Mi Reflejo


Mi Reflejo is the second studio album and first Spanish-language album by American singer Christina Aguilera. It was released on September 12, 2000 by BMG U.S. Latin. After the commercial success of her debut studio effort, Christina Aguilera, Aguilera recorded her follow-up project during 2000. It includes five Spanish-language versions of tracks from her previous album, in addition to four original compositions and two cover songs. The tracks were adapted and composed by Rudy Pérez who also produced the album.
In the United States, Mi Reflejo peaked at number-one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop Albums charts where it spent 24 weeks at the top of both charts. The album was the best-selling Latin pop album of 2000 and was certified 6× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It reached number two in Argentina and Uruguay, and has sold around 4 million copies worldwide.
Upon its release, Mi Reflejo received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who noted musical similarities to Christina Aguilera. The album led to Aguilera receiving the Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album and two Billboard Latin Music Awards. Three singles were released from the album: "Ven Conmigo ", "Pero Me Acuerdo de Ti" and "Falsas Esperanzas". To promote the album, Aguilera extended her tour, Christina Aguilera in Concert, into 2001 for eight more dates and performed at the 2001 Grammy Awards.

Background and composition

According to her manager Steve Kurtz, Aguilera expressed interest in recording a Spanish-language album before she recorded her debut studio album Christina Aguilera. At the time, Aguilera was simultaneously touring to promote her debut album and recording a Christmas album My Kind of Christmas, released later in 2000. Mi Reflejo was intended to be titled Latin Lover Girl; the title's origin came from the Spanish version of the song "Reflection", which Aguilera recorded for the soundtrack to Mulan.
In 1999, she began recording in Miami with Cuban-American producer Rudy Pérez. He co-wrote the songs "Si No Te Hubiera Conocido", "Cuando No es Contigo", and "El Beso Del Final". He also composed the Spanish versions of "Come On Over Baby ", "Genie in a Bottle", "I Turn to You", "What a Girl Wants", and "Reflection". Aguilera covers Perez's song "Pero Me Acuerdo de Ti", which was originally performed by Puerto Rican singer Lourdes Robles on her album Definitivamente. Pérez stated that Aguilera did not know any Spanish while recording; he remedied the problem by phonetically writing out lyrics and included a system that allowed Aguilera to pronounce the "r's" in the songs. Mi Reflejo features a cover of César Portillo de la Luz's bolero "Contigo En La Distancia". Additionally, Aguilera made a duet with Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi on the ballad "Si No Te Hubiera Conocido". Aguilera wanted Fonsi to perform a duet with her because she felt that she could relate to him as they "grew up listening to the same things". "Cuando No es Contigo" is an uptempo salsa song which was arranged by Sergio George. "Falsas Esperanzas" is another uptempo song in the album which features Cuban musician Paquito Hechevarria performing the piano.
In a 2020 statement for Billboard Aguilera noted: "I was excited to bring a new life to these songs and reinvent some things. I was allowed to create and express new ad libs and vocal runs that I wasn’t given the freedom to do on the original record."

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Mi Reflejo received an average score of 56, based on seven reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic described the album as a mirror image of her debut album Christina Aguilera. He felt that it was a "little too familiar" although he praised recordings as "well-produced"; however, he concluded that the album "doesn't add anything new to her music, since it's just the old music in new clothing." An editor for Billboard wrote that Aguilera has yielded a mostly mainstream pop album with Latin inflections. Eliseo Cardona of CDNow gave the album a mixed review. While he enjoyed Aguilera's vocal performance, which he described as " precisely, gracefully, forcefully ", he criticized the literal Spanish translation of the lyrics from English, which he said made a "good laugh and a better yawn". He commended "Cuando No es Contigo" as making Aguilera a "credible, expressive salsera" and her cover of "Contigo en la Distancia" as the album's finest moment.
David Browne of Entertainment Weekly, who gave the album a C rating, wrote the review in a parody memo from Aguilera's point of view. He mocked at Aguilera's attempt at making a Spanish-language album simply because of her Ecuadorian heritage, criticized her "unnecessary" high note", ballads that "old Latin ladies'll like", and the photos used in the album's booklet. Mike Magnuson of HOB.com wrote a critical review of the album admonishing the photos in the record for attempting to make Aguilera look Latino which he insisted was a bad influence for the younger audience. Though he mentions that "you can count on her agreeable voice" and lauded the use of Latin percussion and horns, he asserted that the record was "purely a marketing scam gone too far." Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel stated that "Mi Reflejo lacks emotional depth, and her decision to record in Spanish seems more a bid to conquer new chart territory than anything else".
Sonicnet called its production "superslick" and compared Aguilera's vocals to that of Mariah Carey, completing that the album "almost guarantees that the diminutive diva will expand her colonial powers south of the border. In other words, she's planning to do a reverse Ricky Martin on us". Ernesto Lechner of the Los Angeles Times rated the album two out of four stars comparing her vocals in her debut album and in Mi Reflejo, describing her performance in the latter as "ridiculous". He complained about Aguilera's cover of "Contigo en la Distancia" which he described as a "bloated confection". Kurt B. Reighley from Wall of Sound wrote that the album is "an impressive addition to young Christina's limited canon".

