2005 could not have ended in a better way than it did last night as Mariah took the stage at Times Square in New York City at 11:45 PM of December 31, 2005. Welcomed by Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest, Mariah performed a medley of her biggest 2005 hits: Intro (O.D.B in "Fantasy Remix"), It's Like That, Shake It Off and We Belong Together (featuring Jadakiss and Styles P.). Later, she was interviewed by Vanessa Minnillo for MTV.
Vanessa: Everybody, we have a very special guest right now, I think if I may say so, you're the artist of 2005, going into 2006, Miss Mariah Carey.
Mariah: Oh, thank you darling. Happy new year.

Vanessa: Unbelievable. You told me you lived in New York your whole life and you've never come to Times Square for new year's...
Mariah: I'd never been to Times Square for new year's, this was the most festive, I mean, I'm very festive as you know, and this, just look at it. I mean, look at the sky, the confetti coming down.

Vanessa: And you're like an angel here in white.
Mariah: And you're like an angel here as well.

Vanessa: Now listen, I wanna talk about you and your music. You have done amazing - your album has sold more than any other album in the year so you're technically the artist of 2005. How does that feel?
Mariah: It's a blessing from God and I'm just thankful, I really am, that's all I can say. And I just really... Also, my fans, are the world's greatest fans, I just have the most incredible fans, dedicated, and this year's been incredible and I'm looking forward to 2006.

Vanessa: Well, let's talk about that, right now, I'm gonna brag a little bit more about Miss Carey over here, your song "Don't Forget About Us" ended 2005 as #1 on the Billboard charts, so technically, it was a great Christmas gift, and also technically it's a great new year's gift because you're going into the new year technically as the #1 artist on the Billboard charts. So what do you have planned in 2006?
Mariah: Well, I have a lot of plans and schemes you see...

Vanessa: Give us just a little bit.
Mariah: Well there's a lot of fun things coming up, we have the Grammys coming up which I'm sure you know is gonna be...

Vanessa: 8 Nominations, congratulations.
Mariah: Thank you so much, and I'm just trying to prepare like the performance, the whole thing but I must say that I'm living in the moment these days, and I just can't get past this moment, I'm just never gonna forget this and I wish like, the cameras could capture what this looks like (you can, look at the sky) - you need to pan... look at that. Wooo.

Vanessa: Unbelievable, and Mariah, we're in the middle of it all, I can't think of a better way. Thank you so much for stopping by, I'll see you later at the after party.
Mariah: I'll see you come to my party.

Vanessa: Happy new year. Right here I'd like to say, and I'll dawn you right now on MTV, artist of 05.
Mariah: Happy 2006, we love you, happy new year.

(Mariah Daily)