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About Elena from The Netherlands:

Katy Perry (45,146) by Elena from The Netherlands If that story is true, MC might take revenge and mock Katy Perry in her Meteorite video with a 15 minutes of fame theme. (Saturday 28 June 2014; 19:40)

RibbonB / TR / theories (45,144) by Elena from The Netherlands I did mean the past few years as in 3 or 4 years because I was pointing out that since the last album she settled down and put her past behind (the past before 2009). I am not assuming anything, it's just a theory because although she doesn't open up about who or what she's singing about, I'm still wondering where her inspiration comes from. I think she wasn't that in love with Luis, she actually said later that she found it irritating that he actually made a competition in how many fans reckognized him first over MC and how she didn't want to do that. I don't think MC doesn't write everything from her own experiences, for example Betcha Gon' Know is really an attempt to make an R Kelly-esque R&B song because she loves his style. I think some songs are definitely inspired by Nick but not like the whole lyrics being about something that really happened between them. Since she sequenced her MIAMTEC tracks as a story, she went from Beautiful to Thirsty; I can't help but thinking this track is about Nick. If really so than she's really throwing the shade at him. Maybe she was mad at him one day and went for it. Then she talks about loving this "playa" that she can't resist in MILG. (Nick used to be one before they got married.) Meteorite could be inspired by her AI journey. I used to think TAOLG was about Tommy bacause of his book, but with the "delete Mimi" line it could be about letting go of the label and their demands to repeat the success formula of that album, what she probably feels is been there done that and move on to a new style which she succesfully did so with MIAMTEC. (Saturday 28 June 2014; 19:31)

Derek Jeter? (45,126) by Elena from The Netherlands I know we will never know the true story/inspiration about the songs on MIAMTEC but since MC has stated that some songs are very personal and put a lot of time sequencing them, I'm gonna have a go at it with some theories: Cry - She already said this song was very personal to her and this album should be heard as a body of work, her journey over the past few years. I can't help but thinking this is about Derek. She was so in love with him during the Butterfly era and she's gave some hints in her songs long after they broke up. Charmbracelet included SI and Lullaby, where she sings "how's your family please say hello from me". MC said that Dereks bi-racial family impressed her. They worked out when her family didn't and she felt their warmth and love as she would've loved to experience with her own family. TEOM had WBT and DFAU, the latter of which she made a video in a "sports theme" which links directly to Derek being a baseball player. Plus all the guys were bald-ish like Derek. She said For The Record was very autobiographic. With Camouflage the only thing she wants to know is if he still loves her. Cry and Faded close the book on Jeter. The few pics that are on the net from them being together clearly shows how in love she is and how she adores him. They broke up because he couldn't deal with the media attention on them, so I think he was the love of her life untill she settled with Nick, which basicly began so when they had their twins since the last album. (Friday 27 June 2014; 9:49)

Ian James / Graham Norton Show (45,039) by Elena from The Netherlands Thanks for that video Ian James, I'd never seen that interview before. During that era untill Charmbracelet her image was very likeable and I believe she was more herself than she is now, she was so young there I can't believe it's been that long. This diva act got really out of hand after marriage and after giving birth. I hope it's just a phase as Mariah had many. I would like to share this interview of the Charmbracelet era from the Graham Norton Show. It's less serious than what Ian James posted, but you can see how humble yet funny she stays during a less serious conversation. The best part of the show is where she actually proves she really knows her fans and remembers their names (!) from all over the world. It's when I watch all that footage of how she used to be like during promo I really miss that Mariah. Normal make up, different haird-do's, and casual clothing, down to earth MC. (Sunday 22 June 2014; 23:49)