Commercial performance

Mi Reflejo debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200 on the week of September 30, 2000. On the same week, the album debuted at number-one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and replaced Son by Four's eponymous album. It spent nineteen weeks on top of the chart until was it replaced by Vicente Fernández for his greatest hits album Historia de un Idolo, Vol. 1. Mi Reflejo was best fifth best-selling Latin album of 2000 and became the second best-selling Latin album of the year later after Paulina by Paulina Rubio. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it has sold 487,000 copies in the United States as of 2014. Likewise, the album debuted at number-one on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart where it debuted on top of the chart succeeding Galería Caribe by Ricardo Arjona. It also spent nineteen weeks on top of this chart until it was replaced by Abrázame Muy Fuerte by Juan Gabriel. Mi Reflejo was the best-selling Latin pop album of 2000. On September 10, 2001, it was certified 6× Platinum in the Latin field for shipping 600,000 copies by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Internationally, the album peaked at number two on the Argentine albums chart and was certified platinum by the Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. It also peaked at fifty-four in Switzerland and certified platinum in Mexico by the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. In Spain, the album peaked at number twelve on the Spanish Albums Charts and was certified Platinum in the country for shipping 100,000 copies. The album has sold 2,2 million copies worldwide as of 2006.

Singles

The lead single of album was "Ven Conmigo ", the Spanish version of "Come On Over Baby ", which was released on August 8, 2000 to Latin radio stations. The song reached number-one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs and number two on the Billboard Latin Pop Songs charts. It also peaked at number eight in Spain. The second single, "Pero Me Acuerdo de Ti" was released in December 2000. The song reached number eight on the Hot Latin Songs and number five on Latin Pop Songs charts. In Spain, it reached number three on the chart. Its music video was directed by Kevin G. Bray. The third single "Falsas Esperanzas" was released on July 3, 2001. The song reached number fifteen in Spain. Its music video, taken from her DVD My Reflection, was directed by Lawrence Jordan. "Genio Atrapado" and "Por Siempre Tú" were previously released as singles along with their original versions. The former single peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart while the latter single peaked at number six on the Hot Latin Songs and number two on the Billboard Latin Pop Songs chart.

Promotion

To promote Mi Reflejo, Aguilera extended her tour,, into 2001 for eight more dates, visiting Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Panama and Japan. Aguilera also gave a performance at the 2001 Grammy Awards, performing "Pero Me Acuerdo de Ti" and "Falsas Esperanzas".

Accolades

At the Latin Grammy Awards of 2001, the album received the award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album. At the 2001 Grammy Awards, the album received a nomination for Best Latin Pop Album, which was awarded to Shakira for MTV Unplugged. The album also received a nomination at the 13th Lo Nuestro Awards for "Pop Album of the Year", but lost to Paulina by Paulina Rubio. Aguilera herself received two Lo Nuestro awards including Pop Female Artist of the Year and Pop New Artist of the Year. At the 2001 Billboard Latin Music Awards, the album received two awards for Pop Album of the Year by a Female Artist and Pop Album of the Year by a New Artist. At the 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Aguilera received an award for Favorite Artist, Latino due to the success of the album in the United States.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of Mi Reflejo.
;Musicians
;Production

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position
Argentine Albums 2
Japanese Albums Chart59

Year-end charts

Chart Peak
position
US Top Latin Albums 2
US Latin Pop Albums 2

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales