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Re: We are in the midst of the Mariahsance (87,177) (87,184) by Jared from USA Thanks for writing this wonderful article Richard. (Friday 21 December 2018; 21:28)

Re: Caution album signing (86,150) (86,158) by Jared from USA Actually, the shirt was lit up the entire time because the music was blasting. Like I said, I am writing this from the grave because I died when she sang to me. (Sunday 18 November 2018; 00:33)

Caution album signing (86,128) by Jared from USA You guys, she sang to me. I was wearing my light-up t-shirt, and I can't remember what she said at first, but she clearly liked it. I said, "It's sound activated." So she goes, "What do I have to do?" Then I guess it clicked. GTFO was playing in the background, so she sang along to "take your tingz and be on your merry way". At this point, I just didn't know what to say, so I just blurted "I love you so much" before I was whisked away by the folks who were running the event. Anyway, I am dead now and my funeral is tomorrow. (Saturday 17 November 2018; 17:42)

Re: The Mariah Experience (85,770) (85,772) by Jared from USA I plan on attending, wearing my sound-activated light-up shirt that reads "MARIAH" in bold pink-yet-lavender letters. I had the shirt specially made during the E=MC2 era. Come to think of it, it may not fit me anymore, in which case I'll force my husband to wear it. (Friday 9 November 2018; 23:46)

GTFO (83,855) by Jared from USA I don't often post here. I just want to say that I've been listening to GTFO every day since its release, and the song has really grown on me even though I didn't love it at first listen. My husband is really annoyed at the profanity, however. The song can't be played on the radio as-is. I have high hopes for "With You", and I'm happy to see that she is putting in the work by filming a video ahead of its release. We all know how disastrous other recent releases have been without a quick video follow-up. (Tuesday 18 September 2018; 17:09)

Re: Lil Snowman video (79,734) (79,738) by Jared from USA Yes, they should've used footage from the movie. Anyways, just want to say hi to all the lambs in the land and wish you all a Merry Christmas. I was able to watch Mariah at the Beacon on December 2, and she was lovely and sounded good. I'm so excited now that you-know-who is out of the picture and she is under new management. Things are looking up. (Friday 8 December 2017; 19:39)

Re: Happy Valentine's Day (59,772) (59,775) by Jared from USA I am also finding hope in Mariah's new union. I missed the chance to see her in Vegas on my birthday last year, and I wasn't quite ready to be as festive as the rest of the crowd at her 2nd Annual Night of Joy and Festivity at The Beacon this past December. I had major health problems, and was physically and emotionally incapacitated so I left the show feeling robbed of the chance to enjoy the experience. My guardian angel of a husband prevented me from taking out my frustrations on the wrong people. Now, I feel ready for more Mariah. She's never too far away. (Monday 15 February 2016; 6:20)

Re: Mariah Carey's opening a $20million museum (58,489) (58,492) by Jared from USA Well, Baby from Dreamville, that's one interpretation. Coming from Dreamville, I'd take it with a big chunk of pink rock salt. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if anything of this sort comes to fruition. The persistent rumors that Mariah and her people have been working on getting a Christmas movie made turned out to be true although it ended up being a Hallmark movie instead of a HBO movie. All I know is, at the ripe old age of 30 years, I may not be the concert-going kind of Mariah fan, after all. I've seen her on her Charmbracelet tour, on her Adventures tour, at her Beacon Theatre taping for VH1 Save the Music when she did the duet with John Legend, and various other tapings and appearances in the NY Metro Area, but in your book, I'm one of those haters. I'm ready to call it quits as far as going to Mariah church and worshipping our idol. I'm not forking over hundreds of dollars for one seat if I am going to be surrounded by screaming lunatics who can't even figure out that taking a seat might help everyone in the venue to enjoy and appreciate the show more. That's all. I'm absolutely certain that Mariah will be around a loooong time in some form and I'll be able to enjoy her on TV and in the movies where people are still allowed to enjoy the show from their seats, and those pesky camera-wielding attention seekers can still be asked to put the damned gadgets away so other paying customers can enjoy the show. (Wednesday 16 December 2015; 18:42)

