The Bubblegum Goes Stale

It’s baby one more year--perhaps--for any Mouseketeer domination of the Grammys.

Except for erstwhile “New Mickey Mouse Club” cast member Christina Aguilera’s win as best new artist, the veteran presence spearheaded by Santana’s sweep eclipsed the teen-pop patrol. Britney Spears (also an ex-Mouseketeer), ‘N Sync (two of whom were also on the Disney show) and the similarly teen-targeted Backstreet Boys were completely shut out in the combined 10 nominations for them or their recordings.

What some will be wondering is whether these acts have another year. The strong presence of these teen acts among the nominees was decried in some quarters as an endorsement of disposable, packaged, producer-designed pop with a short shelf life--conveniently forgetting that such beloved past acts as the Ronettes, the Supremes and the Jackson 5 were also packaged and producer-designed.

The nod to Aguilera underscores a general perception that she is less packaged than Spears and has some legitimate singing talent. It’s been the primary distinguishing factor in the battle between the two for the pop queen title, a tussle spotlighted by their going toe-to-toe both in the new artist and pop female vocal categories. (In the latter they were aced out by Sarah McLachlan.)

But in the bigger picture, the place of them and their boy-band counterparts in Wednesday’s proceedings was seen by many in the music business and among music fans as a more significant battle--one for the soul of popular music.

Even Grammy chief C. Michael Greene, in a recent Times story, disparaged the high profile in Wednesday’s show of this kind of act. In the best new artist contest, much pre-show coverage cast Spears and Aguilera as representing disposable pop, with soulstress Macy Gray and blues upstart Susan Tedeschi as the representatives of “real” musical values.

That’s a lot to put on young kids--which is exactly what Aguilera, 19, seemed to be when she accepted the award, giddily flustered no matter how grown-up her revealing outfit appeared to be. And she resents the demonization of her and Spears as not just the providers of ear candy, but also the embodiment of destructive values.

“A lot of people see a young, cute girl who shows her tummy and say, ‘Oh, there’s got to be no brain there’--especially with blond hair,” said Aguilera, juggling an interview with a pedicure and makeup session before a photo shoot on the day before the show.

“But it’s unfair with people only seeing us on the surface. I think people should have at least respect enough to appreciate that a young girl is out there working this schedule and giving her all and following a dream and expressing herself the only way she knows how at this young age. But people can make their own judgments.”

As for competition between them, both Aguilera and Spears deny a rivalry. Indeed, when they ran into each other at an MTV “Total Request Live” taping and charity photo shoot on Monday, they seemed like just any teenage friends. Hugs, smiles and chatty giggles marked their encounter, with Aguilera even putting her hands up to her forehead like two mouse ears--a reminder of their Disney days and of how far they’ve come.

“It had been a while since we actually got to speak a word to each other,” Aguilera said later. “Usually we don’t get a chance, but we like to. It was cool that she took the time to come out for a second and chat. We both wanted [singing success] so bad.

“I didn’t know she would go into singing. I knew that’s what my strength was. Before, we were on the same path, and then to live up to it and be competing for Grammys in the same year, it’s actually kind of cool. But I’m only in competition with myself, always trying to better that aspect. We’re two different things, even though people always try to compare.”

A little later at the “TRL” taping, though, as they sat on the floor of the Park Plaza Hotel’s ballroom along with Limp Bizkit, ‘N Sync, Lenny Kravitz, Sean “Puffy” Combs and Jennifer Lopez, Spears, having just flown in from a European promotional tour, and Aguilera looked like exhausted teenage friends. They certainly didn’t look as if they were having fun.

In contrast, the members of ‘N Sync seemed to be having the time of their lives as they mingled with the other stars. The group’s Lance Bass even seemed cavalier about the coming awards show.

“I don’t even know who the other nominees are [in our categories],” he said. “I just know we’re not going to win.”