ADAM (44,956) by Elena from The Netherlands I agree with you on the JLo situation and that MC is not totally innocent as a "homewrecker" of somewhat. I think that will never get her of the image of "I slept with my boss to launch my career". I believe MC was very naive at the time so I can forgive her for that. Tommy said himself he wanted what Gloria and Emilio Estefan have as this very succesful solid music couple and thought he could get that with MC, of course it was so forced that it was destined to fail. Tommy really went strategic on sabotaging MC's career and really managed to do so, since MC has never gotten back to the succes she had in the 90's. He did use JLo in his sabotaging process and I don't think JLo knew at the time. She was new to the business and wanted to jump on the opportunity to be a singer and the marketing for her album was insane. She was hot new and fresh. I don't know about other music stealing stuff later on in her career and how much she knows about those, but I believe she started fairly innocent and was just focused on getting her music career launched. As tough as it was for MC, she still stayed relevant only not with a powerful mogul husband backing her and a label that cut off a lot of artists to invest more money in her. You just can't expect to have other labels do the same for you. Everything was being done for her. Now she has to make sure she hires a good team around her to prove that she can be succesful on her own, but with the years it has become a mess because she wants total control, but I believe she can't handle it. They are yes people. Even JD. I thought it was a bad decision to get him on board. Why risk the friendship? Benny Medina did well for her (and for JLo by the way). That was a good move with the help of LA Reid. (Saturday 21 June 2014; 9:11)

JLo / beverage (44,874) by Elena from The Netherlands About JLo, she is a smart business woman, takes good care of herself and just like Mariah, carried and raises twins. She doesn't need he entourage around her all the time and is overall very like-able. Her acting is very questionable and her music sounds terrible, but her videos are stunning, she dresses properly, does her promotion work and gives "normal" interviews. Image wise MC could take note from her and her team. But JLo is in for the money, music is just one of her income sources and I don't think she bothers too much about it. She is still relevant. Now the beverage; I still can't put my head around it. If Katy Perry would do such a thing, her fans (the kids) would buy it and that would be a great move and make sense. But MC's fans are mostly adults; kids hardly know her. No one in his or her 30's or 40's is going to buy it. It's such an odd move. But businesswise she invests little to it and gain a lot of profit from each bottle that she sells. I think it's going to flop big time for her. (Wednesday 18 June 2014; 18:37)

The mess and the bottle (44,755) by Elena from The Netherlands Since the label doesn't want to spend any money to promote MIAMTEC, MC is desperately trying to still be in the spotlights and she's doing so by being involved with this Butterfly drink. She had her CD's right there on the table, but you really had to watch close to notice it in the press conference. It's like she's working around the label to get her music on the map. She is trying to keep her head above water with alle her endorsement projects. For what? To maintain the entourage that cost a lot to keep. She has a strong winners mentality and refuses to believe that her game is over. While I appreciate that about her, it's still important to look critically at yourself to realize why your game is over and from there turn it around. Simply by getting back to what matters most to her. Her music. Let go of sales and nr. 1's. MIAMTEC is really good. How about her doing some live acoustic mini concert of some of those songs through Facebook with some really good vocal improvisions and let it go viral. Maybe a surprise rendition of a popular song. All in an intimate setting, no big hair, no cleavage, no gowns. Just her and some musicians, stripped down. Remember her doing Love Story for MTV as part of promo for E=MC2. That was amazing. It could bring her back on the map to an adult audience like Adele. Jimmy Fallon does those Broadway versions of rap songs in his show. How great would she be doing that? It's all about doing the right thing at the right time at the right place. For everyone who says that no one says anything about Gaga or Rihanna when they do something weird and when MC does she gets picked on, well, they came out being a certain way and are famous because of that image. Mariah is famous for her voice. And she happens to be drop dead gorgeous and a humble human being. She almost doesn't need anymore than that to succeed. Almost, because she still needs a team around her to convince her of that, and that's what she doesn't have right now. I hope when she leaves IDJ she'll take back what she deserves and make sure she has the right people to help her get that. Her fans care enough to actively discuss this matter on a messageboard. She really should stay connected with the fans, not with the image, charts, label or sales. In the end I believe that makes her happier than anything businesswise. By the way, why not just launch a social network for the fans as an extension of the Honey B Fly initiative? Why do we have to gain access through a drink? Do we have to keep buying new bottles to gain access to new stuff or can we buy just one bottle? Why buy it when you can scan the bottle in the store and get access anyway? I don't understand the link between buying a drink to get to a social network. It doesn't make sense to me. We might as well pay subscription to the social network without that extra sugar that we don't need. (Saturday 14 June 2014; 21:36)

