Mariah Carey gets Singapore partying
Forget polite clapping and waving. The fans of Mariah Carey at her concert at the National Stadium on Monday night were set for a party - and party they did. Perhaps it had to do with the long drought of stadium-sized rock concerts by international artistes. Or maybe it was just her ability to Carey those impossible-sounding notes. Whatever the case, the crowd of nearly 30,000 mostly teens and those in their 20s clad in cargo pants and tank tops stomped and sang the night away.
The rain which threatened to break lightning streaked the sky, causing many anxious faces luckily never did. The crowds started packing the stadium carpark from as early as 4 pm. The screaming, which began way before the concert, got even louder when Carey finally appeared at 8.35 pm half an hour late in a skin-tight green gown to deliver Emotions, the title-track of her 1991 sophomore album. So carried away was she that she later removed her high heel shoes for a while.
From then, the concert was every bit the light-and-sound spectacular that was expected, with a couple of dramatic twists. Weaved into the show were kicks, scratches and punches thanks to "Bianca', a dancer acting as Carey's "Siamese twin" and arch-enemy, from whom she was separated at birth. The Megadeth-loving Bianca, who appeared in between Carey's pitch-perfect delivery of her hits, certainly lent the vocal showcase the drama of a musical, with even a ear-biting boxing match in the middle of the stage.
But what a pity it was that Carey left much of the boogie-ing to her 10 incredibly flexible dancers - the fancy dance moves on her videos were absent. But her fans hardly noticed. They danced through Butterfly, cried to Petals and sang along to everything else in between.
In between, Carey invited some thrilled fans up on stage to savour favourite Singapore food like satay, and she even sportingly gulped down a few mouthfuls of homegrown Tiger Beer. Her encore, a medley of Rainbow, Hero and Butterfly, closed a rapturous night for her fans.
Carey, who has had chart toppers almost every year since 1990, that fateful year she was signed by Sony chief Tommy Mottola after he heard her demo tape, leaves Singapore on Tuesday morning. She leaves for Guam tonight, and then Honolulu followed by Los Angeles, to begin the US leg of her Rainbow world tour. (The Straits Times)
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