Friday, June 20, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NIGHT BEAT: There are actually some things you don't know about Aguilera

Christina Aguilera shows a lot of skin, but her personal side is a bit more mysterious.

Since Christina Aguilera became a huge pop star (playing the MGM on Saturday), she has exposed herself a lot and left very little to the imagination. Even so, here are 15 things you didn't know about "Xtina" but now you do:

1. She has 11 body piercings and counting. She told Maxim magazine, which named her the hottest celebrity in the world of 2003: "I like my piercings. I'm not gonna tell you how many and exactly where, but some are visible, and some are in ... other special places that I really like. It's a thing that started on tour. Whenever I was having a bad day, I'd go get a piercing. It was empowering, something I had control over. I also like the rush of piercing as it's (snaps fingers) doing its thing."

2. She's 5 foot 2 and does not smoke cigarettes.

3. She didn't like her previous slutty image, according to World Entertainment News Network: "Before, as a teenager, I was pretty much a manufactured bubble gum pop tart. Or that's what my management were whoring me out as."

4. But she really does like sex, according to Maxim: "I'm not conservative when it comes to that sex stuff. I have a problem with the whole society thing where guys have sex and get praised for it but girls do it and get labels put on them. So more power to the girl who says she can enjoy sex and not be ashamed of it. I'll back that up 100 percent."

5. In April, she bought a five-bedroom, 43-year-old, Hollywood Hills home for $5 million, which features a 25-foot waterfall, pool, spa, bar, lounge and home theater, according to the Los Angeles Times.

6. Tickets for her October show in Ireland sold out in 20 minutes.

7. She's slated to costar with Sean Connery in the romantic comedy "Magic Isle," playing an American drama student who moves to Scotland.

8. Her favorites: the color red; the movie "The Sound of Music"; the sport of baseball; and Porsches -- according to christinazone.com and connection.christina-aguilera.net.

9. She was born -- one of five children in her family -- on Dec. 18, 1980, in Staten Island, N.Y., but her hometown is Pittsburgh; she has lived in Florida, Texas, Japan and New Jersey.

10. The charities she has chosen to give time and money to include the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, the Foundation Fighting Blindness in Owings Mills, Md., Missingkids.com, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

11. This year, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation gave her a special recognition award for depicting gay and transgender people in her "Beautiful" music video. She performed at the GLAAD awards ceremony.

12. She has fond memories of her friendship with fellow ex-Mousketeer Britney Spears, according to Cosmo Girl magazine: "I have so many! Playing pingpong, for example. We used to have crazy games of pingpong. I'd love to challenge her to this day! I've brushed up on my skills a bit!"

13. She is not in love with the hits that made her career. She told Top Of The Pops magazine: "I can't knock 'Genie In A Bottle.' It got my foot in the door. ... I was growing up and it all became superficial and a bore to me. I was getting up and doing things I didn't wholeheartedly believe in or even see the point of. So with 'Stripped,' I changed everything. Being innovative, inspiring others to be different, to be daring. That's the kind of artist I want to be."

14. The set list of songs she has been singing on tour include "Genie In A Bottle," "Come On Over Baby," "What A Girl Wants," "Dirrty," "At Last (the Etta James song)," "I Prefer You (an Etta James cover)," "Lady Marmalade," "Fighter," and "Beautiful."

15. On Saturday, the Black Eyed Peas open for Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $52-$102 at the arena box office, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. South, and through Ticketmaster. To charge by phone, call 474-4000.

Mr. New York

Lou Reed, who plays the Hard Rock tonight, recently gave a weird interview to an Associated Press writer who posted this exchange in his article:

Reed asks, "Are you from New York?"

The writer says, "No," and later documents the fall-out: "A `no' gets a silent, unsmiling response. Is it pity? Contempt? Worry that he's wasting time with someone who can't relate to his work? His look doesn't tell."

Figures. Reed is a riddle. He last put out an album called "The Raven" about Edgar Allen Poe that had some unfortunate stuff on it. One lyric: "These are the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, not exactly the boy next door!"

Woof. But when Reed, 61, has hit, it's been serious, as with "Walk on the Wild Side" and "Heroin" -- typically songs about New York. As Reed told that AP writer:

"Somebody else can say they're the Los Angeles man, or the London or Cairo or Amsterdam man. But I lay my claim here. I've been doing this for a long time."

Showtime is 8 p.m. tonight. Tickets are $35.50-$50.50 at the box office, 4455 Paradise Road, and through Ticketmaster. To charge by phone, call 693-5066.

Around Town

Ziggy Marley takes his original reggae to the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay tonight. Pop-minded singer-songwriter Colin Blades opens at 8 p.m. Tickets are $45-$55 at the box office, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South, and through Ticketmaster. To charge by phone, call 632-7600. ...

The Beach Boys stage a two-night stand at the Stratosphere tonight and Saturday. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $34-$41 at the box office, 2000 Las Vegas Blvd., or charge by phone, 380-7711. ...

And alt-rock band Lifehouse takes Dishwalla to the Paris pool on Saturday. Showtime is 9 p.m. Tickets are $39 in advance and $49 on the day of the show. They're on sale at the box office, 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South. To charge by phone, call 800-237-7469.