| Thursday 12 December 2002 |
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Mariah, Matt and the Mall: Oh my!
Al Roker, the world's most popular weatherman, popped out of the Chapel of Love Wednesday morning on the Mall of America's third floor. He had just wrapped a live segment for "The Today Show" and was speedwalking to his next assignment - - a ride on the Screamin' Yellow Eagle - when a smile belonging to a middle-aged woman floated towards him. "Here are your Al Roker fans waiting to see you in person," she said with enough perkiness to make even Katie Couric wince. She was alone. If Roker felt slighted, it wouldn't last for long. Within minutes he was riding the down escalator into a sea of more than 10,000 people who had set their alarm clocks to what-in-the-world a.m. to participate in the biggest TV event in the mall's history.
They screamed for Mariah Carey. They screamed for Matt Lauer. They screamed for the cameras that swooped overhead. They screamed just to keep awake. They screamed so much it was a holiday miracle that the glass elevators didn't explode. Lauer, whose new haircut has triggered more debate than President Bush's war threats, said the mall appearance was more intense than most remotes, but he was impressed that Minnesota Nice still prevailed. "This is one of our best behaved crowds," he said, shortly before ending the three-hour show by throwing a red beret in the air, Mary Richards style. "They're not running through barricades. They're staying quiet during serious segments. It's been very easy, from our point of view."
But many fans who waited all night to get in weren't as eager to hand out gold stars for good manners. Mall officials wouldn't allow people to line up - or even be on mall property - until roughly 5 a.m. That meant a lot of people - some of whom arrived at 8 p.m. - made camp across the street. At some point in the early morning, there was a mad rush near the front doors. "We were smooshed," said Ladonna Formica of Hastings, who celebrated her 16th birthday by waiting more than five hours to get in. "It was like a mosh pit."
As it turns out, there was plenty of room for everyone to catch at least part of the live broadcast. "Today" had three sets, one for the concert, one where Lauer interviewed Carey and another in Camp Snoopy, which featured an interview with St. Paul-born cartoonist Charles Schulz's son, Greg. (Couric stayed in New York.) Of course, most people weren't there for anyone else but Carey. The singer went on a glad-handing shopping spree on Tuesday, performed four songs Wednesday morning, signed copies of her albums, sat for numerous radio interviews, rode the amusement-park rides and did an afternoon shift at Orange Julius. OK, we made that last one up, but the way she waved to fans like an awestruck homecoming queen, it was easy to forget that she's sold more No. 1 singles than any female recording artist in history.
Bringing you back to reality was the small army who surrounded her after every song to poof her hair, brush on blush and remind her that she rules. Which she did. Carey was clearly not lip synching, which one might expect from other divas, who might be just getting home for a champagne party at 7 a.m. For "Make It Happen", Carey got the wrong cue from "Today" producers. When she realized she wasn't on the air, she cut the number short by changing the lyrics to: "We've got to stop this song." It sounded so natural and pretty that the band and 17 backup singers had no idea that something was wrong.
"You can feel down about yourself and she can make you feel better," said Lux Briar, 18, who flew in from Galveston, Texas, to see his heroine in such an intimate setting. Two 18-year-old girls from Edina burst into tears after Carey shook their hands. "That's the best thing ever," said Kristina Rode as she and her friend, Nina Lewis, dabbed their wet eyes. It was that kind of morning for all the celebrity visitors. Yes, even Al. "One teenager starting crying when she met me," Roker said shortly before the crew hopped on a plane back to New York. "I thought, 'Gee, have you been talking to my daughter?' " (Star Tribune) Many thanks to MariahC.nu.
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