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Martyn (48,286) by Anthony Basco from Cardiff, Wales Your post was spot on and fabulous. I apeopleaud you. (Friday 5 December 2014; 16:47)

The vocal drama (48,285) by Mimi L. from Empower Your Highlighter I am not bothered. This isn't anything new. When MC was giving some of the best vocal moments on her tour, all the media outlets, the gossipers, and that Wendell was quiet and didn't say anything. Not one article about how great she was sounding. But now that she missed a few notes here and there people are all up on her. We are back to the dramatic "MC can't sing anymore" headlines all over the place. What bothers me though is fans sometimes say that "oh I'll take a few bad notes but if I go to see her perform I want it to be completely live not mimed, even if its not perfect". So when she gives you that, you'll still attack her. and if she gives a mimed performance, people will hate her again. So really MC at this point can't do much. Her voice isn't what it used to be when she started. It's no use comparing her to other artists who have been in the business longer than her. Everyone's voice does not wear out the same way. Some will lose it faster than others. That being said, according to me, MC's voice is still intact. On any given day she can sing better with a cold than any of these so called singers at their peak vocal moment. A few bad performances shouldn't lead to us lambs ripping her. The media is already there for that. We lambs should know Mariah keeps coming back bigger and better. (Friday 5 December 2014; 15:56)

The test of time (48,284) by Jon from Netherlands We all agree on this: Mariah's music never loses its magic. I grew up with so many songs from other artists and now I'll go back to listen to those songs only for the nostalgia. Sometimes it's a little emotional, sometimes I don't even care for the song anymore. Either way I'll only listen to it once or twice. Somehow with Mariah her music doesn't lose it's magic. I truly believe I'll be enjoying ABMB when I'm 80. I can't get enough of Honey or TMB or Hero or VOL (and so on and so on). There are songs that after their "era" I don't care for anymore (looking specially at you Charmbracelet) or don't care as much but there are so many that I have listened to exhaustion and still like it. That's not how music works normally. Thankfully for Mariah that's what happens with the general public concerning AIWFCIY. (Friday 5 December 2014; 15:49)

Taylor and Mimi (48,283) by Mimi L. from Empower Your Highlighter Previously I had suggested Mariah should work with Beyonce. Now I think she should really work with Taylor. I had avoided listening to Taylor before because I used to hear all of her songs are about her nagging about past romances. But I recently got to hearing some of her songs and I enjoy it. What's even better is she is a songwriter and she has similar opinions like Mariah about this since she says that she wasn't going to be a singer, if she wasn't a songwriter as she was not going to sing anyone else's songs. This is something Mariah always says. So that's something common and Taylor is a pretty decent songwriter, they can come up with a good strong song. Hey maybe even about dissing out exes. MC and Taylor are both good at diss tracks. I would love to see these two collaborate. I think it'll be something new for Mariah too since she usually avoids collaborating with other female artists except for rappers. (Friday 5 December 2014; 15:46)

Marc Shaiman (48,282) by Martyn from England, UK PS. I see somebody mentioned Marc Shaiman. I have always thought they worked magically together on MCIIY. I'd love to see them collaborate on a non-Christmas album. I really think he could be the modern day Walter. (And that's the last time I'm mentioning Walter. I had always wanted them to reunite until his most recent interview. After that "I don't know him".) (Friday 5 December 2014; 14:55)

My few pence (48,281) by Martyn from England, UK So here's my few pence (or cents for my American friends) on the situation. 1) Mariah is probably completely unaware that any of this is happening because she's too busy rolling around in her $500m fortune and living in her fabulous unicorn and rainbow-filled bubble. 2) She's well aware that her voice has deteriorated because she usually supplies the sound engineers with pre-recorded high bits that she can mime along to. Her voice has suffered because she doesn't mime full concerts like Celine Dion and she drinks champagne every day, wouldn't you? 3) Yes she's had her peak, and quite frankly it was the Everest to your faves' Ben Nevis. Flick through her receipts, she's the Waitrose to Beyonce's Lidl. (N.B. for American readers, Waitrose is very posh and Lidl is the British equivalent to Walmart or Target.) 4) She's Mariah Carey. There's nothing left to prove. Any more questions? Ask Mariah. She can probably be found somewhere sunny, under an umbrella being held for her by a member of staff. Sometimes she hits. Sometimes she misses. All I care about is that she continues to make great music and bless us with her gift. (Friday 5 December 2014; 14:53)

