[ayu-america-27]

Christine Flores, better known by her stage name Christina Milian, is a Cuban-American singer. The name Milian is adopted from her mother, Carmen Milian, as she felt it would open her up to new horizons. She got her start doing bit parts as a child actress, including working under the name "Tina" on Disney Channel's "Movie Surfers" (a used-to-be-good behind-the-scenes series on Disney's movies) as well as guest starring on shows such as "Charmed." In 2000, she appeared on the song "Between Me and You," a song off of rapper Ja Rule's album Rule 3:36. In 2001, "AM to PM" scored well in the UK and US, and Christina Milian, her debut album, was released overseas. In 2004, "Dip It Low," featuring rapper Fabolous, became Milian's biggest hit, reaching number two in the United Kingdom and number five in the United States. Its About Time, her second album, and first release in her native USA, and the album's second single "Whatever U Want" flopped, peaking at 7 in the UK and 100 on the Hot 100. Her third studio effort, So Amazin', spawned the top forty hit "Say I" and peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200, her highest chart position. However, approximately a month after the album's release, Island Def Jam, her label, dropped her, reportedly due to low sales. However, Island released Best Of, a complation album, exclusively in Japan, where it peaked at a lowly #28 on the Oricon and only sold 38,000 copies. In 2008, she signed with MySpace Records, and released "Us Against the World" via the popular social networking website on October 6, 2008. Its official remix was released January 20, 2009, and her fourth album, and first on MySpace Records, entitled Dream in Color, featuring a guest appearance by Kanye West, is expected to be released in April 2009. Her acting career is also varied, having appeared in the films Love Don't Cost a Thing (where she met eventual ex-boyfriend Nick Cannon, now married to Mariah Carey), Man of the House, Be Cool and the horror film Pulse. It was filming this movie, she found out Cannon was cheating on her and she dumped him. She also worked on the poorly reviewed live-action featuring video game Need for Speed: Undercover, and will appear in The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (opposite Matthew McConaughey) and Bring It On Cinco in 2009.

What do you guys think of this underappreciated potential powerhouse. One listen to "Us Against the World" - and you know, she's got a powerful set of pipes that just needed the right song.