The rumor mill is buzzing that Mariah is pregnant with twins, but she's mum about her growing baby bump and the gender of her child (or children). "I'm not telling anyone," she said.

The singer did talk about her changing body and food cravings. "My fingers obviously swelled a little bit. I can't even get this ring off if I tried. My taste bud situation is unparalleled... I don't know what it is, but I'm just about fruit for some reason. It has to be really good for me to like it."

With Christmas quickly approaching, Carey said that she and Nick usually go to Aspen, but are unable to this year.

"I can't go there this year because of the altitude," she explained. "We're figuring it out. Looking at different options."

The couple enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving holiday. "I didn't feel like doing much of anything," said Mariah. "I did cook... what I cooked was the best thing of the holiday. I'm sorry but it was. I cooked mashed potatoes and corn."

Click here to watch the interview, Mariah also talks about her HSN line

Source: Extra
Posted on November 30

The start is the chart's highest since deSoL bowed at No. 6 with "Little Drummer Boy" the week of Dec. 17, 2005.

Carey's previous loftiest start belonged to "Dreamlover," which began at No. 17 in 1993.

"Oh Santa!," which introduces Carey's second holiday album, "Merry Christmas II You," has already topped Billboard's Holiday Digital Songs chart.

Source: Billboard
Posted on November 30

Coming out on top is the newest of all of them, Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’. Second on the list is Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ with The Pogues ‘Fairytale Of New York’ placed third.

Mariah’s joyous Christmas hit may have only peaked at No.2 when it was released in December 1994, (it was beaten to the top by East 17s ‘Stay Another Day’ which is No.19 on Music Weeks list) but it is now a firm favourite in the UK at Christmas and charts in the Itunes top 10 every year!

Mariah’s latest Christmas album ‘Merry Christmas II You’ is out now and includes ‘All I want For Christmas’.

Source: MusicNewsDaily
Posted on November 30

The singer, whose mother is Irish-American and father is African-American, explained that she felt like an "outcast" when she was younger.

She said that she believes President Barack Obama has contributed to a "new world" where ethnic diversity is more accepted.

Carey, who is expecting her first child with husband Nick Cannon, explained to British Pride: "Having Obama in office and bringing a child into the world at this point is totally different than me feeling like an outcast when I was growing up and not feeling like it was okay to be ethnically diverse, and I can't believe that we have arrived at this point within society."

The 40-year-old explained that growing up not looking the same as either her mother or father was an unusual thing for her but is happy that her baby will not feel the same.

She added: "I think it's a little bit easier now because the world has changed just in terms of identifying yourself.

"That always felt like a strange thing to me as a child, not looking the same as your own mother of father was a very different thing back then."

Source: DigitalSpy
Posted on November 30

Posted on November 29/30

Don't shoot the messenger, if this isn't true but word is on the streets.....
- It seems there could be a performance/show planned for New Year.
- It seems another big thing is on the way (probably for next summer), but I think it's too early to post it 

But for now, let's all support and focuse on Merry Christmas II You and wish Mariah all the best and happiness in the world with her baby!
Posted on November 29

They talked about more stuff of course and you missed it, you can hear it at this link, it will be up for 7 days.

Producer of the show Sarah Thompson says another show on 1xtra will be different.

They completely zapped the Charmbracelet era.....

Posted on November 29

DVD Quality
- Coming up - click here
- Part 1: Fragrance Promo 
a) here
b) here
c) here
d) here
- Part 2:
a) Album Promo, Oh Santa - here
b) Shoes & Perfume - here
c) Jewelries - here
d) Charlie Brown - here
-Part 3
a) here
b) here
c) here
d) Oh Come All Ye Faithful - here
- Part 4 - Fragrance & Album Promo
a) here
b) here
c) here
d) here
e) Has the O Come All Ye Faithful video - here

A big thanks to Moony for all the hard work
Posted on November 29

Now in: 36,20% of the sales
24 - Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas II You - 16,052

Posted on November 29

Merry Christmas II You Gold in Malaysia
My friend Nelson did so much to promote Mariah in Malaysia.  Through his dad's brand "Pensonic" he managed to make so much promotion that the album went gold in Malaysia.  Nelson and his dad made a press conference and listening session for the media in Hilton hotel in Kuala Lumpur and Universal Music Malaysia presented Pensonic (their brand) with the GOLD plague in making MC's album to GOLD status! 
Nelson is heavily promoting this album soon in Malaysia with radio ads, TVC, billboards, newspapers, and magazines, plus the in store promotion!

During the launch, they handed out the Mariah Carey cookies, and everyone who attended the listening party get a copy of the CD, plus they gave away some Pensonic products plus the MC Forever perfume for some lucky media!

Take a look at the pics of Nelson accepting the plague from the GM from Universal Music Malaysia!

Click to enlarge
Source: Nelson by e-mail
Posted on November 29

First airing ever of O Come All Ye Faithful and The Hallelujah Chorus on HSN last night
You can watch Mariah's appearance (streaming) on HSN's site, there will be other appearances later today.

- Mariah video clip of O Come All Ye Faithful and The Hallelujah Chorus - click here to watch (click on Play Video just below the picture)
- Mariah Carey Suede Platform Peep-Toe Boot - click here to watch (click on Play Video just below the boot picture)
- Mariah Carey Platform Sandal with Jeweled Stones - click here to watch (click on Play Video just below the sandal picture)
- Mariah Carey Pink and Clear Crystal "Ring Pop" 24" Necklace - click here to watch (click on Play Video just below the sandal picture)
- Mariah Carey's Luscious Pink Parfum 1.7 oz. Spray, Deluxe Edition - click here to watch (click on Play Video just below the sandal picture)

Posted on November 29

- Its supposed to be festive yet a certain label is preventing me from showing Christmas videos like they're not on utube!
- The antiquated politics in the music biz are not to be believed. Ugh!!!!
- Honestly,who is the genius that decides its not ok to show videos on live tv when its only helping the labels 2 begin with!

Posted on November 28

Mediabase update
MARIAH CAREY - All I Want For Christmas Is You:  34.907
MARIAH CAREY - Oh Santa: 1.664 (most of it coming from AC radio format)

Source for the info: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 28

US fans
Send me a scan/proof of the receipt of your purchase of Merry Christmas II You bought between Nov.24 and Nov. 29, please put "contest" in the subject.

International fans
Send me a scan/proof of the receipt of your purchase of Merry Christmas II You bought in your country between Nov. 12 and Nov. 29, please put "contest" in the subject.

All entries must be in on December 2, 10 lucky winners will be picked at random.  A few other contests will be launched during December.
Posted on November 26

Cast your vote now for Mariah to win Best Solo Female Artist at the Virgin Media Music Awards HERE.