Lee (44,126) by Elena from The Netherlands Wow, Lee. You kind of ruined the song for me now. I'm horrified by little chilldren in horror movies. I've never for one second thought that Supernatural was sounding creepy. I'm just going to have to pretend I've never read your post when I'm listening to that song now. It's not my gaborite track on the album, but I think it's really cute, MC sings beautiful here and I don't want to skip it. Oh dear, it's very controversial, that post of yours on this board. (Monday 26 May 2014; 22:34)

TJ / Triumphant / E=MC2 (44,099) by Elena from The Netherlands I dis not like Triumphant at first, especially for it being a poor kick-off single for the album, as it was back then. Later on, after hearing it in great quality on my iPod I started to appreciate it more and now I like it because of that strong hook. I'm surprised that a lot of people didn't like E=MC2; that is my favorite album of the Mimi era. It sounded like she had so much fun making the records and aside from the ballads (WBT style) it's very diverse. Cruise Control should have been a single, love Migrate, IBLYLT, That Chick, IWYW, TFN, OOC. I enjoy listening to that album. (Monday 26 May 2014; 0:06)

Oh baby you know (44,096) by Elena from The Netherlands I adore Dedicated, that line is stuck in my head. Possible singles: Thirsty, YDKWTD, Dedicated. Although Faded is my favorite track, I don't know if it would do good as a single. I hope she will do some excellent videos for this album, it really deserves some good visuals going along with these amazing songs. (Sunday 25 May 2014; 22:59)

MIAMTEC - second opinion (44,095) by Elena from The Netherlands After multiple listens in different moods I started to feel attached to some songs. From the first listen it was Faded that really got me and it's still my favorite track, the production and her flowing over this track is amazing. When she ad-libs "Always somewhere but you're not there for me" towards the end, I can't help but wanting to belt that out with her. Basically the first 5 tracks are all genius then MILG and YME makes it go downhill for me, then lifted up by YDKWTD and what comes after that is pretty much just good enough. Only Camouflage stands out. A lot of people are really enjoying Meteorite, but somehow I don't see what the fuss is about that song. I get it's catchy, radiofriendly and very fresh sounding overall, but I can't help thinking that it could be a track that JLo would do or something. I do believe it could have an amazing dance remix if she would add new vocals and turn it up a bit more. In fact, I believe she could do some A+ remixes for a lot of the songs if they are re-sung. I hope she will. Heavenly is overproduced, only the outro of the song gives me the feeling of that gospel spirit she wants to bring. Supernatural would sound great with just guitar and MC and Dembabies singing over it. There is too much going on in that song. It's really great if stripped down a bit. Money is the album's lowest point. I really don't like it. All in all I enjoy listening to this as there are some true gems to be treasured for a long time. (Sunday 25 May 2014; 22:53)

Opinions and reviews (43,902) by Elena from The Netherlands I like this messageboard a lot because you get a good sense of what MC fans are like. We are all lambs wheather we criticize her music or her behaviour. I don't mind reading someones opinion about her and wanting her to change. That doesn't mean they are not fans. MC has given us her all the past 20 years and she had different phases. We don't know her personally, but we get a glimpse from her every now and then through her songs or interviews. She changed a lot and people who criticize her for that do so because they might miss her humbleness, which is part of her persona too, though not portrayed that much in this era. We have an opinion about her and come to express it here. I try not to be so explicit about her, because I feel a little uncomfortable about it since I don't know her personally. But I feel some lambs when they express their opinion about her. As for the music, reviewing her album or voice, good or bad, I think that we as fans are entitled to do so in any way we like because we buy her music. You can say if you don't like it don't buy it, that's true. Still, we can give reason why not to buy it, if we want here, since I believe this is why this messageboard is created in the first place. Bashing MC is not going to change her or her music, but this is not just a happy place of rainbows. This is a discussion board. If all was perfect, there was nothing to discuss. If anyone wants to rant, they can. If anyone wants praise MC beyond the heavens they can too. (Tuesday 20 May 2014; 21:54)

