Messageboard

Mimi from the block (82,994) by RibbonB from USA Well thank God she didn't sprain, bruise or break a hip tumbling off that big block last night. At least she's not being hoisted and shuttled around on sofas this time around, but I hope they drop that move upon reflection. Mimi likes a little danger. The white dress is a stunner and keeper and I don't mind the black number. (Saturday 7 July 2018; 00:17)

Re: Something is in the works (82,992) (82,993) by Will from England Just a note about the WBT climax. I honestly don't think that was lipped. She usually tries for something a bit more polished for those moments, but last night included a voice crack, and it seems very out of character. Let's see what happens the next night. (Friday 6 July 2018; 23:41)

Something is in the works (82,992) by Ronnie from California Mariah played it relatively safe for the opening night of The Butterfly Rerurn. But I'm so glad that she is genuinely belting now and the entire approach has been redirected. Instead of hoping that big vocal moments would compensate for her lack of control, she now is making more thoughtful decisions. She also kept the lipping to a minimal. I am gonna point out some things I noticed that should be recognized: Mariah made a grand/upbeat entrance with the first section of the concert. Fly Away - a great choice for an opening interlude, it was smart and a move straight for the Daydream Tour Honey - safe with some exciting, new vocal runs Shake It Off - I thought it was more tasteful approach to her diva antics that some people do pay to see. The whole morror skit wasn't cringey and it did make sense for SIO. A tasteful rendition of SIO. Make It Happen - the safest she played out of all of them, her upper belting register was a little shaky and raspy so she used it sparingly *costume change* This seems to be the dark 90-95 section. She even changed into a black dress. Fantasy - it had so many ad libs and maybe new prerecorded vocals, although if it was live, she killed it. She really wanted everyone to know she was singing live. Icannot confirm it until I find a better recording but it all seems to be mostly live. The beat even sounded off because she was a little behind most of the time. Always Be My Baby - she needs to stop bringing Roc and Roe out for this one Vision of Love - her runs were so fast you notice that her voice is going faster than her head. She would do the run and follow it with awkward and misplaced "sustained" notes. I'm glad she has gotten back into the groove of knowing how difficult VOL should be (especially musicality - wise) Emotions - she went harder for the intro this time. She did a modified 12" club mix intro. I guess it was to attract attention with the momentum from Drake's Emotionless. It was a smart PR move because she gave it her all. Not perfect but no one in the game could do it as close as she did. After that it was a standard Emotions performance. *costume change* The Bridge Beautiful - this was a smart move. They changed the "walking through the audience" song from ABMB to Heartbreaker to now Beautiful. This was a great choice since she went through the audience during Miguel's verse instead of standing there awkwardly waiting for the first half of the song to finish I'll Be There - it felt out of place One Sweet Day - eh, I think she had some great vocal moments but I can never tell with all the egos on stage Can't Let Go - it was apparently the showstopper of the night. She performed the hell out of it and rearranged the instrumental beautifully. This rendition was also smart. If we all recall, In 91/92 MC has performed the climax in its original length and a shorted-halved version. Last night it seemed like she sings the first half attempts the whistle and if it doesn't happen (which it didn't) the band improvises and she sings the second half of the climax with a second chance to whistle (or play a prerecorded one). Pretty smart imo. But either way MC attempted a whistle live which is more than I was hoping for. Can't Take That Away - she was shaky but it was so nice to hear her sing this song again. Straight from Rainbow with less lipping. In fact this entire tour is being approached like Rainbow. My All - surprisingly, not her best, but again she gave up bigger vocals moments in order to be more skillful. My All was always a moment because she would include many vocal dramatics. *costume change* The Climax It's Like That - a pretty solid version yet again Love Hangover/Heartbreaker - holy crap Love Hangover sounded unbelievably great and sexy. Heartbreaker felt a little out of place though Touch My Body - always a crowd pleaser when she gets to do her whole campy bed-segment We Belong Together - her tone sounded amazing the entire song, despite having very little lipping, she still used a pre recorded climax Overall, she played it safe because she cut the lipping down to a substantial degree. At the same time she can do difficult vocal acrobatics (like emotions intro) but she is sparing them. I don't think she should "go ham" every concert like she has been trying since 2014. Instead it seems like she is saving her voice for promo, like back in the 90's. I enjoy many of the choices she made. I am intrugued by whatever her next moves are. This is the MC I have stood beside this entire time. (Friday 6 July 2018; 21:29)