Source: MariahCarey.com
Posted on November 26

Mariah is schedule to be at Walt Disney World on 03 December 2010, to record her appearance, but the actual Christmas Day extravaganza will premiere on ABC on 25 December 2010.

There has been no word on which songs Mariah will be performing.

The taping is subject to change depending on the weather

Source: Magical Mountain - DisneyDreaming
Posted on November 26

HD: 8 RAR files: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
 

A big thanks to Moony
Posted on November 25

"Attention! L+L(lamb+love muffin: )holiday exclusive is coming soon via @lovebscott. Don't miss it! A complete+total classic! LYM x"

Posted on November 25

Posted on November 25

According to Nielsen SoundScan, Mariah's Merry Christmas II You dropped 10 slots to No. 22 with 35,300, total sales as of now are123,800.

It's #22 instead of the #19 spot projected by HDD, but it's 675 more copies than the projected sales.

Source for the info: Ryan by e-mail - SOHH
Posted on November 24

US: One of the first things you really were known for was Mariah’s "Up Out of My Face" collaboration. Are you still friends with her?

Nicky: Actually, I am still close to Mariah. I felt like Mariah and I really hit it off on a personal level. Not that we speak every single day, but whenever we speak, we're always laughing within two seconds. She reminds me of myself with her sense of humor -- her ability to use sarcasm all the time. But working with her was like a dream come true. I've loved Mariah for as long as I can remember. To have that and for her to be my first video and first big feature, that in itself was just incredible. 

US: Do you think she’ll make a good mom? She just announced she's having a baby. 

Nicky: Of course she will! I told her she will. You know why? Because she's so sweet and hilarious. If it's a girl, oh my god, that baby is going to be the most diva baby in the game. The baby is going to have freakin' diamond bibs and diamond rattles and it's going to be crazy. 

Posted on November 23

MARIAH CAREY - All I Want For Christmas Is You:  18.507
MARIAH CAREY - Oh Santa: 1.321

Hopefully Oh Santa! will gain more and more airplay after Thanksgiving, the airplay gain comes from the AC radio format.(Adult Contemporary)
Source: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 23

Posted on November 23

We can hear a person, son't call him a fan, screaming "Mimoo", absolutely disgusting. Very good vidéo in HQ at this link, unfortunately it's tagged (don't tell me that person will make money with it, beurk..) or here, untagged but it's a non credited copy of the other one.
Source for the link: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 23

While promoting Merry Christmas II You, Mariah said she sings songs from her new album to her baby bump. In an interview with Radio Disney's Ernie D. set to air Tuesday, Mariah joked, "I just hope that they don't turn out hating Christmas!"

Hmmm... was that a slip of the tongue? Only time will tell!

Source: Star Magazine

Heroes note: As I posted a few days ago, the interview will air on Radio Disney on Nov. 23 (tomorrow) 2:00 PM PT/5:00 PM ET, which is 11pm Euro Time. 

Posted on November22

Now in: 31,77% of the sales
20 - Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas II You - 11,620

Posted on November 22

Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S And Mariah Carey Get Holidays Started With New Music Video, “Oh,Santa!”
FUJIFILM North America Corporation today announced that its trend-setting Instax Mini 7S instant camera is being featured in global music icon Mariah Carey’s new holiday music video, “Oh, Santa!” The retro-looking camera with its signature credit card-sized, white bordered photos captures the vibrant holiday fun in an instant.

“Everyone loves the holidays, and with her signature voice and remarkable talent, nobody knows how to kick-off the season better than Mariah Carey. Fujifilm is thrilled to be a part of the festivities with our Instax Mini 7S camera and film,” said Kayce Baker, director of marketing, Imaging Division, FUJIFILM North America Corporation. “We are delighted to join Mariah Carey in this video, and we hope that everyone can capture and share this year’s holiday fun with our favorite instant camera.”

Source: Webwire (All rights reserved)
Posted on November 22

It seems a lil' girl will take the charts by storm this week, 10 year old Jackie Evancho has the voice of an angel and the US (and probably the world in the future) are crazy about her now and they are right (and I'm a Hip-Hop/Rap fan)

If you want to listen to that talented young girl, go on YouTube here and here, it's impressive.

Posted on November 21

The head Barb relived the experience of shooting Mimi’s video with Entertainment Weekly. “I was shaking,” she recalls after meeting the Grammy-winning songbird. “After we shot the video, she gave me a little pep talk that was really sweet and sentimental. She was like, ‘You’re going to make it. You’re going to be really big!’”

Mariah was right. Since then, she’s appeared on tracks for Christina Aguilera, Usher, M.I.A., and many more. Her debut album Pink Friday drops tomorrow, but Nicki is not worried about the sales.

“It doesn’t matter if I sell 80,000 or 800,000 in the first week,” she says. “Eventually the album will be multi-platinum, because it’s a body of amazing work. I don’t have any fear about dropping the same day as Kanye. People like good music and when they hear good music, they’re going to buy it.”

Source: Rap-Up
Heroes note: Pop fans were maybe introduced to Nicki through "Up Out My Face, but Rap fans knew her since at least 2007 with the numerous mixtapes she was featured on.  Nicki Minaj's album is out now in Europe.

Posted on November 21

Don't miss the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade airing Dec. 25th on ABC.

Ryan Seacrest and Nick Cannon are hosting a coast-to-coast entertainment spectacular that includes Mariah Carey and all your favorite Disney characters. For show times and information, visit DisneyChristmasDayParade.com. 

Source: RyanSeacrest.com - Ryan Seacrest on twitter
Posted on November 21

MARIAH CAREY - All I Want For Christmas Is You:  10.324 (yesterday 8.013)
MARIAH CAREY - Oh Santa: 0.889 (yesterday 0.640)

Oh Santa! will gain airplay in the next days or after Thanksgiving for sure, the airplay gain comes from the AC radio format.(Adult Contemporary)
Source: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 20

Some fan pics

Click to enlarge

Source for the video: discolies13 on YouTube
Source for the pics: ArickInRealLife
Posted on November 20

MARIAH CAREY - All I Want For Christmas Is You:  8.013
MARIAH CAREY - Oh Santa: 0.640

Source: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 19

Mariah Carey Says Christmas Album is for the Baby
Singer Mariah Carey loves Christmas, and now being pregnant, the holiday is even more special -- and different.

In an interview with Radio Disney's Ernie D to air Nov. 23, Carey said she made her new Christmas album for the baby. "I was recording this when I found out I was pregnant!