December 14 at the Beacon Theatre (58,466) by Jared from USA Hi Lambs. The good news: it's still a beautiful show and Mariah is still doing her thing on that stage. I love her to pieces, but the experience was ruined for me by the audience members. At first, when the curtains pulled back to reveal Mariah in all her diva glory and "Hark. The Herald Angels Sing" began, I was only too happy to get up and get on my feet along with the entire orchestra section to pay homage to Miss Mariah Carey, my favorite of favorites. I was also happy to be on my feet for "Oh Santa" so I could bounce along to the infectious bass line. The kids on stage were "werking" it. They were so adorable and talented, and of course, everyone on stage and offstage from the ever present trio of Trey and company, to the band and her musical director, to the production and set designers, the stage hands... you get the idea. It takes a village to mount a professional production in a world class theater. The bad news: people in the orchestra section refused to sit down. If you happened to get tickets in that section, you had no choice but to be on your feet for the entirety of the show to even see anything. And I stand 6'1" sans heels. I don't understand why we had to be on our feet at the Beacon theatre mosh pit to enjoy "Silent Night", "Oh Holy Night", "Christmas Time is in the Air Again" and other such gems. Maybe it was because I've had an exhausting day, and a draining week, but I was unable to stand more than halfway through the "intimate" show. It went sour for me very quickly especially when I noticed that three of the people directly in front of me had their camera phones out and clearly did not give a flaming $h*# about the people behind them. They were filming it or live streaming it - you know, for the people who did not pay to enjoy a live performance. Great. I guess I could sit down now in my orchestra seat and watch the videos that people like them would upload. Next time, I'll watch Mariah from the comfort of home. Thank goodness she is doing a Hallmark movie that I can enjoy on my couch, or this Beacon night of joy and festivity show would have ruined my holiday. (Tuesday 15 December 2015; 19:35)

Re: Empire - Sky Summers (58,208) (58,246) by Jared from USA I haven't been able to tune in to Empire in its entirety, but I happen to have caught this scene where Sky Summers (Alicia Keys) is "called out" by a show host (or an emcee?) for being black only when it is convenient. That struck me as reminiscent of what they used to say about Mariah. (Monday 7 December 2015; 1:31)

Re: Apostasy of the Lambs (58,213) (58,245) by Jared from USA Thanks Andrew. I will definitely share my Beacon experience here. Can't wait for December 14. Last year was a beautiful show. I'm hoping they can somehow build on that and make it even more festive this year. Love to you from across the pond, and joy and peace to all on this message board, especially our webmaster. (Monday 7 December 2015; 1:22)

Re: Prince spills tea: Billboard Lady Gaga's WOTY fraud (58,228) (58,244) by Jared from USA "This explains why she was completely ignored at this years [sic] Billboard Music Awards even though she hadn't honoured them with her presence since 1998. They neglected to give her an award for any of her major chart records since or even just for her legendary longevity to mark her 25th anniversary on the BB charts." Notes from Dreamville, where facts go to die and Mariah should get an award just for showing up. I guess this didn't happen. I only imagined Mariah being honored for having a huge year circa 2005-2006. Let's not be bitter about Billboard naming Gaga WOTY in 2015, payola or not. I'm not exactly fond of Gaga, either, but I don't think it's fair to attack her and diminish her attempts to stay relevant in the entertainment business. As far as I can tell, being named WOTY has nothing to do with chart success. They could have named any female artist WOTY and somehow justified it with a nice editorial piece. Furthermore, making the case that Billboard is now nothing more than a PR machine that can be bought doesn't put Mariah in the best light, either. For years, she rode that PR machine, and a large part of her legendary status rests on her 18 Billboard number 1 singles, among her other Billboard chart achievements. It's like saying only the Beatles and Elvis' charting achievements matter because Billboard has been irrelevant and/or corrupt since 1990 (or insert arbitrary year of your choosing). I remember when Mariah was being lambasted for "manipulating" the charts. To be fair, even before Billboard made their methodologies and formulas transparent, you couldn't blame record companies for trying to figure it out to boost their artists' standing on the charts just for the added promotion. On Billboard's part, it is an industry magazine. If the special interests in the industry have captured it, then it will eventually become so painfully obvious that the general public will move on and staying paying credence to it. Honestly, a Grammy these days doesn't seem like such a big deal now that we don't live in the age of broadcast television. Show me someone with millions of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram followers and I'll show you a star. Regardless of Mariah's success, whether it be measured in awards and accolades, chart presence, or a vast social media following, I think I would like her. She has a voice that is ear candy to me and many other attributes that are worthy of praise. I'm not worried about other artists stealing her limelight. (Monday 7 December 2015; 1:17)

