The Voice Within - Music Video

Music Video

The song's music video was directed by David LaChapelle, who previously directed the music videos for "Dirrty" (2002) and "Can't Hold Us Down" (2003) music videos. LaChapelle and Aguilera did several more takes, but only one was as good as the first. They went with take five, but "it was a toss-up". He explained to MTV News the video's concept: "There's all kinds of connotations to the word 'stripped.' I wanted to strip it down to one take. Just her and this incredible voice. And really not have anything that is going to overshadow that. She's trying to grow as an artist and along the way she's taking all kinds of risks and a lot of times people let those things overshadow her ability and her talent. I wanted to bring it all back as a sort of bookend to this album." He further commented: "I wrote the treatment and when read it, she said, 'This is so weird, I feel like I wrote this. It was exactly what I was thinking'. We were on the same page and synchronized in what we wanted to do". The director felt he and Aguilera were entering the experimental video from a similar vantage point:

"We're multi-faceted. Christina's explored a lot of parts of herself, her sexuality, and this is a part of her too. People say to me, 'You're the color guy.' Well, I spent six years only shooting black-and-white. People don't understand you can be an artist and do different types of things. Me and Christina are up against the same things. Don't let other people's labels make you feel like you're stuck in a box. It's not about living up to limitations people put on you."

It opens with a close-up of Aguilera and zooms out to her wearing a slip and sitting in an abandoned prop room. In one continuous black-and-white shot, Aguilera walks through several rooms, exits the building, and finally lays on a light box. The video was filmed at a deserted theater in downtown Los Angeles, California. It is inspired by neorealist works. "The Voice Within'" was the eleventh video for Aguilera to appear on Total Request Live. The video hit number one twice and spent thirty-seven days on the countdown. The video was nominated for three 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, Best Female Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Cinematography, however it did not win any.