Now Mariah is trying to figure out where to go for the holiday. "I usually go to Aspen, but I'm not supposed to go there this year because I can't ski and I can't really do any of that stuff being pregnant. So, I'm just going to have to figure out where else we're going to go." 

The soon-to-be-mom also shared something embarrassing her mom did that Mariah vows never to do. "If I wasn't home on time or something, she would sing my name really loud and I could hear it from way down the street and I will definitely not be doing that."

The interview airs on Radio Disney Tuesday, Nov. 23 (2:00 PM PT/5:00 PM ET). 

Source: ExtraTV
Posted on November 19

Some fans who didn't want to enter in the piracy "game" have still not heard "Merry Christmas II You", the album was supposed to be out in their country, but they can't find it in stores, for how long can they resist??????

Even if sometimes we pretend not to care that much about sales anymore, we do care, 'cause we want Mariah's work to be recognised and appreciated. 

Only one word today - SHAME!

Guys, harrass your local stores, give them a call, send them an e-mail, go and ask for the album (preferably when there's a lot of people around), we need to get the word out, if WE don't do it, who's gonna do it? 

Posted on November 19

Press Release
In Search Of Mimi
Monday 29 November
10.00-11.00pm BBC RADIO 2 

Presenter/Trevor Nelson, Executive Producer/Sue Clarke for Sue Clarke Productions/ Producer/Sarah Thompson

In Search Of Mimi is a detailed look at the life and times of singer Mariah Carey, who is celebrating 20 years in the music business. Trevor Nelson traces her career ups and downs and looks for the real person behind the sugary image and much written about diva demands.

Nelson begins with the moment Carey was signed by her record company, moving on to her first single, Vision Of Love, and the MTV Unplugged sessions which showcased her tremendous vocal range. Along the way, listeners hear the music that made her famous, from Emotions and Fantasy to the lesser-known tracks that Mariah cherishes, including Underneath The Stars and The Roof.

Listeners hear from Mariah's colleagues and close friends, including her video directing collaborator Brett Ratner, who sheds light on working with her on the sets of her music videos: "We're like two kids in a candy store."

From her back-up singers Trey Lorenz and Mary Ann Tatum, there are tales about her antics on tour and in the studio; while her close friend Jasmine Dotiwala talks about being on holiday with Mariah and her real character behind closed doors.

There are also insights from her executive producer and head of Island Def Jam records, LA Reid; and Lee Daniels, director of award-winning film Precious, talks about choosing Mariah for the part of Ms Weiss and how she adapted to the character and worked on set without a huge entourage.

And there's an interview with Mariah Carey herself, recorded recently in New York City. Mariah talks candidly about her background, the stories behind some of her personal favourite songs, her struggles with her identity and her love of hip hop. She speaks openly and honestly about her lack of control at the beginning of her career and how her sense of humour has got her through the darkest times in her life.

As Mariah gets set to release her latest album, Merry Christmas II You, she discloses how she'll be spending her festive holiday while also revealing what's next for one of the biggest-selling female artists of all time. 

An outtake: Mariah and Cha Cha settling down for the interview with Sarah..., click here to access Sue Clark Productions' site and listen.
Sarah Thompson behind the scenes:
If you’d said to my 16 year old self that I’d be interviewing Mariah Carey in New York one day I would have said something along the lines of...”You what???” I’ve been a massive fan since I can remember and always thought she was a fascinating person.

It was no mean feat to arrange and I’ve been working hard to set this up for the best part of a year, ever since BBC Radio 2 commissioned In Search of Mimi. I was whisked off to New York City with the task of bringing home Mariah Carey’s story, in her own words.

On walking into the hotel Suite at the incredibly trendy Mercer Hotel in Soho it felt like my heart was going to physically burst out of my chest. But then I remembered what Sue told me, “It’s just a job.” As I went forth into the room I dropped my headphones with an almighty clatter (I never was very graceful!) but I proceeded to see Mariah Carey sitting with her new puppy Cha Cha running around her and a much smaller entourage than I’d expected! ‘Heellooooo’ she cooed in her soft velvety voice. She was charming, pristine, warm and funny and in the end I got a great interview with some very sincere moments indeed. As we finished she got up and gave me a great big hug before tottering off into the next room. my heart sung as I walked the streets of New York City that evening, not caring whether I was going in the direction for my hotel because in my possession was the story of Mariah Carey, in her own words and my search for Mimi was finally over.’
 

Source:Sue Clark Productions -  BBC Press Office
Posted on November 19

These special e-cards were inspired by Mariah's very own personal holiday card collection that she is now sharing with all of her fans! Choose from 4 different card designs, 5 different Mariah holiday songs, 2 choices of a bit of sparkle & add your own personal message to create an extra festive holiday greeting to send to everyone on your holiday card list this year!

Send your Mariah e-card now @ http://mariahcareyecard.com/

Source: MariahCarey.com
Posted on November 18

If the answer is yes, then it’s now your chance to help us try to get more “Merry Christmas II you” stocks at HMV stores by filling in our 1 minute survery HERE!  Just enter your name & the HMV stores you visited trying to find the release!

It’s only one minute guys, please fill it in!

Source: Mariah Connection UK
Posted on November 17

This is probably the second video Mariah talked about on Nick's radio show, the first one being O Come All Ye Faithful and The Hallelujah Chorus with her mom.

Posted on November 17

Now in: 40.05% of the sales
1 - Susan Boyle - The Gift - 164,023
2 - Taylor Swift - Speak Now - 158,976
3 - Various Artists - Now That's What I Call Music - 73,473
4 - Jason Aldean - My Kinda Party - 54,751
5 - Bon Jovi - Greatest Hits - 54,570
6 - Kid Kudi - Man On The Moon 2 - 50,396
7 - Reba McEntire - All The Women I Am - 46,896
8 - Sugarland - Incredible Machine - 43,279
9 - Lady Antebellum - Need You Know - 22,368
10 - Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas II You - 20,754

Posted on November 15

MARIAH CAREY - All I Want For Christmas Is You:  2.928 (yesterday: 2.016)
MARIAH CAREY - Oh Santa: 0.287 (yesterday: 0.220)

Source: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 14

Yo, be sure to keep your receipt/proof of purchase, Santa and Mariah will have a surprise for you.

Posted on November 13

It seems All I Want For Christmas is still the radio favorite (at least as of now), more and more radios will start playing Christmas music and they will probably play songs from Mariah's new album!

Mediabase stats:

MARIAH CAREY - All I Want For Christmas Is You:  2.016
MARIAH CAREY - Oh Santa: 0.220

Source: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 13

MARIAH CAREY - All I Want For Christmas Is You:  1.085
MARIAH CAREY - Oh Santa: 0.154

Source: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 11

The show is slated to air on Friday, Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Look for President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle to be among the guests in the audience. TNT's telecast will be followed at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) by a special holiday airing of The Wizard of Oz.

