Carey hoping to meet Mancunian fans
After a tough couple of years, Mariah Carey is going against the diva image by asking to meet her Manchester fans. In an exclusive chat, the singer says she is looking forward to bringing what she believes is her best show to the Manchester Evening News Arena on November 1. And, unlike the extravagant demand she made before her last visit for the Top Of The Pops awards two years ago - decorating the whole dressing room in blue velvet - this time Mariah's request is simply to meet some of the crowd.
"I'm looking forward to it because I really love this particular show," she tells me. "It's the best show I've ever done, production-wise and everything. It's very tight and together. All the dancers and the singers are very talented and I really feel like everybody on stage is there to support me and enhance the show. It gives me an opportunity to shine as best I can and sing my heart out. I've given it a cabaret-type feeling because I looked at my life, and it's like a circus. But I'm a very positive person and I want to make it an enjoyable circus and to emulate that with the show."
At the peak of her career, Mariah was the world's top-selling female artist of the 1990s. However, with her success came a reported high-maintenance attitude. But, after being dropped from her record company, EMI, last year, it appears that Mariah has stepped down from her pedestal and is now happy to get closer to the people who once put her there.
"I've been touring since May and meeting my fans so I'm pretty sure I'll see some people in Manchester," she adds. "They usually bring me really sweet gifts like cute, stuffed animals and fan books with different pictures and stories about their lives, stuff like that. Last night, someone asked me to sign their shoulder and said they were going to have my autograph tattooed on. I thought it was a strange thing to do but I did it because I figured it's their body."
I'm sure with two months to go, Manc fans can think of something more weird for her to remember them by. Mariah Carey appears at the MEN Arena on Saturday, November 1. Tickets cost between £28.50 and £40 and are available by calling 0870 190 8000. (Manchester Online)
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