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Forever fascinating, Mariah Carey aka Mrs Nick Cannon is back in the spotlight with her brand new album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and will be hitting the big screen again in January as a dowdy social worker in award-winning film Precious. Stuart Brumfitt heard from her about her fav fashion labels, rumours she calls her hubby ‘DJ Sex Fingers’ and getting back into acting after being slated for Glitter.
Where are you at the moment?
I’m in New York. I’ve just arrived after my performance at Rock in Rio, straight after that I flew to California for the LA premiere of Precious. Before that I was in Korea and Tokyo promoting my new album so there has been a lot of flying recently. I’m happy to be back in my home even if it is for a brief moment.
You travel all over the world, but where do you love the most?
I really love Capri, I’ve had many holidays there and love to swim in the sea. I’ve recorded many of my albums there too. I also own a home on Eleuthera in the Bahamas, which is very sentimental to me as it’s where Nick and I got married.
How was Fashion Rocks in Brazil?
Fashion Rocks was really cool. I was so delighted to see my Brazilian fans and I performed a special remix of Fantasy which went down really well. It had the full Carnival feel!
Who are your favourite fashion designers then?
There are so many to mention. At Rio Rocks I performed for Calvin Klein. I wore Dolce & Gabbana at the premiere of Precious at Cannes. I love Versace, Chanel, Dior and Azzedine Alaia.
Your album’s called Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel – in what ways are you imperfect? And are you really an angel?
I’d written a song called ‘Imperfect’, but it didn’t make it onto the album. The lyrics of that song address the fact that the world puts so much pressure on us – especially on women – to be perfect and look a certain way, and that’s impossible because nobody is perfect. I know I’ve tried to be a good person, but I am definitely no angel!
You’ve worked with tons of rappers, including Gucci Mane on ‘Obsessed’. Who is the most gorgeous?
I loved working with Gucci on Obsessed. He’s really cool. As for who is the most gorgeous, that would be Nick of course!
We heard you call your husband ‘DJ Sex Fingers’. Is this true?
This is not true!
There was a gay proposal at your performance at The Palms in Las Vegas recently. How did that come about?
A Canadian fan got in touch and said his partner would say yes if he could propose on stage and so I let them come up on stage during my performance in Vegas.
What do you think of your gay fans?
I love all my fans. My gay fans are always so delightful and they give so much love. A few years ago I did a show at G-A-Y in London and I had so much fun. It was very exciting and the audience were so with me. An unforgettable moment for me.
Why do you think you’re a gay icon? And you are!
I think people can identify with what I’m writing about and the emotion in my songs.
You’ve done a cover of ‘I Wanna Know What Love Is.’ Don’t you know what love is though?
One night Nick and I were talking about the album and the idea of doing this song just came up. For a very long time I didn’t know what love was, but meeting my husband has opened a whole new world and understanding of the meaning of love.
Your new film Precious has received awards and you’ve been praised for your performance. How proud are you of it?
I’m very proud of this movie and love working with the director Lee Daniels. I have worked with him previously on Tennessee and it’s wonderful to see him receive the praise he so deserves.
Do you mind being all plain and without make-up in the film?
I looked so damn ugly! Those little bangs and then Lee Daniels put dark circles under my eyes. I just kept away from mirrors. I had to do the inner work to be this character.
Weren’t you scared to do another film after criticisms over Glitter?
I thought the whole thing about Glitter was a little unfair. First the movie came out after September 11th and because it was me and my first movie I was somewhat unfairly criticised. I am so glad I am in the place I am now with my movie career. The feedback from my performance in Precious has been very encouraging.
The Director of Precious, Lee Daniels, said in the New York Times: ‘She would throw herself under the train for you, as long as her hair was perfect.’ How true is that?
Oh did he say that? You had better ask Lee that question but my hair didn’t look too pretty in Precious!
• The album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel and the brand new single ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ will both be released on the 23rd November.
• Precious will be released in the UK in January 2010.