Source: USA Today
Posted on November 11

Can US fans tell me, what's the sudden love for Country acts??????  I know the US always liked Country music, but how can we explain these weeks 3 biggest sales are Country artists?
Mariah doesn't sale that much anymore as the musicbizz is in a bad state, I agree, but how to explain we can see artists selling more than 1 million a week?  Also, why is there piracy for some artists and not for others?

I said I don't want to stress about sales anymore 'cause I want to enjoy the music even if it doesn't sell that well, but in fact, it's not true, I care as labels care and look at the sales when it comes to renew or review contracts and I care as I know every artist look for good sales otherwise he/she would sing for free in the streets.
Posted on November 10

Mariah will be guest hosting the show soon! Have a question? 
- Leave a voicemail at 1-877-AT40-FAN & you could be on AT40!
or
- Send your questions to AT40SuperFan@gmail.com with your name and phone number!

Source: American Top 40
Posted on November 10

She said: "I'm going to be hands on, 'I wouldn't be like, 'Oh, I'm a having a child, yay! Let me get a nanny so I can give her the baby. Take the kid.' That doesn't work for me. I don't believe in that."

Mariah has also hinted she is planning to put her career on hold so she can completely focus on her child.

She added to Britain's OK! magazine: "You can get caught up in Hollywood-land and that's maybe not the best thing for kids, because they didn't ask for it. I don't know that I always felt safe as a child and that's nobody's fault. I feel like it's important to be responsible and to think, well maybe if I do this it's not the best thing for my child. You have to take a backseat a little bit, and as someone in the public eye you're not used to doing that."

Mariah is confident she and Nick, 30, will make great parents, although she isn't sure if she wants a big family.

She said: "I think we will make good parents and that we will be able to figure out how to do it properly. We'd be happy with one. We're so busy – if you have six kids running around no one gets what they need. What I want is to have children in a good way, with the right husband, with the right family life."

Source: CTV News
Posted on November 10

The interview was taped in New York and aired on The Morning Show in Australia.

Molly, who interviewed Mariah for her first Christmas album, talks to Mimi about her love for the holiday, her musical freedom, and more.

Merry Christmas II You is set for release in Australia on November 12. 

Source: MariahCarey.com
Posted on November 10

This special opportunity wont last long so take advantage of this exclusive offering and download your copy of Mariah's Merry Christmas II You from AmazonMP3 now!

Source: MariahCarey.com
Posted on November 9

Honoree Lauren Huichan, 18, Albuquerque, N.M. 

- A trouble foster kid, Lauren was kicked out of multiple homes before choosing to get her life together with the support of the youth advocates Adelante. Now president of the group, she works to change the foster care system in New Mexico, advocate for teens in the system and ensure that other teens and kids do not have as hard a time as she did.Lauren's HALO match is Mariah Carey who is involved with the Fresh Air Fund, which gives disadvantaged urban youth an opportunity to go to camp, experience the outdoors and build new skills and friendships.

Source: MariahCarey.com
Posted on November 9

"Christmas Cupid", the 2-Hour original movie starring Christina Milian, Ashley Benson and Chad Michael Murray premieres as part of ABC Family's popular 25 Days of Christmas Event  on Sunday, December 12 at 8:00pm.

Source: MariahCarey.com
Posted on November 9

Now in: 54,02 % of the sales
1 - Taylor Swift - Speak Now - 193,515 (second week)
2 - Jason Aldean - My Kinda Party - 171,198 (new)
3 - Sugarland - Incredible Machine - 41,989 (third week)
4 - Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas II You - 24,056 (new)

Posted on November 8

MARIAH CAREY - All I Want For Christmas Is You 0.445
MARIAH CAREY - Oh Santa: 0.010

Source: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 7

Setlist:
1. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town/Oh Santa
2. When Christmas Comes
3. O Little Town Of Bethlehem/Drummer Boy
4. Christmas Time Is In The Air
5. Here Comes Santa Claus
6. Oh Holy Night
7. Joy To The World
8. Charlie Brown Christmas
9. O Come All Ye Faithful/Hallelujah chorus (with Patricia Carey!!!!)
10. All I Want For Christmas Is You 

Review:
We waited till almost 8pm to get in. The stage is beautiful. There's red drapes on the frame of the stage and gold curtains hanging. There's silver christmas trees on the side of the stage and a huge one in the middle. The band is on the left riser of the stage with the horn and strings section at the bottom of the riser with golden music sheet stand cover with MC's initials on it. The lighting effects are superb. The production crew instructs us the safety and legalities and other stuff while waiting for mariah. Michael Jackson's hits are playing while waiting. Some of the fans sing along (well all of us) when I'll Be There played on the speakers. Background vocals were Mary Ann, Sherry, Trey and Melonie Daniels.

1. Santa Claus/Oh Santa - They instructed us to be quiet until Oh Santa intro came. Mariah is glowing. She's upbeat and very festive. The kids and the dancers from the music video were there. She's wearing the red ensemble like the Oh Santa video one with the white collar. After the song she exits and we wait.

2. When Christmas Comes - This one sounds nice live but the horn section was not there. Only her band and back-up. She changed into the Black enseble with sequined stilleto shoes. Her vocals was nice (but the chorus is a little lipped, but the adlibs are not) She messed up on the ending so they have to do it again. She said that that's not what they rehearsed awhile ago so they did it again from the "la da ra da rap pa pap" part. She was instructing the band about that part while singing it live. It's like effortless and i get goosebumps when she just adlibs accapella randomly. Standing O

3. O Little Town - They brought out the choir for this. It was live. The instruments are full and rich with the strings. She was adlibing at the end. There's nothing really different from the studio version. Standing O She's having problems with her ear monitors coz she can't hear herself loudly

4. Christmas Time Is In The Air - They brought out the Grand Piano for thi one for Eric Daniel to play. She sang it LIVE! and the nostalgic feel of the song especially when it's live is like WOW. I had a smile in my face the whole entire time she was singing it. Mariah introduced someone from the audience from the Make A Wish Foundation. The little kid got a Standing O. She said that the kid is still waiting for a kidney transplant and she's gonna be featured on the special as well.

5. Oh Holy Night - She was about to introduce this song but she's like "Wait i know there's backround vocals and choir on this song but they are not here yet so how am i going to introduce this song?" And then she sat on the piano chair while waiting, but she has to move coz they are gonna remove the piano off the stage so they gave her a directors chair while waiting. She was joking about it. They brought out the choir again. It's the 2000 track, with some live vocals mixed in. The audio is not that good on this one coz you can tell from the pre-recorded and the live version. I guess they r just gonna edit it or edit it out of the special.

