JLO says she was the original choice for Madonna's 2003 VMA kiss performance with Britney, not Christina Aguilera
The 2003 VMA’s were a wild event during a lawless time in pop culture. Britney Spears had just broken up with Justin Timberlake. Timberlake had released a revenge track, “Cry Me A River” where a Britney lookalike starred as his obsession. Meanwhile, the Queen of Pop Madonna was celebrating 20 years of her career at the top of the charts (she’s now celebrating 40 years!).
In an effort to effectively “pass the torch” to the new pop queens, Madonna performed a medley with Spears and Christina Aguilera of her then-single “Hollywood” alongside her iconic 80s hit “Like A Virgin.” In 1984, Madge had burst onto the VMA scene by performing “Like A Virgin” in a wedding dress, writhing on the stage in a sexy romp. So Brit and Xtina recreated the look with her, and then they all seductively kissed while Timberlake looked on menacingly from the audience, apparently seething.
Now, the newly-minted Mrs. Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, is throwing a spanner in the works, revealing that it was her, not Christina, who was supposed to take the stage during that iconic moment in music history. So why didn’t she? To quote South Park, blame Canada.
“Yes, that is actually true,”JLo told E! News in an interview celebrating the upcoming streaming release of her new movie Shotgun Wedding. “I was filming a movie in Canada. We had met — me, her and Britney — to do it, at [Madonna’s] home. I just couldn’t get off the film, so we couldn’t do it. Then they got Christina Aguilera, I think, to do it.”
A quick refresher of JLo’s filmography reveals that she was filming the romantic dance movie Shall We Dance in 2003 in Winnipeg, Manitoba alongside Richard Gere, and it was released the following year.
What prompted Jenny from the Block to reveal this tidbit? E! asked her what her favourite karaoke song is, at which point she started singing the Material Girl’s iconic tune, “Like a Virgin.”
“I didn’t wind up doing it, but yeah, we had talked about it,” she added. “I love Madonna, I’m a huge fan, I always have been.”
This isn’t the first time the Hustler’s star has gushed about her Madonna-love. In 2020, she dressed up in the “Like A Virgin” wedding dress for Halloween, writing in the caption an ode to Madonna’s hit single “Crazy For You.” That fashion choice was notable at the time because Jennifer was engaged to baseball star Alex Rodriguez, who had once famously dated the “Vogue” songstress.