Isolated vocals (48,280) by Lee from UK I think this "isolated vocal" leak will become a trend especially among high profile artists. I think some will be genuine leaks, especially when the artist sounds bad. The others will be purposeful leaks by the artist or their team when they are sounding particularly good. It will be Ariana or Beyoncé next for sure. Then it will spark a whole new saga of comparisons as to who sounds better live. I am actually quite shocked that Mariah doesn't have a team member who overseas the recording of her vocals during events like these possibly shadowing the sound technicians as she likes to be in control of everything. If she didn't already, I bet you she will do from now on. (Friday 5 December 2014; 14:40)

The Talk (48,279) by Will from England These ladies got it right. (Friday 5 December 2014; 14:29)

Age has nothing to do with it (48,277) by THE TRUTH from USA Aretha is 70 something and listen to her absolutely kill this song. Some artists forget that it's about music and get so wrapped up in their own egos that it becomes all about them, their looks, their celebrity. Botox, stripteases, cosmetic surgery, diamonds, none of that has anything to do with music. When it stopped being about the music and genuine gratitude/appreciation of the millions of loyal fans who, "made it happen" in the first place for her, that's when the walls started tumbling down. (Friday 5 December 2014; 14:17)

Carol from Spain / wake up and smell the smear campaign (48,276) by Baby from Dreamville...Where There's No Beginning & There is No End Your post is perfect. Mariah was never cut any slack all the way back to her debut. Then things got worse on the tabloid end when she left Tommy, only to culminate in her exiting Sony because of his strategic sabotage of the Glitter soundtrack. Vicious, hateful people were so ready for Mariah to quietly lay down [...] die. But she made it through the rain with Charmbracelet [...] and her most extensive world tour that still gets lauded by fans as some of her best live vocals. We all know what TEOM did for her with WBT becoming the song of the decade. When E=MC2 came along her whole life changed. Marriage, with the sole purpose of starting a family. Also, Mariah was finally getting acting recognition in Hollywood courtesy of Lee Daniels. Enter DemBabies [...] it was like Christmas in Mariah's life. That's also when negative stories start spreading like wild fire on blogs [...] forums again. Then AI happened with all its artificial intelligence courtesy of the producers and Roman's revenge. It didn't matter that MC was looking like a million dollars after just having had twins, charting worldwide with #Beautiful [...] slaying it live even after nearly breaking her neck in her fab armslings. After many delays MIAMTEC comes along [...] the label won't support it? The abandoner leaks the divorce [...] gets all the sympathy? MC tours Asia/Oceania successfully only to be ridiculed by her own countrymen for singing AIWFCIY a song she wrote? Something's rotten in Denmark [...] I can smell it from here. (Friday 5 December 2014; 14:16)

B, Mara and Lambily vs the haters that be (48,275) by Baby from Dreamville...Where There's No Beginning & There is No End B, I totally understand if you need a break but don't let them break you. That's what THTB want. Doesn't it make you admire Mariah even more for taking these harsh unjustified criticisms all her life and turning them into Vision Of Love, Vanishing, Make It Happen, The Wind, Hero, Anytime You Need A Friend, One Sweet Day, I Am Free, Looking In, Butterfly, Outside, Close My Eyes, Can't Take That Away, Petals, The Rainbow Interlude, Through The Rain, My Saving Grace, Sunflowers For Alfred Roy, Fly Like A Bird, Side Effects, I Wish You Well, Languishing, Cry, Faded, Camouflage, Supernatural, The Art Of Letting Go, 100%, Almost Home, Right To Dream, I Pray, Imperfect and even Triumphant? *plays Heavenly (No ways tired)* Wishing you all a very merry Christmas. We love you Mariah, don't let the haters drown you in their negativity. Thanks for joining the ranks again Mara, there can never be took many Warrior Lambs United. (Friday 5 December 2014; 12:57)