Some lamb gave her a hello kitty ornament in the middle of the taping. The same one got kicked out for being rude to other people around the back for he keep on standing and blocking the view of the other audience and the camera and his attitude is just... no comment. So everyone clapped when he exit the building lol

5. Here Comes Santa Claus - Mariah introduced randy jackson for this one to play the bass. She ask if who's gonna do the monologue part of the song between randy and trey. but no one did it and randy doesnt wanna do it. JD's track was there which is weird (they should just left it out) but it's ok and fun with the dancers.

7. Joy To The World - I'm still thinking if this one is live or lipped, but it is still fun. She said she had a special guest later.

8. Charlie Brown Christmas - They brought up the grand piano again. Brian Cox was playing it. Mariah introduced him and sang the intro from Fly Like A Bird. They brought two vintage tv on stage. One didn't work at first and they have to fix it. The intro is the cartoon and then the intro for the song while the dancers are dancing on one side. The director has to cut it coz Mariah talked (or adlibed) while the dancers are dancing. So they have to do it again. Mariah sang at the back of the piano with an ornament on top of it. IT was live too. Her falsetto is supperb! (Heroes note: it was probably Big Jim Wright)

9. O Come All Ye Faithful - The highlight of the show. Everyone is surprised and in awe seeing Mariah's mom on stage. She got a standing o for that. They brought out the choir and the strings and horns back on stage. Patricia missed her cue on the first take but her voice i breathtaking. She still has it even with age. Everyone is just standing up in awe on the entire song. After the song u see her and mariah whispering to each other and mariah said to the audience that they will be back after a meeting. Now randy, michael and the assistant direnctor is on the stage deciding if they need to redo the song, it took them 30 mins to decide. and then the choir left

They have to redo the ending of When Christmas Comes to make it more "solid ending" which is better. then they redid the Here Comes Santa with a tanding for Mariah and jut the band and randy and the dancers performing. Then the announcer said that they are gonna redo O Come all ye faithful so the strings and horns are back but it took awhile before they start because the choir left home already so they did it without the choir. Mariah is explaining jokingly that they have to redo it because her hair was misplaced on one shot (lol) but instructed us to be quiet after her part before her moms cue so that she knows when to come. The second performance of this song is better than the first but her mom missed her last cue on the last "he shall reign" part. But they're just gonna edit that. (Heroes note:  It seems Patricia missed her first take 'cause the audience applauded after Mariah's part and she was troubled)

10. All I Want For Christmas Is You - this one is the extra festive version. It took them awhile to start for they have to set up the stage with gifts and stuff but when mariah came back it was worth it. She's wearing  the red dress with a small ribbon between the cleavage. The dancers where wearing christmas costumes (gingerbread man, the nutcracker characters, frosty the snowman) and there's boxes of gifts around the stage. She did good and she is very festive. On the bridge part they have snow falling down the stage. She even toss a stuffed toy to the audience. Then the show ends.

Source: micoroan on fomm
Posted on November 7

We wanted to give ALL 1iota members with confirmed tickets to the Mariah Carey Christmas Special some additional important details. Mariah will be singing her biggest Christmas songs from her last huge selling Christmas record and her brand new one. The show is being taped to be broadcast in primetime on ABC in early December.

Please read this info carefully as disregarding any info on the e-ticket or in this email may cause you to be turned away from the event:
 

DRESS CODE:
Our dress code is a CHRISTMAS PARTY look! We want everyone to dress for the holidays (bright colors, very festive, Santa hats, lots of Christmas colors, etc...)! We reserve the right to deny entry to anyone dressed inappropriately.

Do's: Guys: blazer, suit, button down shirts, ties. Bright colors are GOOD! Girls: classy cocktail dress. Bright colors!
Don'ts: NO solid white clothing, baseball hats or large logos. No shorts. No jeans. No t-shirts.

SHOW TIME:
Doors are scheduled to open at 6:45pm sharp and close at 8:00pm! We strongly recommend you arrive 30-45 minutes before the doors open. Apparently, the local fire department will NOT let anyone line up before 5:00pm. The show should end at approximately 11:30pm.

CELL PHONES AND CAMERAS:
CAMERAS, CELL PHONES, PDAs, pagers, large bags, backpacks food or drinks will NOT be allowed in the event! Please leave these items in your car during the taping. If you are seen with any electronic device mentioned above during the show, you will be escorted out of the theatre. No exceptions!

Source: Ryan by e-mail
Posted on November 6

Is she OK? What does she want? Outside the New York hotel suite, the corridor is seething with Mariah Carey’s jittery flunkeys. The day of our interview has changed, our appointment is hours late. But this is Mariah-world, where — if one apocryphal story is true — rose petals must be found should madam pitch up at a hotel at 3am and find the floor not to her liking. When she appeared on GMTV last year, she had two people lower her on to the sofa. She brought her own toilet paper (but it was GMTV, who can blame her?). Carey once said her dogs had their own entourage and her assistants had assistants. Today she will claim she is still a little girl living a far from normal life, while also “the boss lady” of her own corporation, happy finally to have found unconditional love.

The night before we meet, the 40-year old singer attended a lavish event at the Lincoln Centre, where an audience was played, at ear-splitting volume, her thirteenth studio album, the inelegantly titled Merry Christmas II You. The room was decked out with giant baubles and faux presents. The album is a lush, orchestral and supremely camp smorgasbord of hydraulic chords and Carey’s five-octave-spanning whoop-de-whoops, topped with the grand cherry of a razzier version of her 1994 hit All I Want for Christmas. If you like Carey’s melismatic histrionics, beltingly deployed most famously on Hero, you will be enraptured. Everyone from the record company clapped heartily; the woman in front of me looked at her friend with a kind of “Was that for real?” grin at the end of every bombastic number, including a deranged disco version of Auld Lang Syne.

Carey was ushered on to the stage in a plum, body-hugging dress, looking much, much bigger than her airbrushed female Santa album-cover shot (by David LaChapelle) in vertiginous heels: her feet are “repelled” by flats. She thanked us for coming, even though she wasn’t sure who was here. She also thanked Nick Cannon, her TV and radio presenter husband, “for sharing my moment, as he should because it’s momentous”. The wordplay tickled her, but the room felt thick with corporate tension rather than Christmas joy. “She looks totally pregnant,” someone whispered, referring to the baby Carey was said to be carrying, a rumour that she confirmed a few days later. She told me that she and Cannon had discussed baby names in their very first “serious conversation”.

