The photos and video from the performance show Aguilera on stage, dressed in a tight black skirt and a low-cut blazer, singing her heart out as dark rivulets of mystery liquid run down her legs on a path towards her black patent Louboutin pumps. Awkward, to say the least.

A report in the New York Daily News alleges that self-tanning lotion was to blame for the unsightly mishap, likely applied too close to showtime and therefore unable to dry completely before Xtina started working up a sweat. You can see from the video that the singer is putting her all into the number. I mean, she really sang the  nuance heck out of it — which probably contributed to the mess... a puddle that got much bigger after the fact, once it the Internet picked up on it.

Despite her typically over-the-top read of the song, and whether or not she felt humiliated by those ankle-bound streaks of whatever-it-was, Aguilera appeared professional by barely even flinching throughout the ordeal. It was almost as if she was too focused on her outsized interpretation of James' classic to notice at all, which in turn makes it harder for us to notice her one or two discreet attempts to blend the liquid into her right leg by brushing it against her left.

Perhaps that on-stage wipe out last year at the Grammy Awards strengthened her knack for grace under fire.

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