The album (43,849) by Elena from The Netherlands Just listened to the album. It's good, it's fresh. A very new sound from Mariah and finally no WBT style ballads, but mostly piano and her voice. One More Try is ok, but she sings it too carefully. George Michael poors his heart out in this and she doesn't try to get to that level when we know she can. I believe she should've covered it when she had that chrystal clear Daydream/Merry Christmas voice, then she would've done it really justice. Cry, Camouflage are amazing. I really love Thirsty and Faded. She really tried to give the lambily whatever style they like from her. Overall it's a good album, but some critical points: 1. She unfortunately sounds hoarse when she belts a lot of the times. 2. Her presence sometimes gets a bit lost under the production and arrangements. 3. I don't get Supernatural, it's a bit messy, all over the place. Dem babies are cute though. I give this album a 7/10. (Tuesday 20 May 2014; 12:39)

Thirsty (43,532) by Elena from The Netherlands Thirsty yes. Love the hook, the lyrics, the beat. Well done MC. (Tuesday 13 May 2014; 17:29)

One More Try (43,203) by Elena from The Netherlands I know everyone is talking about it probably being the George Michael version, but it could also be Timmy T. He had a hit with this song early 90's I believe. I love that song. I think Mariah could cover that beautifully. (Friday 2 May 2014; 9:26)

Carlos / YME (41,185) by Elena from The Netherlands Carlos, I agree with your comments. I think Mariah is playing safe with this song for the charts and kept it radiofriendly. I don't really like it for several reasons. Sometimes a song is a grower, but this really won't do it for me. The first thing I don't like is the pauses between the words "I.can't.seem.to.give.you.up.you're.mine". It's not creative and makes it sound boring. I also think this song has a more B-side quality and it's too safe played using a combination of WBT and TMB formula's. It might work for the charts, but as an addictive listener of all her music I'm more critical to what she brings out. Vocally she sounds good on it but it gets a bit overwhelmed by the music and effects. I imagined this song played unplugged with a guitar leading the melody and it instantly sounded better in my head. I think a second Unplugged is really what she should go for, and show off her creative adlibbing skills to gain back the respect that she deserves for her incomparable voice. The last thing I want to add is that I wished she would've done is release an epic hot uptempo track that would keep her momentum going up untill the 6th of May. Something that would rock the clubs and radio. 2 months is a long time and unless YME becomes the hit everyone is hoping for, the gap between the single and the album is too long. All in all I'm glad it's received well by most of her fans and I hope it will do well regardless of my opinion on the song. (Wednesday 12 February 2014; 21:27)

Songs with great potential (40,969) by Elena from The Netherlands The other day I listened to some songs on the Memoirs album and realized that some of those songs are of such a high quality that it's a shame that it is not been made available to a wider public by good promotion of the album or single choices by IDJ. It hit me that when Rihanna or Beyonce would've recorded H.A.T.E. U or Betcha Gon Know, they might have come with a great story-video and heavy promotion on radio and YouTube, and the same song Mariah has recorded so brilliant would've been appreciated just because they are ruling the charts now. That to me is pretty sad. Charts might not be a priority amongst fans now, because we just want some music from her, but I wish she still would've put more effort into her videos (not particularly dancing) with story-lines, so she could also throw in her acting skills. In my opinion, the H.A.T.E. U video was such a waste of a beautiful song with such potential for a video. And Betcha Gon Know, might not be "single" material, but it could have a great video if done in duet with R.Kelly!Beautiful was also a big potential, but the video ruined it. It is such a sweet song like Dreamlover, although a bit more sexy, the video could've portrayed more love and less sex! (Thursday 6 February 2014; 12:25)

Likes (40,866) by Elena from The Netherlands I like the new like/dislike thumb-buttons on this board! (Thursday 30 January 2014; 8:43)

Collabo's (40,621) by Elena from The Netherlands Personally I'm really looking forward to hear the R.Kelly collabo. I really enjoyed R.Kelly's take on TMB and wished it was an official remix. I hope they did something similar to Betcha Gon Know because it was a killer song and such a strong opener for Memoirs. Unfortunately I found most of the tracks on Memoirs to be weak after that one. I really loved E=MC2 and I've always hoped she would've released Cruise Control as a summer jam single (I'll Be Loving You Long Time was also a very good choice). The collabo with Damian Marley was brilliant! I hope it's not Usher in this surprise collabo, nor Justin, but I'm really breaking my head over who she could talk about. Nas has been mentioned already, so maybe Jay Z? Bone Thugs? Twista? T-Pain? (She loves Migrate so much.) Neptunes? Snoop? (Friday 17 January 2014; 17:42)