“I think all women are allowed to have their own private space,” she said, declining to talk about her pregnancy. “When you’re in the public eye people don’t respect that line, whereas if you just saw a woman on the street, you’re not going to say, ‘So have you gained a couple of pounds or are you pregnant dear?’ ” She says this in a perfect English accent. “I still consider myself private.” What nonsense: Mariah Carey is quite patently not a “woman on the street” and she invalidates her heartfelt desire for privacy days later when she announces her pregnancy on a primetime TV show.

Of course Carey craves attention, just on her own terms and at her own bidding. She told her husband on his radio show that pregnancy had left her nauseous and exhausted; he is trying to ration her use of high heels. She is no cartoon but rather a canny, witty operator who knows how to play up, and also subvert, her diva image. Carey writes most of her own songs and, with 19 English-speaking No 1s in America, is second only to the Beatles (20), “and she’s alive”, as one of her people put it.

Carey has won five Grammy Awards, has sold more than 200 million albums, singles and videos worldwide and is bullishly proud of her success. “I can sing my songs however I want and if somebody doesn’t like it, I’m like: ‘Guess what, I don’t care what you think. When you’ve written the song, and you don’t like it, then you can tell me you don’t like my singing’,” she says.

She grumbles at the daily invasions of privacy; that people “twit-pic” what she eats in restaurants. She eulogises her “fans” as the ones who “know” her best, faithful throughout what she admits has been a “rollercoaster” life. “And, you know what, I love rollercoasters. You start here, go down, go up, go down, up. I ride them over and over again.”

Before we speak, I watch a farcical piece of arse-licking, when the producer of Disney’s Christmas Day TV show begs her to be his lead act, swearing “on my mother’s life” to provide the singer with a suite at Cinderella’s Castle at the Orlando theme park itself, “where she can turn into a child”. I must have misheard that, I think; but no. When I ask about turning 40, Carey, now opposite me solicitously offering water, says: “Who turned 40? I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m 12.” You feel 12, I ask. “No, I am 12. Honestly, I don’t think I’m normal,” she says. “I don’t think my life has been quite normal. I disregard time, you don’t see me wear a watch. I don’t adhere to modern rules or the normal rules of time.”

OK, I say baffled, but you did turn 40. Physically, you’re not 12 (or her pregnancy would be an underage one). “I don’t have birthdays. Literally,” Carey says firmly. “If anyone wished me happy birthday, I’d be like, who are you talking to? It’s about not being tied down to anything.”

Carey grew up on Long Island, the youngest of three. Her mother, Patricia, was Irish-American and an opera singer, her father, Alfred, was an Afro-Venezuelan aeronautical engineer. They divorced when she was 3. Did she have a difficult childhood? “I had to protect myself against a couple of things,” she says. Like the racists who reportedly torched the family car? “I don’t feel comfortable talking about that,” Carey says.

“It’s hard to explain the family dynamic. I don’t remember them as a couple. They’d been married ten years and then I came along. It wasn’t a normal household. We were artistic. We weren’t a typical suburban family, and every time you have a mixed-race family in that setting it’s not going to be the easiest thing. I’m pretty sure that people did their best to make me happy. I was always creative: singing was always my outlet and still is.”

On her new album, she and her mother duet on a delirious O Come All Ye Faithful. Patricia, a vocal coach as well as a singer, had noticed her daughter’s musical leanings, although Carey never wanted to sing opera herself. Are Carey and her mother close? She looks stricken. “I’m sure we were when I was younger. There have been complicated moments. At least having the duet is something I’ll be able to have and say this is her, this is a special moment and I’m glad we did it.” Her father died of cancer in 2002.

Carey’s mother never “tried to impose rigour” on her; and she wishes she had when it came to learning the piano, because she thinks musically “way farther than my hands can take me” — although “why sit there for six hours when I can call somebody else and say, ‘Come over and help, please’?”

At school, she was “one of those people who didn’t apply themselves, but I had faith that singing was going to be my life. There was no other option: it was this or be a genie.” She remembers taking the radio from the kitchen and listening to it under the covers of her bed: Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Al Green and Michael Jackson. “Anything musical lifted me out of the moment,” she says, adding that even today she is happiest when “fully connected to my creative self, especially writing melodies”. She professes not to know where that five-octave voice came from. “I do have nodules in my throat and know how to make those work. I won’t work in the belting register for longer than two to three hours because nobody should.”

Carey has said before that her relationship with Tommy Mottola, president and CEO of Sony Records, was confining; she released her first record at 20 under him and they married in 1993, divorcing five years later. Next came an ill-fated $80 million deal with Virgin Records which yielded the risible movie and album, Glitter. The label dropped her.

In 2002, she signed with Island Records and released her bestselling album The Emancipation of Mimi in 2005. She became known for her bizarre behaviour. This year she gave a rambling — some thought drunk — speech at a film festival while accepting an award for her role in Lee Daniels’s Precious as a social worker.

People think you’re fragile and emotional, I say. “Really?” Carey says, witheringly. “I’d love to see them handle one hundredth of what I handle. If they consider themselves fragile after living even one day of my life and they made it through that day, that would be pretty amazing.” She cares about what her family thinks, she says. “But the public? I don’t really know who that is. People who couldn’t name five of my songs? That doesn’t matter to me because my fans will know the lyrics at the drop of a hat. They are attached to them on a personal level.”

Carey’s most personal song, “and the one true fans really relate to”, is Close My Eyes from the Butterfly album. “I wrote it as a diary over a four-year period from when I did my first live show, then the Hero video, and I would come back to the house I was living in” — she sighs very heavily, her voice wavers — “and I remember looking out of the window, reflecting on my life and it was like: ‘OK, my dreams are coming true, but I’m living vicariously through myself, the person I am on TV.’ In America I’d had a lot of No 1 songs very quickly, but I was becoming a little sequestered person. And I’m not. I’m not a diminutive person” — she puts on a dainty voice — “who says: ‘Oh, please tell me what to do because I don’t know how to sing this part, help me through this.’ I’m mostly in the situation where I am the boss lady and I hate it. I hate telling people what to do, but I end up having to do it because if things aren’t running smoothly I have to put them in order. It sucks but that’s how it is.”

Like the narrator of Close My Eyes, she felt as if she had grown up too soon, “with the weight of the world” held “deep inside”, having “learnt many things little ones shouldn’t know”. Presumably she, like the song’s narrator, learnt “to grow numb to the madness, and block it away”. She says a German girl who’d been abused as a child wrote to her thanking her for expressing what she had felt. Did Carey suffer abuse as a child? “I’m sure all kids feel some sort of thing of that nature,” she says, looking away. “I wouldn’t be comfortable … I definitely felt abused at school.”

