"The Voice Within" is the fifth and final single from Christina Aguilera's second album, Stripped. Released in 2003, the single peaked at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Aguilera's 11th Top 40 hit. The single also peaked at #9 in the UK and #8 in Australia. The single is most known for its simplistic, but critically acclaimed music video that was filmed only in black and white and only with one camera shot. The video was nominated for three 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, Best Female Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Cinematography.

Song information

"The Voice Within" was written by both Aguilera and Glen Ballard, and was produced by the latter. The album version of song the extends the song about five seconds and blends it with the next track, "I'm OK".

Aguilera did not want "The Voice Within" to be released as the fifth single. She was lobbying for "Impossible", a track from Stripped, which was produced by Alicia Keys, as she felt it would help her break into the urban market. RCA records wanted to release a big ballad during the holiday season like they did the year prior with "Beautiful" and felt that 'The Voice Within' was the perfect candidate. Eventually, Aguilera's label made the final decision and the idea of 'Impossible' being the final single was scrapped.

It was performed on the third season of Australian Idol during "Contestant's Choice" week (Top 9) by Roxane LeBrasse. Despite receiving good reviews from the judges, LeBrasse was eliminated the next night.

The song was performed later by American Idol 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee during 'Songs from the 21st Century' week (Top 10). During this performance, judge Simon Cowell compared McPhee's abilities to that of Aguilera's, saying the former's performance was almost as good as the original singer. He then said it was mediocre during the result show the night after, where McPhee landed in the bottom two.