"American Idol" has already had visits from its share of divas over the past month, from Alicia Keys on Tuesday (April 20) night to Adam Lambert during Elvis week. But season nine will tack on one more when Christina Aguilera pops in for the May 26 finale.
The singer confirmed her appearance during a radio interview on Atlanta's Star 94 FM on Tuesday.
The performance will come just a week before the release of her new album, Bionic, which hits stores on June 8. "I am on the finale show of 'American Idol,' " she said on the station's morning show, adding that she's kicking off her world tour in July, with U.S. dates coming later this year. An "Idol" spokesperson could not confirm Aguilera's appearance or comment on who else might be on the typically star-studded final show.
Aguilera also did not elaborate on what she might sing on "Idol," but the morning show waded into the controversy over a reported feud with Lady Gaga, asking Aguilera if she thinks Gaga ripped off her theatrical style during the four-year lull between Aguilera's albums. "No rip-offs, we're all inspired by different things," Aguilera said. "I was inspired ...... by artists that came before me. That was the whole point of my Back to Basics record, accumulating all of that. I love that there are newcomers. You know what I love about the new breed of newcomers is that they're risk takers. They're doing things that aren't so safe. ... I always had the guts and passion to do things like that. ... I'm happy to see that people have come full-circle and are now accepting it and are into it and these girls have the guts to do it."
Aguilera explained that though she finished "Bionic" almost a year ago, she put its release on hold in order to finish work on her major film debut, "Burlesque," in which she co-stars with Cher and Stanley Tucci.
"You will see me dancing and singing and acting for my very first time," she said of her part in the movie that opens on Thanksgiving. "I wanted to really open myself up to the character. Appreciate the art form and craft of acting. I didn't want to breeze my way through it. For every crying scene, I wanted to evoke the real tears. It was kind of an emotional roller-coaster ride. It was really challenging and hard for me to play with my emotions like that on such a quick, short-notice basis."