- – - -> High quality scans of the magazine are available HERE!
Source: Boyz | Scans: Michael Lynn | Text: Mariah Connection UK
[High Quality Scans]
Her reputation for prima-donna behaviour and extravagant demands is almost as legendary as her impressive record of No. 1 hits, yet Mariah Carey maintains that, as far as her diva image is concerned, her tongue is firmly in her cheek.
In this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at a week in her life, we meet the global phenomenon who readily admits to sleeping with ten humidifiers in her room and whose puppies even have their own entourage…
Saturday – Las Vegas
I’m doing some concerts at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas to let fans see my new performance live before I hit the promo trail for my new album, Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel, which will include appearances on big TV shows like Oprah.
The Vegas dates sold out in hours, and my fans sang along with my old classics and cheered really loudly for my new tracks. Even though I had never performed the new songs before, I had a great time revealing them to the intimate audience. My single Obsessed had the fans singing word for word – that always feels amazing.
I travel heavy with my team, which on this trip includes DJ Suss One, my stylist, my hair stylist, my make-up artist, my manager, my tour manager, my brand manager, my three personal assistants and my puppies, JJ and Cha Cha. I work out most of my outfits with my stylist. I opened the show in a Tony Ward crystal-beaded minidress with a full tulle skirt like a ballerina, inspired by a princess, of course. Why not? My second was a long black gown with coloured sequins by Marc Bouwer – I love dressing up but I kept stepping on the lace train of the dress, and so did all my entourage who walked behind me. I threatened to fire them all if they stepped out of line again. My third dress was by The Blonds and was a hot pink studded mini.
My show is a non-stop, 90-minute, full-on workout for my vocals and I have to be in tip-top condition, so I sleep as much as possible for two days beforehand. That’s why I have ten humidifiers in my room.
After the second night’s performance, I raced to the private airfield to fly straight to Toronto. By midnight we were wheels up on the jet.
Sunday – Toronto
At 7am we touched down in Toronto, where three SUVs met us on the private airfield and raced us to the Four Seasons Hotel. My team threw down our luggage in my private suite and spent 60 seconds fixing my hair before dragging me downstairs to a packed press conference room where we began with a photocall for my movie Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. I was asked about my less-than-glamorous image in the film. My character looks, dare I say, homely. But it’s not about vanity – it was about me losing any resemblance to the Mariah Carey that people know and doing the inner work that was needed to become Mrs Weiss, the social worker.
As soon as the press conference was over I was whisked off to do a quick photoshoot for a style magazine. Next, I did 14 back-to-back interviews, which my management had conveniently left out of the schedule that I’d taken a look at that morning! At 2pm they let me go up to my suite, where I checked on my puppies then fell into a deep sleep for about 40 minutes, which is terrible as you wake up with a sleep hangover.
I was woken to get my hair and make-up done, ready for the first red-carpet event of the night. Ironically, my PR rep had me drive around the venue three times as she didn’t want me to arrive too early but I said: “Let’s go for it. They’re always accusing me in the press of being late and keeping everyone waiting. Let’s show them that I can be on time!”
Outside, the red carpet was heaving with fans and I signed a few autographs. I haven’t been to Canada for so long, it was nice to see the love and support of those who showed up with pictures and CDs for me to sign.
After I’d mingled with movie bigwigs at the cocktail party and had some fun, we were rushed off to the second red-carpet event of the night, which was crazy pandemonium but lots of fun – I call it “fandomonium”. I did around 15 more red-carpet interviews then hurried inside as the screening was about to begin.
At midnight we left and, while everyone else ran to the cars to get to the jet, I walked as fast as physically possible in my vertiginous heels. We were late for our air time slot. I jumped into a waiting car and sped off to the airfield, where the plane was waiting to take me back to my home city of New York.