What about Mottola, did Carey feel abused by him? Today, she is wearing a Van Cleef & Arpels silver butterfly, and the album of the same name seemed to stand for her declaration of independence from him. Well, he certainly changed her, she admits. “Our best moments were when we agreed on things creatively.” She started composing Butterfly the song “when I was leaving a situation that was very confining”. She left their house with “literally nothing. I just had to get out.”

Mottola is writing an autobiography, in which he reportedly plans to put her difficulties down to her upbringing rather than their relationship. How does she feel about that? “We’ll see,” she laughs. Is she nervous? “Absolutely not. He has to ask for my approval on every single thing!”

When her career was in apparent freefall at the start of the millennium, she got fed up with people opining about her state of mind. “Unless they went through the experience I did, they don’t know what it was like,” she says impatiently. “I equate it with being in third grade and you’d fall over in the freaking sandbox and you get a grain of sand in your eye and for years afterwards people say: ‘Can we talk about that because it’s soooo interesting?’ Life is full of surprises. The most important thing is that I try to be my best creative self.”

A lot of the time, she observes, the criticism of her is “visual: so for a while I had my hair in a bun, instead of looking glamorous and now you have to be camera-ready all the time and people judge you by how you look. You can’t control it, but I see why people become reclusive.”

Has she had plastic surgery or Botox? She gasps. “No, I haven’t. I take really good care of my skin. I’m ethnic and people forget we have a different skin constitution.”

She doesn’t care about being called a diva (“Isn’t everyone now?”), because “I know the true meaning of the word. First: a woman of great vocal talent. Most people called a diva don’t have that. I’m not saying I do, ha ha … The second is a difficult woman and, yeah, I can be difficult, but I’m pretty nice compared to most people I’ve seen do what I do. If you want to work for someone difficult, work for a bank or company where people don’t care about you. I take care of a lot of people and it’s not easy.”

Is she demanding? “Can’t you see all the pink flowers at my feet? The dogs were supposed to be here,” she says, parodying a grande dame strop. “What a disappointing diva I’m being.” She pours scorn on the report that she demanded the petals at the London hotel: “Yeah, at three in the morning, having just flown in, that’s what I cared about. I just wanted to sleep.”

Is she living the life she wanted? “What else could you see me doing?” she retorts. I meant, from when she was a young girl. God, I forgot … “I’m still a young girl,” Carey says. “Perhaps when other people grow up they become really jaded, but I have this really weird combination of having this sarcastic wit and also having innocence that I refuse to be penetrated. I get the joke and I don’t mind laughing about myself, but I love making music. When I’m in my studio at home, that’s my equivalent of a desk job.”

Is love important to her? “Of course,” she says quietly. Why? “Because I don’t think I have ever felt truly unconditional love until this point in my life.” With Cannon? “Yes. I think we both knew from the beginning. Being in this adult relationship, which is also a public relationship, is different from anything I have ever experienced.”

So marriage to Cannon has transformed her? “Some people look for a husband or wife earlier in their lives. My priority was my career. I don’t think I was ready to be married. I just did it to survive in the relationship and that was difficult.”

What next? Well, Carey “loves” gospel and hip-hop but making the Christmas album has taken her in “lots of new directions”; the lush orchestration led her to fall in love with Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and jazz standards. So jazz? “Yes, maybe. I’m a jazzy girl. Bye, darling,” Carey trills in that spot-on English accent, as she is surrounded by her unsmiling escorts and bundled protectively away: just the way this very pregnant 12-year-old boss lady likes it.

Source: The Times  (All rights reserved) - Dean by e-mail
Posted on November 5

Breaking news: UMG reorganisation
New global UMG boss Lucian Grainge has reportedly laid out his reconstruction plans for the United States East Coast label group. According to sources close to the major, Island Def Jam will be split and merged into two other labels. The IDJ R&B artists, including Jay-Z, Kanye West and Ludacris, will be moved over to the newly named Motown Def Jam Records and will continued to be helmed by Sylvia Rhone, for the time being at least. LA Reid is expected to jump to a gig with Simon Cowell’s X-Factor.

IDJ pop/rock artists like Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber and Hole will be part of the new Mercury/Island Records headed by David Massey.

The Republic label will remained untouched. All three labels will begin sharing back office duties.

If this is true it appears to be the first major move from Grainge, which makes a lot of sense…

Source: MusicVoid (All rights reserved)
Posted on November 4

Watch Mariah's video inviting you to join her on November 29th for the launch of her new lifestyle line on HSN.

Source: MariahCarey.com
Posted on November 4

Hollywood Pregnancy, the Media & the Childfree
It’s not anything new—we see articles about Hollywood stars getting pregnant all over the news stands. It is a pervasive way to reinforce what is already a child-centric society.

But some articles go farther; they send negative messages and perpetuate inaccuracies about what it means when you don’t have children.

Take USA Today’s recent feature article on Mariah Carey’s announcement of her pregnancy. In the article, Dina Sansing of US Weekly magazine says that Carey’s pregnancy could make Carey more “relatable.” As in--people will now be able to better relate to her since she will be more like them as parents. What if you don’ have kids? Does this mean you are less relatable? This kind of communication reinforces the childfree as living in the tributaries of society.

Worse, Sansing says Carey’s pregnancy “solidifies” Nick and her as a couple. This implies that if you don’t have kids you aren’t truly “a couple” yet. You aren’t really a “family” until you create offspring. But is this true?

Brian Powell’s book Counted Out examines how men and women of different ages, races, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds view what constitutes a “family.” Regarding “couples” who don’t have kids, 92% thought that a married, heterosexual couple without kids was a family. Only 40% considered unmarried, heterosexual couples with no kids a family. And only 33% thought that same-sex couples without kids were a family.

Interestingly, the research tells us that it is not kids that “solidifies” you as a legitimate social “unit” as much as whether you are married or straight. Not only do we as a society need to work on this, but when it comes to talking about pregnancy and babies, the media need to work on language that reflects reality and does not indirectly negatively portray those for whom pregnancy does not apply.

Source: Technorati (All rights reserved)
Posted on November 3

Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, Jessica Simpson, Susan Boyle, Annie Lennox, Katherine Jenkis, Charice, Kylie Minogue and Jackie Evancho will join the celebration to light up the world's most famous Christmas tree for NBC's 13th. annual "Christmas in Rockfeller Center" Special on November 30 (8-9 pm ET/PT)

Source: The Futon Critic 
Posted on November 3

Mariah Carey readies for next stage: A baby, Christmas album
Don't expect to see less of Mariah Carey now that she's pregnant.

"Actually, I suppose that you'll be seeing more of me — when you see me," Carey quips.

