"What a Girl Wants" is the second single from Christina Aguilera's debut album, Christina Aguilera. Released in late 1999, the single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 15, 2000 for two weeks, becoming Aguilera's second number-one single. In the U.S., it became the first #1 single of the 2000s. The single also peaked at number three in the UK and at number five in Australia. Often considered one of her signature songs, the single is most known for establishing Aguilera's placement in the music industry. Many critics had written off the success of her last single, "Genie in a Bottle", as a fluke; "What a Girl Wants" served to prove that Aguilera was not a one-hit wonder. The single earned her five MTV Video Music Awards nominations; Best Female Video, Best New Artist, Best Pop Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Choreography (Tina Landon), and also a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2001.

The song appears on the game .

The song's music video was directed by Diane Martel.

"What a Girl Wants" was written by Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche, and was produced by Roche as well. In her first anthem dedicated to appreciating gentlemen, Aguilera wants to thank a man who stood by her, and did not abandon her while she was confused and needed time to 'breathe'. He knew exactly what his girl wanted and needed. To show her appreciation for the guy in her life, Aguilera sings, "What a girl wants, what a girl needs; Whatever makes me happy and sets you free, and I'm thanking you for knowing exactly..". Unlike her previous single, "Genie in a Bottle", this song is not meant to deal with the sexual aspect of relationships, but rather the romantic and loving part of them, despite the fact that a few of the lyrics suggest otherwise (e.g. "What I want is what you got, What you got is what I want").

Besides "Genie in a Bottle" and "Beautiful", the song is often considered to be one of her signature songs, but ironically, it almost did not become the second single. Aguilera's record company, RCA Records, had originally felt that the track "So Emotional" should become the second single. The label even promoted the song as if it were a single by having Aguilera perform the song on several occasions, such as on TRLand Soul Train. Aguilera felt that was a poor choice for the next single and that she would end up as a one hit wonder if it became the next single.

Originally her insecurities were brushed off by RCA, but Aguilera continued to fight. Her record company finally relented, and "What a Girl Wants" was given the go-ahead to be the next single. However, Aguilera was still not comfortable as she felt that the song did not have single potential in its current form. Instead, she decided that the song needed to be remixed and re-recorded (as the original album version of "What a Girl Wants" had been a slow jam unsuitable for pop radio at the time). When redone, the new version of "What a Girl Wants" kept much of the original melody, but showed new energy and zest as the song was now uptempo, had new lyrics, a new bridge, a Baroque-style breakdown and new powerful vocals (since the original album version had been recorded in June 1998, Aguilera's vocal strength had increased considerably).

As the new version of the song was not on the original album, the album was re-released with the video version of the new version replacing the original version. For fans of Aguilera who already had the album and did not want to buy it again, the Radio Edit of the new version was also released as one of the last major releases of CD singles in the U.S. The Spanish version, "Una Mujer" (English: "A Woman"), is included on Mi Reflejo.

Aguilera has sung "What a Girl Wants" differently from the album version since around 2002. Her most noticeable change has been on the Justified and Stripped Tour, where she changed tempo, and sings the word knew in "You're the one who always knew" regularly, but built up into whistle register and whistle register vocal acrobatics. Aguilera also sang the song in her 2006 - 2007's tour Back to Basics Tourbut sang it in a reggae style with no whistle notes.

The music video was directed by Diane Martel, who also done a music video for Aguilera's previous and chart topping single "Genie in a Bottle". The video begins with Aguilera and her friends walking into an arcade-themed room, dancing for a group of guys, including then-unknown actor Brandon Routh. Suddenly the music video breaks into a scene where Aguilera is seen laying down wearing a corset, with a group of girls dancing around her. Then it returns to its original scene, where Aguilera continues dancing for a group of guys with her friends. The video ends with Aguilera in the arms of her love interest. The music video became the 6th most requested ever on TRL. The video was shot in early November 1999 and premiered on November 25, 1999 on MTV's Total Request Live.

The song appeared in the 2000 hit romantic comedy What Women Wantstarring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.

US Promo CD [1]

US 3-track Promo [2]

2 Track US CD single

US/Germany single

Maxi-CD

US Promo Remixes

UK Promo CD [3]

UK CD 1'

'UK CD 2

Japanese Promo [4]

Germany Maxi-CD

After the massive success of Aguilera's number-one debut single "Genie in a Bottle", there was pressure for its follow-up to succeed, as well. "What a Girl Wants" proved to be another big hit, though not to quite the same degree as "Genie in a Bottle". The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot 100 Singles Sales charts for two weeks, and peaked at number two on the Hot 100 Airplay; the single's strong sales would later assure it a gold certification. Once again, the song was an all-around huge hit, topping the Top 40 Tracks, Top 40 Mainstream and Rhythmic Top 40 charts. The track was international success, reaching #3 in the U.K.. "What a Girl Wants" also entered the Top 10 in Canada, landing at #5.

A CD maxi single release late into the song's run helped the song peak at number two on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales; unfortunately in terms of club play, the song was not as successful peaking at number eighteen on Hot Dance Club Play. There are several different versions of "What a Girl Wants" including the Adult Contemporary Mix which includes lyrics from the video version, but a track closer the original album version.

Elsewhere, the single fared success within the top twenty in most countries. The single also reached #1 in New Zealand, where it held that position for 5 consecutive weeks. During the week of March 13, 2000, Aguilera visited the country while the single remained at #1. "What a Girl Wants" was certified Gold in New Zealand for selling more than 7,500 units, and certified gold in Sweden. It landed at #19 on the Year-End charts in America and #32 in New Zealand.

A different version was used as the single version than the album version. In the video, a slightly altered version of the single version is used, which includes a classical-themed breakdown in the video and an extended ending in the video version as well. Four official remixes were released in the US on the CD maxi-single, including two each by Eddie Arroyo and Thunderpuss. Further remixes were released on international versions of the single.