"Candyman" is a song written and performed, by American singer and songwriter Christina Aguilera from the second disc of her fifth studio album, Back to Basics (2006).

In the United States, it peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million copies in the country.

The song was on the setlist of Aguilera's Back to Basics Tour (2006–2008) and has been covered by Alexandra Burke and the Glee cast.

"Candyman" was described as a pop song by Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly;[1] Stylus Magazine's Thomas Inskeep opined that it imitated swing music,[2] while Joan Anderman from The Boston Globe commented that Perry and Aguilera attempted to modernize early 20th century pop and blues "only to end up imitating the Andrews Sisters,"[3] and Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani characterized the song as standard jazz and blues.

[17] A digital EP was released via iTunes Stores in European countries consisting of Belgium,[18] France,[19] Germany,[20] Spain,[21] and Sweden.

[25] The song was featured in a heavily played ad for the LG Chocolate phone from Verizon Wireless in the United States.

[26] Billboard called the single "raunchy" and praised Aguilera's vocals, saying that "few popular vocalists could pull off such a laudable feat.

"[27] Sputnikmusic's Amanda Murray deemed the song as "fun" and reminiscent of the Spice Girls' "The Lady Is a Vamp" from Spiceworld (1997).

[28] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Scott Mervis labelled it "the swingiest single since Brian Setzer jumped, jived and wailed,"[29] while Yahoo!

Music critic Dan Gennoe called "Candyman" "a good-time 1940s big band romp",[30] and Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly cited it as one of the few "pop-song highs" in Aguilera's career.

[1] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine selected "Candyman" as one of the two outstanding songs on the second disc of Back to Basics, alongside "Mercy on Me".

[7] Lucy Davis for BBC Music was negative towards the song, writing that it "successfully turns the volume and intensity down from 11 to somewhere like 5.

"[31] Jenny Eliscu from Rolling Stone criticized "Candyman" as "a dead rip-off" of the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".

[54][55] In Australia, the song remained in the top ten for 15 weeks[54] and earned platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

[62] Aguilera asked Rolston to co-direct the video with her after he worked with her for a photo shoot for the cover of Rolling Stone.

Shooting the sequences of Aguilera as a singing trio took the longest since they had to be shot for each hair color and camera angle, which was computer-controlled for precision.

MTV UK wrote, "The gig reflected the jazz club mood of Christina's new album, with a swinging brass-heavy backing band and fit dancers bounding sexily around the stage".

[67] She also performed "Candyman" on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on December 31, 2006,[68] and at the halftime show of the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.

[77] In 2011, the song was performed by Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez) and Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce) in "Pot o' Gold", an episode on the third season of the American TV series Glee.

[82] In January 2018, Taye Diggs gave a rendition of "Candyman" during the Aguilera-themed episode on Lip Sync Battle.