Jimmy Fallon is always full of surprises on The Tonight Show, and one of those occasional surprises is a segment where a mega-star musical act joins Fallon to "busk" in a New York City subway station. This time, he brought the golden-throated Christina Aguilera along for the ride, as the two collaborated in disguise to perform two songs. Watch how the passersby react when Aguilera starts belting out Aretha Franklin's "Think" in the video below:
There are two immediate takeaways from this video. First, this Tonight Show segment is a genius way to attract attention. Second of all, can you imagine all of the thoughts that must have been going through people's minds as they heard this performance? They may have been wondering if this singer had a record deal, and if not -- why the industry was dropping the ball so hard. They also may have thought they were capturing footage that would eventually lead to the mystery performer getting a career boost. It was a viral moment in the making, for sure, but just not the one they thought they were capturing.
Plus, it was neat to see how quickly people realized the vocal talent they were hearing and began encircling accordingly. Also terrifically heart-warming were all the reactions the onlookers had to the confirmation that it was, in fact, Christina Aguilera belting those jams out. Moments like that never cease to give me chills. Given how distinctive Aguilera's voice is, you have to imagine some of them suspected it was her, or maybe Ariana Grande doing another spot-on impression of the singer.
Christina Aguilera is not the first artist to busk with Jimmy Fallon. Miley Cyrus, Maroon 5, and U2 have done it with him as well, with each earning similarly flabbergasted reactions. Of course, you have to wonder how much longer Fallon and his musical guests will be able to fool anyone. Hopefully for a lot longer, since it is such an entertaining segment. Perhaps they could try for other locations behind just the NYC subway, too. There is arguably always room for disbelief wherever they go, since people will probably still have a hard time believing it is actually happening to them.
Not to speak ill of Carpool Karaoke, but there is something to be said for Jimmy Fallon's segment letting the artists surprise people while being out among them. Thanks to The Tonight Show, you can never really know when that one subway artist seeming to busk is actually a global superstar. (Though you can assume it won't be 99.9% of the time.) It will be fun to see who pops up next. Adele? Beyonce? Ariana Grande? Bruno Mars? Stay tuned.
Learn more about The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on its website, and the show airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC. For new upcoming and returning television shows you can anticipate watching in the coming months, check out CinemaBlend's guide to TV's summer premieres.
