Reflection

"Reflection"
Single by Christina Aguilera
from the album Mulan soundtrack and Christina Aguilera
Released	June 2, 1998
Format	Airplay
Recorded	February 1998
Genre	Pop
Length	3:33 (Album version) 3:37 (Spanish version)
Label	Walt Disney
Writer(s)	Matthew Wilder, David Zippel
Producer	Matthew Wilder, David Zippel
Christina Aguilera singles chronology
"All I Wanna Do" (1997) "Reflection" (1998) "Genie in a Bottle" (1999) Music video "Reflection" at YouTube (requires Adobe Flash)
Audio sample file info · help

"Reflection" is a song on the soundtrack of the 1998 animated film Mulan. It was recorded by Lea Salonga, who provides the singing voice for Fa Mulan (played by Ming Na) in the film, by Christina Aguilera, whose pop version was released as a single in 1998 (see 1998 in music), and by Coco Lee who recorded the Mandarin version in addition to the promotion of the film in Asia. The recordings are featured on the album Mulan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack.^[1] Everlife recorded a pop rock version of it and Keke Palmer recorded a R&B/ballad of it.

History

"Reflection" was written and produced by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel for the 1998 Disney animated feature Mulan. Several new and established singers auditioned to record the pop version of the song, but Wilder and Zippel felt none of them could hit E-flat 5. Christina Aguilera recorded her audition for the song using an old tape recorder in her bathroom while singing in the shower, and sang E-flat 5 on a cover of Whitney Houston's "Run to You". Wilder and Zippel were impressed by her vocals, and they gave her the job.

Released as an airplay-only single, "Reflection" peaked at number nineteen on the U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. A music video was released, and was filmed at the China Pavilion (highlighting the film's setting) at the Epcot theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The song was Aguilera's first single, and after it led to her being signed to a record deal, it was included on her 1999 debut album, Christina Aguilera. "Reflection" was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. This song has also been covered by Brazilian pop singer Sandy and Kacau Gomes for the Brazilian version of Mulan, Chinese popstar Coco Lee for the Chinese version, Korean popstar Lena Park for the Korean version of this movie, Lucero and Malu for the Latin American and Spanish versions as well. (Aguilera herself has her own Spanish version released in 2001). In Italy the song was covered by Italian popstar Syria for the Italian version. Hong Kong singer Kelly Chen sang a Cantonese version of this song. Mannheim Steamroller covered the song on their 1999 album, Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse.

Charts

References