YM August 1999

New pop princess Christina Aguilera has famous big-eared buddies in her past.
Six years ago, the "Genie In A Bottle" singer was playing away on the set of the Mickey Mouse Club. Here's the scoop on her all-star crewmates:

With all the kids on MMC, it sounds as if it was like going to summer camp on TV.
It was! I was there for two seasons with Britney Spears and Justin and JC from N Sync. We all became like brothers and sisters.

Did the older kids seem cool?
Oh, yeah. Britney and I were the youngest, and we totally looked up to the older kids, especially Keri Russell, who was 15.

What was Keri like back then?
She was the first one to fray her jeans, which was cool at the time. And she was so beautiful, we were just in awe of her.

You all must be psyched for each other now.
When Britney's album was about to come out, I thought about calling radio stations to request her song. Then she blew up, and I was like, "She doesn't need me!"

Reporter unknown