Re: Christmas Time Is In The Air Again (58,237) (58,241) by Jared from USA This is my favorite song in MCIIY. It's timeless. She looked so beautiful and glamorous in this performance, and sounded lovely. Thanks for posting the link. (Monday 7 December 2015; 0:40)

An analogy (58,172) by Jared from USA Remember how in Mean Girls, Cady (Lindsay Lohan) reflects that it might have been okay to say that Damian is "too gay to function" among the clique consisting of her, Damian (Daniel Franzese) and Janis (Lizzy Caplan), but it's not okay to talk about him that way with other people. I feel like it should be okay for us lambs to talk about Mariah openly - even negatively (but always respectfully) - in a forum like this (within our lambily), but it's not okay to mock her or deride her in public forums including but not limited to YouTube and Facebook. Yes, a casual admirer might stumble upon such comments and run with them, but it seems very unlikely considering the countless readily available online distractions that an outsider would happen to take the time to read what Mariah's fans think about her every move. (Thursday 3 December 2015; 1:36)

Apostasy of the Lambs (58,171) by Jared from USA Maybe I'm not that into her. Or maybe I'm a "moderate" in practicing Mariahism, and not a fundamentalist worshipper. The few times I post a negative opinion of her doings, I am declared an apostate, a goat in lambs' clothing, told to consider "divorcing" her, and mocked by someone who sounds like they need to consider having a professional evaluate their mental health. Am I supposed to applaud and hand over dollars every time Mariah takes a dump? Is that what it takes to be a true lamb? Wait, Benny Medina is telepathically sending me orders to continue spreading negativity. He says I'm now on JLo's payroll, and the money will be in my checking account via direct deposit by tomorrow. I would love to live in Dreamville where apparently some people are connected to her on a cosmic level, but I can't afford to. I've already spent thousands of dollars on merch and tickets for Mariah Carey, not to mention countless hours of enjoying (and discussing) her output in music, television and film. How sad. I promise you, I'm not a troll, and anyone who wants to practice Mariahism with me without having to declare holy war on the dissenters will find me in the orchestra section of the Beacon theatre on December 14. (Thursday 3 December 2015; 1:18)

Mariah's projects (58,117) by Jared from USA I read the message board often, but rarely throw my two cents in because I know that some fanatical elements are going to spew all kinds of bile at me for sharing thoughts about Mariah that they don't agree with. There are people who complain about her constantly, and I understand that this is a fan site and people want to be optimistic and upbeat about her endeavors. However, like many of you who are Facebook users, I've been targeted for Mariah's Game of War endorsements. I clicked on it thinking it would be fun to watch Mariah do something quirky and somewhat unexpected. I was treated to a video of Mariah in her Xena costume giving an awkward and stilted delivery of a line inciting people to play GoW with her. Cringe. My first thought was, "Did they have to do this in one take? Was there no one in the room to tell her to try again?" Then, there's the "leaked" clip from her Hallmark Christmas movie. We know it's supposed to be fun, and no one expects her to be Meryl Streep, but again we're treated to her "acting skills". I think it's great that she has achieved a certain status in the entertainment industry that lets her have a lot of creative freedom, and maybe some amount of freedom from having to be controlled by image makers, but a lot of that freedom is being squandered on projects like these that turn people off and make it difficult for some fans to publicly root for her. I wish her more success, and everyone who knows me knows that I am a Mariah nut, but I won't be telling my friends to play GoW or watch A Christmas Melody with me (yes, I'm still tuning in and hoping for the best). (Monday 30 November 2015; 22:14)