TAOLG lyrics (39,982) by Elena from The Netherlands Some people doubt that this song is about Tommy because it's relatively too long ago to still have issues about him. Within the past four years Tommy released his autobiography where he talks about Mariah. He also did some interviews about the book and they all asked about Mariah's part in the book. She didin't really respond to it publicly, so I believe she blew off some steam on this song. It's still haunting her in a way. The "lies" she refers to are probably about the parts in the book and the interviews Tommy did. He also pushes the part where he build her career and I think she feels frustrated about it because she has continuously tried to defend herself from her Cinderella image and that she wouldn't be succesful without him. She also really wants people to know that she writes and produces her own songs so badly because she wants credit for her own success, which I understand. The song is about him but maybe also about her sister Alisson whom she doesn't speak to untill this day and she is legally not allowed to speak about her in public. So I can understand why she would still express her anger and sadness about this in her songs, bacause it's the only way for her to still talk about this in a sense. (Monday 25 November 2013; 8:22)

Will, Fallon (39,795) by Elena from The Netherlands I got the same impression of Mariah rambling on like she did in her Glitter era. However I don't believe she's not ok mentally, I think she just has this showbiz persona that comes on every time she's on the spot. I believe she's much more at ease privately. You can tell how real she is by her lyrics. The Angie Martinez interview was much better I gotta say, and she spoke openly about her insecurity, so that might have something to do with it. Anyway, as for now, we know from those interviews that the album is probably scheduled for February and that dem babies will be on the record. I would love to hear some more about the collaborations with R. Kelly and Stevie though. They are only talking about Nas being on the record! (Thursday 14 November 2013; 8:52)

TAOLG, message in the song (39,741) by Elena from The Netherlands This song is how I wished for Mariah to sound like in a while. I'm happy because it's not overproduced, she sings in full voice, the lyrics are great and it allows her to play with it in any way she wants which is perfect because the way she sings a song decides weather the song is good and she is the queen of catchy adlibs. When doing this live I can imagine her playing with this song vocally, like she does with Vision Of Love. I think she really took note from her first albums and maybe even Adele, who brought back stripped down soulful ballads. The build-up in the song is how it's supposed to be. As a fan I really do not care if this will be a chart topping single. She is heading into the direct direction in her craftsmanship and I respect her for that. As for the message in the last sentences of the second verse some have been speculating about, the words that she's asked her fans to listen closely to: "Go to Mimi in you contacts, press delete." Maybe she means that she is letting go of her Mimi-era and this will be a whole fresh new start in her career with a new married life! (Tuesday 12 November 2013; 9:23)

Michael Buble (39,702) by Elena from The Netherlands One of my secret wishes comes true. Michael Buble and MC singing together. Perfect promo for her and I think their voices match well. I hope they hit the studio one day for a duet, that would be so great. Better than MC working with Bieber. (Sunday 10 November 2013; 9:08)

Voice plus ideas for live shows (39,670) by Elena from The Netherlands Hi. A while ago there was someone who mentioned that MC's voice was at her peak during the Merry Christmas album. I totally agree. It was the perfect mix between Music Box and Daydream and because they were Christmas songs she put so much vocal freedom in it. Just listen to her go in Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child and that crystal clear voice in God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Miss You Most. You can also tell by the dance-remixes where she is playing so much with the ad-libs and lets her vocals run freely during that time. I believe her best dance remix was Hearbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely. I hope she does that live one day and also My All/Stay Awhile instead of the original version going into the dance-remix, which is really getting old now. And what about Always Be My Baby R&B remix going from guitar and just her vocals going into the full remix? I mean that wouldn't hurt her voice since it's done very whispery. Just some ideas, I wonder how everyone else thinks about some creativity with her live shows with the brilliant remixes she's already got! (Wednesday 6 November 2013; 11:15)