Christina Aguilera hopes she made the late Whitney Houston "proud" with her performance at the 2017 American Music Awards

Clips from the movie, which also starred Kevin Costner, were played out on the screen as Christina sang 'I Will Always Love You', followed by 'I Have Nothing', 'Run To You' and 'I'm Every Woman', earning a standing ovation from the audience at the end.

Christina later thanked Whitney's "beautiful family" for giving her permission to perform the tracks, admitting the segment was a "dream come true".

In a video posted on Twitter, she said: "To the AMA's to Whitney's beautiful family, thank you so much for this incredible opportunity. Thank you so much for making a little girl's dream come true. I've had the time of my life.

"I hope I did you proud Whitney. Love you forever."

Christina - who has son Max, nine, with her ex-husband Jordan Bratman, and Summer, three, with fiance Matthew Rutler - also shared images of her on stage on her Instagram account.

The string of photographs were captioned: "honoring an angel @amas this Sunday

"@amas tonight at 8/7c on abc #WhitneyxChristina (sic)."

The 'Candyman' singer later shared a picture of her sprawled out across a bed, wearing a black mesh embroidered bodice, and hinted she was still overwhelmed by the moment.

She titled the post: "still reeling... (sic)."

And following her performance, fellow musicians took to social media to praise Christina, including Pink, who admitted she is "in awe" of the star.

The 'What About Us' artist tweeted: "Christina f***ing killed it tonight for one of our favorite singers ever. This about Whitney, and I am in awe of Christina's talent. (sic)"