Re: The Butterfly Returns was festive (82,984) (82,991) by B from USA She didn't perfom Butterfly? Maybe she will at a later date. I assumed she would perform all of the singles from the album since she titled the show The Butterfly Returns. Maybe she played it safe since Butterfly is a vocally demanding song. (Friday 6 July 2018; 19:03)

Re: Vegas (82,985) (82,990) by Deedre aka MiTodoChop @HBF from Canada I'm happy she's doing Can't Let Go. She does not do Can't Take That Away, Make It Happen #Beautiful or Lovehangover/Heartbreaker all that often anymore either. She's got to do some #1 hits that the general public want to hear or people in the audience who aren't fans would likely be pissed. Lol. It seems like a summerish setlist to me. Shake It Off, Honey, Fantasy, We Belong Together, My All, Beautiful, Heartbreaker all have summer vibes to me. (Friday 6 July 2018; 19:01)

Vegas (82,989) by Gee from U.S.A. (New York City) The confidence was definitely there and you can tell that she is a better place in her life. As for the set list you have to expect mostly hits are going to appear with some fan favorites because the Vegas audience is made of all demographics and for the casual listeners they would prefer the hits to fan favorites. I thought her attire was beautiful especially the red dress, and last outfit even though the bottom half looks very heavy. Overall a great showing for opening night and I know that she will get even stronger as the shows continue on. (Friday 6 July 2018; 18:56)

The Butterfly Returns (82,988) by Andrew from UK The set list is as dull as the actual set. What is up with those two stilettoes-cum-Nike-swooshes? But the elephant in the room here is Mariah's voice. Unfortunately it is restricted to metred outbursts of shouting interspersed with flat notes, suffering from missed phrasing due to shortness of breath. There is also severe restriction in her range. She needs to have a big rethink as to what she is doing. The set simplicity and design suggests the voice is placed centre stage and that it what you are paying for, not a visual spectacle but an aural one. But the voice is as stressful to listen to as it probably is to produce. She needs bigger productions, ie. distractions from the failings. Tanaka's crew and the cheap set pieces do not cut it. And she may want to consider moving around the stage. (Friday 6 July 2018; 18:19)

Re: Vegas (82,985) (82,987) by RibbonB from USA Mariah and the kids looked great. I sort of liked the stage set. The set list sounds standard, but I do want to see this show. I gotta make that happen. She really just correct Roc about playing with plastic bags. No bueno. (Friday 6 July 2018; 17:15)

Re: Vegas (82,985) (82,986) by Licia from USA Roc deserved pop pops for putting that bag over his head. I would have panicked. That show would have been over. Lol. (Friday 6 July 2018; 17:07)

Re: Vegas (82,983) (82,985) by Licia from USA It was still kind of a number 1's show, but it's always nice to hear CLG, CTTA, ILT, and SIO. She sounded good and I like the new outfits. I'm trying not to be too hard on her about the set list. I couldn't imagine having such a huge catalog of songs and then having to make so many people happy. Does anyone know the full set list? I only saw MIH, OSD, ILT, WBT, ABMB, Honey, Fantasy, and the four I named earlier. (Friday 6 July 2018; 15:42)

The Butterfly Returns was festive (82,984) by Sheila from United States The show was a blast, she got to meet so many lambs, the set-list was "safe". Cant Let Go had the crowd - breathless. I can't take away that the lambs sang so loudly with her. She looked happy, beautiful and excited to be on this stage. I was shocked that Butterfly was not sung. (Friday 6 July 2018; 11:42)

Re: Vegas (82,982) (82,983) by Bill from the UK I'm so glad the dust got blown off Can't Let Go as it really is a wonderful song. She hasn't sung that live properly since the initial promotion of the song back in the early 90s. Of course vocally it was nowhere near the amazing level of times gone by, but it also wasn't the car crash I was expecting it to be. (Friday 6 July 2018; 10:41)

Vegas (82,982) by Will from England She played it safe for opening night, didn't go for the higher belting notes, but overall I thought they were solid vocal moments. So happy that she did CLG live, still looking for a full video of that whistle at the end. (Friday 6 July 2018; 08:06)

New Vegas show (82,981) by John john from UK Who is excited to see what Mimi brings to the show tonight? I'm hoping for something fresh and different. Hopefully a couple of songs she never ever sings live and maybe a new track? Is that too much to ask? Enjoy the show who ever on here is going. I can't wait for Instagram posts in morning as I start work at 5am and will be refreshing my Instagram feed constantly (Thursday 5 July 2018; 18:32)

