NEW ORLEANS — Christina Aguilera gave her fans a little bit of jazz, a little bit of blues, and a lot of soul during her debut performance Friday at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

The very pregnant performer shimmied and danced her way through a litany of hits including “Lady Marmalade,” the LaBelle song she helped remake into a hit years ago; “Dirrty,” “Candyman,” “Ain’t No Other Man,” “Beautiful,” “What a Girl Wants,” and her final song of the night, “Fighter.”

Morgan Griffith of Dallas said she came to Jazz Fest so she could hear Aguilera’s voice live.

“I’ve seen her at the Super Bowl and in her movies, like ‘Burlesque,’ and she’s just an amazing performer. She doesn’t just sing. It’s everything on cue: the dancers, the setup … just everything.”

“She has such a strong voice,” added Griffith’s friend, Courtney Vrij, also of Dallas.

Aguilera also sang covers of several songs, including “Moves Like Jagger,” by Maroon 5; “Whole Lotta Love,” by Led Zeppelin; B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone;” “It’s a Man’s World,” by James Brown; and “At Last,” by Etta James.

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The set included a guest performance by Ian Axel of A Great Big World on “Say Something.”

One of Aguilera’s other “guests” was her unborn daughter, her second child, whom she calls a “roadie.”

“This baby girl has already hit the stage in Malaysia,” she said in an email before the show. “It’s Mama’s job. We roll with it.”

Other acts included Chaka Khan and Alabama Shakes.


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