Those in denial (48,274) by RockyRoc from England Mariah doesn't need singing lesson, she has the ability to sing, it's all inside her. The problem is that her instrument is broken. Can you say that a grandmaster pianist can't play anymore if his piano is broken? (Friday 5 December 2014; 12:14)

Ranting over (48,273) by Carol from Spain Ranting: I'm trying not to get envolved into all this negativity towards Mariah (forgive my poor English, in advance). Mariah in 1990 came out with that flawless voice and every critic at the time called her a fabrication. She released Emotions in 19911 without touring and she was even more accused of being a studio voice. Still, with no touring, Mariah earned two Grammys and pretty much every award there was. In 92 she just did something pretty smple called Unplugged and, after that, the critics had nothing to say but to praise her and stuff. Where am I going with this? Well, my point is: Mariah is 44 years old, she's older and, like everyone else, she ages. Fact. This whole bashing thing is just the way media works. Personally? They deserve to be sued for false accusations and the guy/girl/little person who leaked the audio should be fired and never hired again by anyone. It shows how unprofessional the TV backstage thing became. Don't they sign some sort of contract to prevent the leak of these things? Mariah has done so much for the industry, went to places no one thought she could go, doesn't she deserve respect? The performance wasn't good as I would expect but please was that bad? Really? She missed a few notes under the freezing cold. On the other hand Lady Gaga sounded like a strangled goat and I don't see the backlash of it. As a fan, this makes me extremly sad. (Friday 5 December 2014; 12:06)

Christopher from USA (48,272) by Lee from UK I couldn't agree more with your post about Mariah evolving and giving us something that suits her current vocals. Hopefully she will stop trying to please the masses who remember her for her big voice. Recent events have completely shattered any illusion the public may be under about Mariah still being able to deliver the big songs. I agree that something Jazz based would be amazing. We know that she grew up around the Jazz standards as she told us many times on American Idol. She even plays with Jazz when she is just riffing during he concerts and that recording of Mariah in the Jazz club a couple of years ago is still sticks with me. Even the video of Mariah singing along to Fly Me To The Moon and New York, New York was effortless. You hit the nail on the head when you said Mariah can't compete with her former perfect image so she needs to stop trying and give us something new. There are so many textures in her voice. She needs to forget about the charts, forget what is current and popular, forget who may be up-and-coming with a bigger voice, slow down and use a comfortable range in which to deliver something that only the fans will enjoy. The "lambs" will eat up anything Mariah puts out but a true fan will only enjoy the quality things Mariah produces. (Friday 5 December 2014; 11:30)

Sharon and the ladies of The Talk defending Mariah like Warrior Lambs (48,271) by Baby from Dreamville...Where There's No Beginning & There is No End Gotta love Sharon, Aisha, Sara, Julie and Sheryl for being consistently fair to Mariah when the rest of the world want to rip her throat out. I put 20 on 10 she's gonna be on there performing live one of these days. Wendell Williams who? (Friday 5 December 2014; 11:20)

Vocals over time (48,270) by Nicky from Jasmine's Sofa Again, I am not knocking Mariah, but everyone is asking what we expect from someone who has been singing for over 20 years. I'm sorry, but that is no excuse for poor vocal maintenance. I've seen Prince live many many times as recently as a few months ago and he has been singing live for way longer that Mimi has. He takes great care of his voice, he hasn't had a perfect life, twice divorced, lost a child, put through the wringer by media and abandoned by record labels, yet he still sounds amazing to this day. He evolves with every record, every decade, and he adjusts his live arrangements to his current vocals, even though he still hits high and low notes. The cool thing about his shows is that he doesn't try to sound like a cd or record, you get a live version that you've never heard. I know that he and Mariah are close friends, I think she said that she came to him when she was offered the AI gig. Maybe he can give her some tips on restoring her best instrument, her voice. (Friday 5 December 2014; 9:52)

