The Stripped Tour

North American tour cancellation

After the success of the tour in 2003 which promoted, a US summer tour was scheduled with Chingy to begin in 2004 with a new theme, however it was scrapped due to vocal cord injuries Aguilera suffered shortly before the opening date. Doctors told Aguilera that she should not sing for the next six weeks, cancelling the tour. She said, "I'm extremely disappointed to have to cancel this tour. I was looking forward to being on the road again and spending time with my fans". Service company FansRule had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and had no ability to refund the money to buyers. Aguilera's team then hired legal representation to deal with the designated trustees for FansRule, Joe Baldiga and John Aquino, and the bankruptcy court to help the fans. But it was a slow-going process, punctuated by hearings where the singer's lawyers had to fight motions from FansRule to pay the trustees before paying back the fans. According to Baldiga, $320,000 was due as repayment to the hundreds of Aguilera fans who had bought VIP tickets. Aguilera's publicists said in a statement:

"You should know that Christina has arranged through her attorneys to ensure that consumers would be receiving the maximum return possible, by virtue of the fact that Christina has agreed that any amounts due to her and her company should instead be used to satisfy the claims of the many fans who purchased tickets through FansRule."

Concert synopsis

The Stripped Tour's synopsis is quite similar to Aguilera's part during The Justified and Stripped Tour in 2003. The tour began with the video introduction of "Stripped Intro", featuring Aguilera handcuffed, blindfolded and sitting in a chair as the words "scandal", "gossip" and "lies" flashed across the screen. Then, the curtain dropped, she strutted out singing "Dirrty" and "Get Mine, Get Yours", with big curly black locks, a black and hot-pink halter with belly-baring plunging neckline, pants and spiked heels. She performed "The Voice Within" as the follow-up, with a long black dress. The acoustic version of "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" sounded "like a seasoned veteran of decades". During the performance, she gave a speech, "Thank you so much for coming... I'm getting that feeling again and it's a blessing. Yes, I've grown up a little bit. Now I'm 22... I'm so happy you've grown with me". Aguilera took off the stage again, performing the "Egyptian-turned-metal" version "Genie in a Bottle", where she rolled on a giant "X" which portrayed her then newly established alter ego "Xtina". Wearing "hot pink straps attached to her outfit", she slowly unraveled herself as the "genie" in the song, provocatively danced her way out of the bottle.

The performance of "Can't Hold Us Down" featured a pink "spark-shooting" motorcycle, with girls dancing around and against boys who tried to poke them. Then, she belted out "Make Over", a "lush", midtempo pop rock song with the "rhythmic trot of a Spanish spaghetti Western", featuring "chain-link fence". During the medley of two Spanish songs from Mi Reflejo, "Contigo en la Distancia" and "Falsas Esperanzas", a male dancer ripped off the skirt she wore, revealing tiny denim boy-cut shorts underneath. Later, she "saucily" replied, "Just because my album is called 'Stripped,' doesn't mean you can take my clothes off". Following the video interlude of "Loving Me 4 Me", she performed the ballad "Impossible". She changed into a "silky empire-waisted" red dress to channel her favorite singer, Etta James, and performed James' two hits, "At Last" and "I Prefer You". The rendition of "Lady Marmalade" from the soundtrack Moulin Rouge! was described as "a playful romp" between four male dancers dressed as sailors and four female members of the troupe in lingerie. She continued with the "gorgeous ache" of her own waltz ballad, "Walk Away". The performance of "Fighter" had more feelings and excitements, though the sound mix was lacking, and the performance version of "What a Girl Wants" was provided with some well-deserved dance moves, in which she dressed a purple shirt and shorts. Aguilera ended her part with "Beautiful", wearing jeans and a T-shirt which emblazoned with the words "God sees no color".

Opening acts

Setlist

The following setlist was obtained from the September 24, 2003 concert, held at the Forum Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark. It does not represent all concerts during the tour.

1. "Video Sequence" (contains excerpts from "Stripped Intro")
2. "Dirrty"
3. "Get Mine, Get Yours"
4. "The Voice Within"
5. "Dance Sequence"
6. "Genie in a Bottle"
7. "Can't Hold Us Down"
8. "Make Over"
9. "Dance Sequence"
10. "Contigo en la Distancia" / "Falsas Esperanzas"
11. "Infatuation"
12. "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)"
13. "Cruz"
14. "Video Sequence" (contains excerpts from "Loving Me 4 Me")
15. "Impossible"
16. "At Last" / "I Prefer You"
17. "Lady Marmalade"
18. "Walk Away"
19. "Fighter"
20. "Video Sequence" (contains excerpts from "Stripped Pt. 2")
21. "What A Girl Wants"
22. "Beautiful"

Tour dates