The singer laughs easily, shortly after confirming what had long been rumored: that she is, at 40, expecting her first child. Carey and her husband of 2 ½ years, America's Got Talent host Nick Cannon, 30, broke the news in an interview that aired Thursday in part on Today.

Though it has been reported that she is about four months along, all Carey will say is that she's expecting in the spring. 'We don't know the sex yet," she adds. "I guess we should find out. But people didn't used to find out, you know."

Carey does allow that she already was pregnant while working on Merry Christmas II You, which she delivers Tuesday. It's her second holiday album and features a new version of All I Want for Christmas Is You, her smash hit from 1994's Merry Christmas. The original version is No. 2 on Billboard's holiday chart, while the similarly bubbly new single Oh Santa—one of four new tunes on II You— is at No. 1.

"I was recording up to the last minute it was due" — the album, that is. "It was down to the wire," she says.

"I was staying up 24 hours a day, doing Auld Lang Syne in one take. I just shot a video last night with my mom," former opera singer Patricia Carey, whose lustrous mezzo-soprano graces a medley of O Come All Ye Faithful and The Hallelujah Chorus.

"I've spoken about my mother's influence my whole life," Carey says. "So this was like coming full circle." And there's still more work to do: This weekend, Carey will tape a holiday TV special, Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You, to air Dec. 13 on ABC.

Asked if morning sickness or exhaustion has complicated all this activity, Carey says: "It's more this constant feeling of ugh. There's always a little bit of nausea, but throwing up is bad for your voice — the reflux is terrible — so I've been trying to just keep calm, get through it."

Keeping a secret is 'stressful'

Carey concedes in a phone conversation that she had some anxiety about making her pregnancy public. "I can't remember the last time I was that nervous before an interview. I never get that way. But I had all this promotion (for the album) coming up, and it was like, how do we keep not saying anything? Honestly, I would have much rather waited before I had a party with the world about this. But you can only keep a secret for so long; it becomes stressful."

Carey had suffered a miscarriage, and "after our experience, Nick and I were careful to not just go off and call everybody the first time we took a pregnancy test." But her reluctance owed more generally to a desire for privacy. "I like to keep personal things personal. But I've learned there's not much that's personal in this business."

Dina Sansing, entertainment director for Us Weekly magazine, observes that Carey's condition "was the worst-kept secret out there. People had been speculating for months."

Sansing expects that the press will document this mom-to-be's progress as avidly as they have that of any expectant celeb lately. "Mariah is beloved by many, and she's had this crazy life that we've all followed. We're excited to see her take this next step, and we want to be a part of it."

Sansing adds that the pregnancy could make Carey, who has sold more than 63 million albums in her career, "more relatable. With someone who's such a superstar, there's always a question of, is she a diva, or one with the people? This makes her one of us. And it solidifies Nick and her as a couple."

Carey says her marriage to Cannon was a huge factor in her decision to have a baby.

"I would have never done this if I wasn't in a strong, grounded relationship. I know you can do it by yourself. I've seen that, and it's fine if it works for you," she says. "But I want my child to experience having a mother and father who live together and love each other, to feel secure in that."

Decorating a nursery will not be a problem for Carey, who is known for her love of butterflies and other fun, frolicsome things.

"Come on, this is me. I already have a Hello Kitty bathroom," she says.

But she says she's not unconcerned about the cosmetic changes that pregnancy brings. "It's hard when you have to be in the public eye, and everybody's a size 2 or a size 0. And you're like, 'Oh, I remember those days!' "

A creative outlet

Then there's the simple matter of resting. "That's the plan, to relax after the holidays. But as Nick says, it's just not realistic to try to get me to not do anything." This month she will launch a lifestyle collection on the Home Shopping Network, featuring shoes, jewelry and a fragrance. "I was looking at the boots, and they're really hot. So that will be an outlet for me, a way that I can keep being creative."

She's also keen to promote the new album. Its holiday predecessor has sold more than 5 million copies in 16 years. Carey executive-produced this successor with label chief and longtime creative associate Antonio "L.A." Reid. Track producers include other colleagues such as Jermaine Dupri and American Idol's Randy Jackson.

Jackson introduced Carey to another key member of the II You team: composer/lyricist/arranger Marc Shaiman, a prolific and witty veteran of theater, film and television. Shaiman co-wrote two tracks with Carey, Christmas Time Is in the Air Again and One Child, and was a principal force in shaping the arrangements and orchestrations.

Shaiman and Carey bonded in part over a mutual affection for the Woody Allen movie Bullets Over Broadway. "I'd be quoting all the characters, doing all the voices," Carey recalls. "Marc is just hilarious. His e-mails are not to be believed. He's Jewish, and when we did One Child, I said I wanted to make it about the Nativity. And at one point, he was like, 'Wait a minute — there's a king involved here?' "

When she first met Shaiman, "I told him that I was going for a classic feeling. I wanted the music to feel timeless, so that you couldn't pinpoint it as 2010."

For music critic J.D. Considine, a contributor to Canada's Globe and Mail, this approach is in keeping with the sensibility that made Carey's Merry Christmas "a classic holiday album — and there have been very few recorded in the past 30 years. Where so many artists try to avoid tradition and just make the Christmas carols sound like their current work, Mariah made an album that people would want to play at Christmas."

The holiday's true meaning

Carey says that flavor is even more pronounced on II You.

"It's festive and fun, but a lot of it is also spiritual in content. I wanted to address the real meaning of Christmas, with songs like The First Noel and O Little Town of Bethlehem," she says. "I think some people are scared to discuss what the holiday really means. I'm not trying to convert anybody (to Christianity). I'm just saying, this is me, this is what I feel."

In fact, the New Testament is cited in the album notes, with two excerpts from the Gospel of Luke.

The first begins, "This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." The second reads simply, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

The baby is Jesus, of course. But the second quote, Carey allows, has special resonance, attached to the infant she'll soon be bundling up herself.

"I always love this time of year," she says. "Whether it's a good time or a bad time, I'm never just going to mope around on Christmas. But this year will be exceptionally meaningful. I'm just so grateful for everything."

Source: USA Today (All rights reserved)
Posted on November 2

It was the American Bandstand concept.  Mariah was wearing a dress very similar to the blue one she wore at the Lincoln Center listening party except the one in the video is red with silver cuffs and lapels, and with white trim around the bottom.  The background is gold and there are guys in suits dancing behind Mariah.  There are also 3 background singers wearing gold choir robes.  The clip was very short, but the video has a very cool vintage/grainy look ...and of course Mariah looked great. 


Click to enlarge
Source: Ryan on fomm
Posted on November 1