Re: Jon from Netherlands (48,269) by Nicky from Jasmine's Sofa Eaxactly. I posted at the same time as you, saying something very similar. Glad I'm not alone in seeing this. (Friday 5 December 2014; 9:37)

Evolving (hopefully) (48,268) by Nicky from Jasmine's Sofa I've said this before about her situation at the launch of her latest album, I think this shattering of her perfect image is the best thing that can be happening to her. Every singer, every artist, every person needs to evolve and change. It is natural and healthy. It's gotten to the point that it almost looks painful for her to keep up the image, the facade, and maintain all this pressure. It is the reason that she handles so much heat. She is competing with a version of herself that no longer exists and remains perfect. No one can succeed at that. If Mariah were to evolve artistically, we could enjoy some great bluesy, smoky, jazzy music in a lower register. I'd die for an album of Mariah and a piano. Possibly even some Sade-esque (not to compare, but just as a musical reference) music and tone that speaks on her favorite topic: love. Giving her body a break with beautiful materials that are non-constricting, yet still elegant. Embracing the rasp in her voice for maybe some rock tunes or neo-soul. There is so much that is possible. If only she'd let go of what she has already nailed. As this image crumbles, hopefully she will embrace more of her present-time self. (Friday 5 December 2014; 9:32)

iTunes AIWFIIY (48,267) by Ernesto from Mexico Hello, for all the haters, Mariah is #21 on iTunes, apparently all the bad reviews about her voice are not making any damage. (Friday 5 December 2014; 9:11)

Mariah's weight (re: Shelly) and voice (re: Nikki) (48,266) by Badr from USA I'm ok with Mariah's weight. At the end of the day, the important thing is that she's healthy. However, I don't think she fully embraces that figure, case in point the recent photoshoped pictures. She also wears tight clothes that, with a few extra pounds, are not that flattering. I'm not saying she should be extremely skinny, I admire Mariah for having her own conviction, but losing a few pounds would make her look even better. In regards to her voice, Nikki makes an excellent point. Her voice is delicate. I remember she once said that, during the Daydream tour, she could only do certain number of concerts per week, the rest of the time she would be in vocal rest. I wonder why she drastically changed that, by doing back to back performances without a break. Again, Mariah needs a break. (Friday 5 December 2014; 8:35)

Mariah, Rihanna and the other phony (48,265) by Edward from USA Consistency doesn't constitute perfect singing. Nobody is expecting Mariah to sing like back in the 90's. When she sings live and well, no necessarily perfect, nobody complains. She is criticized because, just like Whitney, her voice is what she is known for, no matter how many songs she's produced or written. Katy and Rihanna weren't ever marketed as great singers, but the contrary could be said about Mariah, Celine, and Barbra. Pretending that the "Huge Flashy Pink Elephant" is not in the room won't make it go away. At the end of the day, Mariah makes an effort when people don't sugarcoat things, e.g. first Elusive Chanteuse concert reviews. She improved from the second show on. If people hadn't complained, she probably would've kept on thinking that she was killing it when she clearly wasn't. There's not a conspiracy to sabotage Mariah, people just hold her to higher standards than those other phonies. This is about consistency, no perfection. (Friday 5 December 2014; 8:15)

