Diva pleasantly goes through the motions
Halfway through her theater show, Mariah Carey got serious. She thanked the audience for staying loyal through her "ups and downs" - which, helpfully, were chronicled in a video montage of photographs, magazine covers and newspaper clippings - and began to sing the somber gospel sermon "My Saving Grace".
Though she'd already displayed the full range of her voice a few times, Carey came alive on this forthright hymn. Her ad-libbed forays into the dog-whistle-extreme high register, which seemed perfunctory elsewhere, now had purpose and intention. You didn't need to know the drama about her post-Glitter breakdown to sense that the simple, timeless cadences of gospel had been a lifeline.
Carey approached the intensity of "Grace" only a few times - on her Def Leppard cover "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" and the shooping set closer, "Make It Happen". For long stretches, however, this was a diva on autopilot, more concerned with costume changes than the songs she was singing.
Though Carey obviously connects her struggles to the "be strong" theme of a song such as "Can't Take That Away From Me", her delivery was distant - as if she'd already looked inside, found that elusive strength and moved on. (Rolling Stone - Mariah Daily)
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