Carey's show full of glitz
Bringing the glitz of Las Vegas, Mariah Carey stopped at American Airlines Center on Saturday on her Adventures of Mimi tour, where an audience of 12,000 of her best girlfriends gave her a warm welcome. The Vegas touch was evident on the handsomely mounted stage and in the battery of performers she brought along: a four-piece band, three backup singers and a crew of gymnastic dancers - we're talking double flips - who gave the show an enthralling exuberance.
Sporting a black-and-silver color scheme, the stage was a stunner, with a theater-style curtain, a backdrop of shimmering silver beads and an elongated curving staircase bordered by butterflies. Later, a marquee-type sign that traced the word MIMI in lights was lowered to the floor as a backdrop. Multiple screens and cameras provided different views, including one at the top of the stage, a circular "porthole" that showed only close-ups of Mariah. It all sounds overdone, but it was actually quite classy.
Carey has cause for celebration. Her 2005 CD, The Emancipation of Mimi, has sold more than 5 million copies and helped her score a major comeback. Her set, broken into segments in which she left the stage for costume changes, culled tracks from the new disc as well as older material. Pity that she entered the stage to sing It's Like That in what was basically underwear: a black bra and panties topped with a sheer black, hooded cape. As always with Mariah, it was a whole lot of skin.
One especially effective moment was on Heartbreaker, a cut from the album Rainbow that features vocals by Jay-Z; he made his contribution on video while four male dancers wearing black pants and shiny black blazers executed a killer number. The show started with a video, showing shots of a roller coaster backed by Mariah's voiceover declaring that her life was like, yes, a roller coaster. She ended on the declaration that, if you don't get on the ride, you miss out on the adventure. (Star-Telegram)
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