'.He knew exactly what his girl wanted and needed. To show her appreciation for the guy in her life, Aguilera sings, "What a girl wants, what a girl needs; Whatever makes me happy and sets you free, and I'm thanking you for knowing exactly..". Unlike her previous single, "Genie in a Bottle", this song is not meant to deal with the sexual aspect of relationships, but rather the romantic and loving part of them, despite the fact that a few of the lyrics suggest otherwise(e.g. "What I want is what you got, What you got is what I want").

Besides "Genie in a Bottle" and "Beautiful", the song is often considered to be one of her signature songs, but ironically, it almost did not become the second single. Aguilera's record company, RCA Records, had originally felt that the track "So Emotional" should become the second single. The label even promoted the song as if it were a single by having Aguilera perform the song on several occasions, such as on TRL and Soul Train. Aguilera felt that was a poor choice for the next single and that she would end up as a one hit wonder if it became the next single.

Originally her insecurities were brushed off by RCA, but Aguilera continued to fight. Her record company finally relented, and "What a Girl Wants" was given the go-ahead to be the next single. However, Aguilera was still not comfortable as she felt that the song did not have single potential in its current form. Instead, she decided that the song needed to be remixed and re-recorded (as the original album version of "What a Girl Wants" had been a slow jam unsuitable for pop radio at the time). When redone, the new version of "What a Girl Wants" kept much of the original melody, but showed new energy and zest as the song was now uptempo, had new lyrics, a new bridge, a Baroque-style breakdown and new powerful vocals (since the original album version had been recorded, Aguilera's vocal strength had increased considerably).

As the new version of the song was not on the original album, the album was re-released with the video version of the new version replacing the original version. For fans of Aguilera who already had the album and did not want to buy it again, the Radio Edit of the new version was also released as one of the last major releases of CD singles in the U.S. The Spanish version, "Una Mujer" (English: "A Woman"), is included on Mi Reflejo.

Live version

Aguilera has sung "What a Girl Wants" differently from the album version since around 2002. Her most noticeable change has been on the Justified and Stripped Tour, where she changed tempo, and sings the word knew in "You're the one who always knew" regularly, but built up into whistle register and whistle register vocal acrobatics. Aguilera also sang the song in her 2006 - 2007's tour Back to Basics Tour but sang it in a reggae style with no whistle notes.

Track listings

• What a Girl Wants [2 Track US CD single]

1. "What a Girl Wants" [Radio version] - 3:20
2. "We're a Miracle"

• What a Girl Wants [US/Germany single]

1. "What a Girl Wants [Radio version] - 3:22
2. "What a Girl Wants [Smooth Mix] 3:30
3. "Too Beautiful For Words - 4:11

• What a Girl Wants [Maxi-CD]

1. "What a Girl Wants" [Thunderpuss Fiesta Club Mix] - 6:16
2. "What a Girl Wants" [Thunderpuss Dirrty Club Mix] - 6:36
3. "What a Girl Wants" [Eddie Arroyo Long Dance Mix] - 8:10
4. "What a Girl Wants" [Eddie Arroyo Tempo Mix] - 4:20

US Promo Remixes

1. "What a Girl Wants" [Thunderpuss 2000 Dirty Club Mix] 6:33
2. "What a Girl Wants" [Fiesta Club Mix] 6:13
3. "What a Girl Wants" [Thunderpuss 2000 Dark Club Mix] 8:49
4. "What a Girl Wants" [Eddie Arroyo Long Dance Mix] 8:07
5. "What a Girl Wants" [Eddie Arroyo Down Tempo Killer Mix] 4:07

UK CD 1'

1. "What a Girl Wants" [Radio version] - 3:22
2. "What a Girl Wants" [Smooth Mix] 3:30
3. "Christina Album Medley ("I Turn To You", "So Emotional", "Somebody's Somebody", "Genie in a Bottle", "Come On Over") 4:55

'UK CD 2

1. "What a Girl Wants" [Radio version] - 3:22
2. "We're a Miracle" 4:09
3. "What a Girl Wants" (video) 4:06

Chart success

After the massive success of Aguilera's number-one debut single "Genie in a Bottle", there was pressure for its follow-up to succeed, as well. "What a Girl Wants" proved to be another big hit, though not to quite the same degree as "Genie in a Bottle". The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot 100 Singles Sales charts for two weeks, and peaked at number two on the Hot 100 Airplay; the single's strong sales would later assure it a gold certification. Once again, the song was an all-around huge hit, topping the Top 40 Tracks, Top 40 Mainstream and Rhythmic Top 40 charts.

A CD Maxi Single release late into the song's run helped the song peak at number two on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales; unfortunately in terms of club play, the song was not as successful peaking at number eighteen on Hot Dance Club Play. There are several different versions of "What a Girl Wants" including the Adult Contemporary Mix which includes lyrics from the video version, but a track closer the original album version.

Elsewhere, the single fared success within the top twenty in most countries. The single also reached #1 in New Zealand, where it held that position for 5 consecutive weeks. During the week of March 13, 2000, Aguilera visited the country while the single remained at #1.

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	5
Austrian Singles Chart	22
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)	8
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)	16
Canadian Singles Chart	5
Dutch Top 40	9
Dutch Singles Chart (Physical Single Sales)	14
Finnish Singles Chart	12
French Singles Chart	11
German Singles Chart	18
Irish Singles Chart	7
Mexican Top 100	11
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	24
Swiss Singles Chart	17
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	1
UK Singles Chart	3

Year-End Charts

Country	Position	Weeks on chart
Australia	74
France	95
New Zealand	32	13
United States	19

Certifications

Country	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia	Gold	35,000
New Zealand	Gold	7,500
United States	Gold	500,000

Remixes

A different version was used as the single version than the album version. In the video, a slightly altered version of the single version is used, which includes a classical-themed breakdown in the video and an extended ending in the video version as well. Four official remixes were released in the US on the CD maxi-single, including two each by Eddie Arroyo and Thunderpuss. Further remixes were released on international versions of the single.