Re: Love story (57,795) (57,813) by Jared from USA "This shit has Benny Medina written all over it." The paranoia is strong in this one. (Saturday 14 November 2015; 22:55)

I'm taking a break (52,727) by Jared from USA I'm taking a break from this message board. Matini, thank you for accepting my apology. I was truly upset when I realized how much comment came off, but I hope that we can all finally put that to rest. Travon, I don't get your post at all. Are you trying to say that I was nasty? Please look at all my messages before you try to school me on how to be respectful on this board. Voicing a negative opinion about Mariah's latest single is not the same thing as being nasty. I never attacked anyone on here for liking the song. In fact, as I keep saying, I continue to support it in spite of how I feel about it. So I hope no one tells me to "choke of a bag of Fritos". Seriously? I'm tired. Tired of having to defend myself for having an opinion that others here don't like. Tired of getting my messages parsed, taken apart, and taken out of context. Tired of the unnecessary drama. Tired of the eyeroll emoticon (if you did that to my face, I might just do a Pai Mei on you - look it up). So I'll stop posting for a while. Not sure how long, but I just need to get away from all this. As I've said, I had to cancel my Vegas trip and sell my tickets to "#1 to Infinity" because I am very sick right now. I don't need the stress generated by some people on this board. Bye for now. (Saturday 2 May 2015; 16:41)

Thank you Xavier Peoples (52,705) by Jared from USA Finally, somebody "gets it". I'm not a hater. I'm a longtime fan. It's unrealistic to expect that everyone in her fanbase will find every song that she releases to be magical. When I said #Beautiful was a step in the right direction, I should also add that I enjoyed MIAMTEC very much. Many tracks felt "right" to me. And even though I'm not into "Infinity", I bought the single and streamed the lyric video several times, so others on this board should think twice before calling someone a fake lamb. I support Mariah in all her endeavors because I love her and continue to hold out hope that her next release will have something that will blow my socks off. So please, please, everyone stop lambasting people for voicing negative opinions here. It's a message board, not a cult. We're bound to disagree from time to time. I also find it hard to believe when people say that the criticisms here are harsher than what you'll find in public forums. That's so not true because we have a webmaster to censors messages that cross certain lines. Out in the world wide web, I've seen comments about Mariah that are just downright dirty insults - not even proper criticisms - just nasty remarks. When a lamb posts a negative opinion here, it's because we care, not because we want to bring MC down. (Friday 1 May 2015; 23:22)

Ok, so now I'm a hypocrite (52,699) by Jared from USA And a "lamb" (notice the quotation marks), Ethan. Great. Maybe your post wasn't just directed to me, but I feel that it certainly applies because I've been very vocal about disliking Mariah's "corny like Fritos" lyrics on her much-hyped single. "Them chickens is ash and I'm lotion" never sat well with me, but I like "It's Like That" overall. I love the lyrics on "Migrate" because it's clearly a club banger and it just felt right for the song. "Obsessed" has grown on me, too, though I didn't instantly love it, and it still isn't a favorite of mine. You know what truly bothers me about "Infinity"? I've said it before and I'll say it again one last time. She sounds immature for a 45-year old music legend to be singing about Fritos and free throws. I know she's a pop singer, but she doesn't have to lower herself like this for her songs to gain traction. I believe, and I may be mistaken, but this desperate need to cling to her youth is a big part of what's turning the general public off. She should really try something new on her next album. #Beautiful was a step in the right direction. But again, if you love "Infinity" then good for you. You can't bully me into saying that I like it. I'm not a hypocrite, I just know what I like and what I don't like. And I'm not a "lamb", I'm a lamb, have been since '97. (Friday 1 May 2015; 22:33)