Nikki / Baby (48,263) by Mara from United States I am not a delusional lamb and I agree with everything you said. Anthony, I agree with you too. I am going to the December 20th show too and am so excited to see this woman again but at such a special time. I think her performance was fine. What do people want? She can never seem to catch a break. What do people think after over 20 years of using something it will sound the same? And I am sorry, take any artist and remove the music and backup singers especially when they can't hear themselves and tell me what you hear? That goes for Beyonce and all the other "can do no wrong artists". I am sick of how MC is treated in the press. She is a living legend and the fact is she has nothing left to prove. The fact that she is gracing the tree lighting stage with a modern absolute classic is a gift. God forbid something ever happened, all these AP sites would be the first to claim she was a living legend and how she paved the way for all to follow. Add that in the fact that her private life is in shambles and yes that does affect her voice. Last years Washington performance didn't sound half as good as this years. I am sick of the witch hunt people have on MC. Who would leak a performance of just her voice? Who is out to get her? Hmmmm. I will always have Mariah's back and no I am not delusional. Can we just say how beautiful MC looked by the way? Her body has curves in all the right places. And who says you have to be a stick to be beautiful? For having twins she looks amazing. I am just so proud she went out there live and sounded as good as she did. I would like to see half the people behind computers do what she did live on national TV in the cold and hitting notes you did 20 years ago and sound like you did in your early 20's. NBC is lucky she performed the #1 Christmas song on their special. No matter what any of you say, she is a living legend and is a class act. I do believe nerves played a part as well. The longer she performed The Elusive Chantuse tour the more comfortable she became and sounded great. Whatever transpired the night before obviously had her upset and the timing was a little too perfect for her to have missed the chance to cover any flaws by a pretaped performance. Whatever, MC I can't wait for the 20th. Bring Dembabies out. (Friday 5 December 2014; 6:45)

My two cents (48,262) by Randy from USA Even though there are a few that claim MC is the second coming and never does anything wrong, I am glad to see an objective conversation about her voice and the NBC performance. I have to admit, I was very happy she sang 100% live. That in itself was a feat. No she didn't sound perfect or even good, but anyone with an ear can tell she has a lot of voice still left. It is not over. What I can't understand for the life of me is why Mariah Carey is still nervous, fumbling with her ear monitor, unable to sing in the cold, can't deal with a divorce (her second) etc? She is considered one of the best vocalists of all time. Mariah Carey. I don't think some of you lambs get what that name is supposed to evoke. Sure everyone has a bad day. Sure she wasn't the worst thing ever. I don't understand why she can't just have a performance where she just sings straight without frills and then doesn't get the flack. You all know I have been very vocal about Mariah tailoring her new songs and live performances to how her voice is performing now. No one on that show sounded as bad. No one in the world lamb or otherwise would consider any of them as great of a singer as Mariah Carey. So why the excuses? She needs to strip down the ensembles, the splashes, the vocal acrobatics and just be an artist and sing well enough to not inspire the internet hate. I love her but by God defending her to nonlambs is becoming a full time job. (Friday 5 December 2014; 6:40)

Marc Shaiman deletes Mariah Rockefeller haters on Facebook (48,261) by Baby from Dreamville...Where There's No Beginning & There is No End "People I had great respect for have posted it in fun and I am totally heartbroken by that. Well, I guess I'll be getting a head start this morning deleting people." I say, good for Marc Shaiman, I look forward to them working together again. Maybe he's part of her next project? If not, he definitely should be. Walter who? (Friday 5 December 2014; 6:20)

Our favourite time of year (48,260) by M from UK Unlike most fans on here I won't be joining the media in slagging Mariah Carey off on her NBC performance. Instead I'll be revisiting all the festive moments that makes Christmas great and the way Mariah revolutionized the music we listen to during our favorite time of year, press play to join me.This isn't the easiest time for Mariah and her family along with working the next project in her career midst the unfair scrutiny she has always experienced. She's out here working, giving lambs shows to go to, just stepped off a successful tour and surely getting new music and moments planned for 2015 as we speak. Get back to wrapping Christmas presents, sipping on your cocoa and press play on either of her two Christmas albums. (Friday 5 December 2014; 5:22)

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