The return of RnB (82,980) by Edouard from France Hey everyone. It seems to me that pop music is slowly shifting towards RnB again. If you listen to Kelly Clarkson, Britney's last and Christina Aguilera's last albums and many others it's easy to hear how influenced those albums were by RnB. Probably more than when they even first came out... and we all know how they were influenced, dare I say copied, RnB singers such as Mariah. My point is that it's great news since I believe it is laying the ground for true RnB singers to come back. (Thursday 5 July 2018; 12:24)

Re: Studio singer subject (82,976) (82,979) by Todd from Sydney, Australia I'd never seen that VOL performance before. That's awesome. That's my favourite MC vocal tone and timbre right there. Right thurr. (Wednesday 4 July 2018; 23:10)

Re: Studio singer subject (82,977) (82,978) by Ronnie from California I love your take on Miss Carey. (Wednesday 4 July 2018; 22:15)

Re: Studio singer subject (82,976) (82,977) by Andrew from UK If she performed like that today we would be jumping up and down. If I have to hear the stocatto "nigh-igh-igh-ights" one more time I may actually go crazy and end up buying a Christina Aguilera album. Actually, nothing is that bad. Anyway, happy Fourth of July to the naughty colonists. Sparkling colours are to be strewn across the sky at twilight, I am sure. (Wednesday 4 July 2018; 15:13)

Re: Studio singer subject (82,975) (82,976) by Randy from USA Yup she was amazing in the 90s. Sarcasm. Check out how excited the audience is at her sounding just like the record just two years after Madison Square Garden and only eight years into her career. Again sarcasm. (Wednesday 4 July 2018; 12:17)

Re: Studio singer subject (82,974) (82,975) by Andrew from UK That's my girl, right there. I've never seen that version of Hero live. But that there is the face I fell in love with. I will forever love that song. It's my karaoke song. As Jade may testify. I will forever remember Mariah's face before she went nuts. I will forever remember she was just a girl who made the tapes I listened to every night, staying awake wondering how I had an insight into musical perfection. Studio singer? Randy, I love you buddy buy no way. She had the voice. She looked beautiful. Mariah Carey being on stage in the nineties was something special. She was the shit. (Wednesday 4 July 2018; 02:08)

Re: Studio singer subject (82,973) (82,974) by Chicago Lamb from USA This isn't just a studio singer. (Tuesday 3 July 2018; 22:42)

Re: Studio singer subject (82,972) (82,973) by Edouard from France I totally agree with you. BTW I believe some of my favorite MC live happened when she wasn't at her best. For instance I love, love, love, love the performance of Hero right after 9/11. It was heartfelt. That's actually when I started enjoying Hero as a song. Before I always thought it was too schmaltzy. (Tuesday 3 July 2018; 16:52)

Re: Studio singer subject (82,963) (82,972) by Deedre aka MiTodoChop @HBF from Canada Beautifully stated. Having spent yesterday going through live performances from 1990-2018, I can't comfortably stick the studio singer label on her and be done with it. She has had too many incredible stage performances for that to feel right to me. That isn't to say she has not struggled either because she has, but I actually feel it downplays her accomplishments on stage to only call her a studio singer. (Monday 2 July 2018; 21:10)

Horrible performances (82,971) by Gee from U.S.A. (New York City) When Mariah gives poor or lackluster performances she can not blame no one but herself for being lazy and unprepared. Mariah has been doing this long enough to know what it takes to put on a great performance. As a fan since 1901 I know when Mariah is into a show or performance by her confidence and her overall presence on stage. At this point Mariah has to understand that she will not get a pass for a horrible performance because she does not deserve it. If she can not give her fans their moneys worth I would rather her hang it up and retire and save herself from anymore embarrassing moments like NYE 2016 travesty. (Monday 2 July 2018; 18:50)

Rolling Stone (82,970) by Andrew from UK It annoys me somewhat when journalists take it upon themselves to list the greatest 100 anything. Music is about taste. Which it surely is in the article. We Belong Together - as much as I can possibly never listen to it again - was an incredibly seminal song in modern music history. This cannot be denied by anyone worth listening to. As Call Me Maybe and that awful Radiohead song positioned higher than it, one could reasonably expect it to not be about importance but about taste. Mariah's charting here is still worthy of praise given that this is post nineties stuff. However, in these circumstances it must always be asked: "What right do you have to pronounce these things as definitive? What claim to knowledge do you have that others do not? What makes the proclaimation of what you like authoritative over what I like?" Maybe I just need a holiday. But Harry Styles' "Sign Of The Times" better than WBT? Don't waste my time. (Monday 2 July 2018; 17:41)

MORE MESSAGES