Am I racist? No (52,682) by Jared from USA Orkun, Lamb_o_Chop, Licia, and everyone who's condemning me for what I said to Matini, allow me to try to dig myself out of this hole. First off, I have a lot of respect and admiration for many African American people and I count a few as my friends, not just acquaintances. For one, I worship Mariah Carey, a woman who is not only open about her racial background, but celebrates her black identity in her work, most of which I adore including many of her hip hop collabos. Yes, slang terms are used all over the world, but let's admit that Mariah leans heavily towards colloquialisms that are from the black community. I was wrong to specifically state that I found the "AA colloquialisms" in "Infinity" to be grating. I suppose that if it were any kind of slang that makes Mariah sound immature (for a 45 year old) and uneducated, I would find it grating anyway. So sorry Matini for phrasing it that way. Having given it more thought, I guess my true problem with "Infinity" is that I feel like Mariah's songwriting is regressing towards heavy use of slang and poor song structure instead of progressing towards a mature and respectable place. To me, she sounds desperate to connect with a younger audience, and desperate to maintain her "street cred" as the queen of thug love duets that she pioneered. So I want to offer my apologies to anyone who may have been offended, but I truly meant no offense and I did not mean to insult the black community. To the fans who love "Infinity", good for you. (Friday 1 May 2015; 19:41)

Matini (52,642) by Jared from USA I'm sorry to have hurt your feelings. I know that not all African Americans speak like that (Barack Obama, anyone?), but let's be honest, that type of speech originated from African Americans. It's the rise of hip hop culture that brought it to other races. Please don't be so sensitive about it. As for Mariah continuing to put out "great music", that's your opinion. I don't find "Infinity" to be even close to her best work. If you love it or like it, then good for you. I just don't. And I'm not someone who "loves to pick Mariah apart", just someone who wants her to succeed and be the great artist we know her to be. "Infinity", to me, sounds like an album cut that I would skip, rather than a single with real charting potential. However, if the song does well, I would be very happy for Mariah. I want her to continue to make music, and hopefully better music than some of her recent efforts. (Friday 1 May 2015; 0:57)

Vegas (52,628) by Jared from USA On another note, I had to cancel my travel plans to Vegas due to personal illness. I am so bummed out because I had Front Orchestra 3 Row GG seats, and I was gonna watch it with my husband on my 30th birthday on May 10. So very sad, since I think that production wise, this will be her best series of concerts to date. Caesars would never let her on that stage without phenomenal dancers and incredible visual effects. I hope that there will be a DVD release. (Thursday 30 April 2015; 20:06)

Infinity (52,627) by Jared from USA I see that a lot of fans "love" it, and there's anecdotal evidence of casual listeners liking it. I am personally not impressed. Sure, there are some catchy lyrics, but overall, I find the song rather boring. And her use of African American colloquial speech in her songwriting is kind of grating to me. I mean, I get it, she's of mixed race and she considers herself black, but on this song it's a tad excessive. It sounds like she's trying too hard to be "street". We all know she doesn't really talk like that. Sure, she's throw in a phrase or two, but in most of her interviews, she's very well spoken. Her high belts on "close the door, lose the key" sound strained. The song also sounds overproduced to me. I still love Mariah and will continue to support her. I bought the single and have streamed the lyric video several times, though it's just not growing on me. I hope that the official video is good - a storyline, some interesting visuals, not too many beauty shots. The video might be the only redeeming factor for me, if it's up to par with MC and Brett's best work. I mean, c'mon, let's have another Heartbreaker-esque video. That video had everything. (Thursday 30 April 2015; 20:04)

Nick and Mariah (51,463) by Jared from USA This subject has been stewing in my head for a while now, and I just want to vent a little bit. Not at Mariah nor at Nick, but at the lambs/fans who feed the flames of gossip mongering on this board. I know that as devoted fans, we feel a strong connection or bond with Mariah. Some identify so strongly with her, to the point that they feel like they "know" her. Some clearly feel very protective of her, so much so that anyone who seems to cross her in any way suddenly becomes a target and the subject of nasty remarks (ahem, Nick Cannon). Let's be real and let's be honest: we don't know jack. Unless you are in her inner circle and you have facts that are not publicly known, you are delusional if you think you "know" what's going on. I never really liked Nick, but Mariah is a grown woman and her own person. I don't think she was hoodwinked, though of course, I can't deny that possibility. In any case, name-calling and lambasting Nick is kind of distasteful given that we don't really (emphasis) know what happened in their marriage. When I read some of the posts about Nick, I feel like Andrew is right to say that reason and sanity has fled this board. (Tuesday 7 April 2015; 19:35)

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