Monday – New York
It’s only an hour to New York City but still I fell asleep under my leopard-print comforter. We landed in New York at 1am and my car drove me home, where I wound down with my two friends, Rachel and Jasmine. We had some food and watched the beginning of a movie before we all fell asleep. We slept until 3pm and spent the rest of the day in our PJs hanging out, making breakfast at 7pm (pretty early time for me!). What can I say? I’m a night owl. Then we talked girly stuff until the early hours of the morning. Of course, I made sure I watched my husband Nick Cannon hosting his hugely successful TV show, America’s Got Talent, before I fell asleep.
Tuesday – New York
My friend Jasmine was staying with me as she was filming a fly-on-the-wall style special for T4, so she got up early to make us breakfast – she makes good scrambled eggs on toast. We left soon afterwards, to the set of a commercial shoot for an American phone company. My puppies are starring in this ad with me, too. I had my team with me but the pups had a mini entourage of their own, of course! And why wouldn’t they? It was a big shoot and even my entourage had an entourage – my stylist had an assistant, my security had extra security.
The look I went for was a Gucci top with Gucci boots that aren’t even out in stores yet. One of my friends said I looked like a glamazon woman from Vogue. I informed her that if that were the case, I’d be a size minus-something, but I thanked her for the compliment anyway.
The funniest thing was that the huge muscleman actor they had playing my security guard had trouble controlling my 5lb puppy, who was wriggling madly to escape his big hands. I’m convinced my puppy trainer has taught my dogs to obey only male voices, as he and Nick can control them beautifully but with me they’re bad, bad doggies. The shoot was based on the fact that some people think I’m a demanding diva. I have no idea why people have that impression!
That night I had an interview with a journalist from a British newspaper, who I’d agreed to meet at 10:30pm at a restaurant in my neighbourhood. As the restaurant is only three blocks up the street, I decided I would walk, so popped on my comfiest platform skyscraper heels and off we went. The interview finished just in time for me to sit down to a quick midnight dinner with my girlfriends before taking another press call from NRJ Radio in France. My day never stops!
Wednesday and Thursday – New York
I was ending my week with a big performance, so Wednesday and Thursday were vocal rest days. My manager told me that rain was predicted on Friday, when I was meant to be performing for Oprah, live from Central Park. We all laughed and said with Oprah’s connections we’re sure she can make a call and have that weather fixed! I tried to lie in bed relaxing all day but had a couple of things on my to-do list – walking my puppies on my rooftop and taking a dip in my rooftop hot tub.
Since I live downtown, on the other side of the city to Central Park, and traffic the next morning would’ve been bleak, we packed an overnight bag or 12 and stayed at the Plaza Hotel. I love it there, but it was still very hard to fall asleep. Usually I watch a movie to try to nod off, but the hotel was featuring Bruno and it had the opposite effect.
Friday – New York
Waking up was beyond bleak. I actually drank coffee, which I never do. But once I got to the stage and felt Oprah’s and the crowd’s energy, I really woke up. My family were there and Nick had even jumped on a ridiculously early flight from California to join me on stage. I felt pretty good out there. I sang my current single, I Want To Know What Love Is, and as I spotted Oprah watching from the front row I hoped I’d done a good job.
Nick had to go back to California at 5am the next morning, but he left me two really sweet notes so I felt better waking up alone (woe is me!). He’ll be back tonight so I’m being a little dramatic – but then again, aren’t I always?’
Mariah’s album Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel is released on 16 November, and the single I Want To Know What Love Is is released on 14 November. Her film, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, will be released in February 2010. A T4 special on Mariah Carey will be shown on Channel 4 on 14 November at 10:05am.
Source: Hello Magazine | Text and Scans: Mariah Connection UK
On Sunday 1 November Mariah was the cover star of the Sunday Mirror’s Celebs on Sunday magazine. HQ Scans are featured below. Click on the thumbnails for a closer view:
Read the whole interview
HERE!
Scans: Mariah Connection UK
Scans of Mariah’s recent interview with Guardian’s Weekend Magazine are now available.
Please click here for scans!
The full text of the interview, in which Mariah Carey reveals some very personal information is available HERE.
Also take a moment to thank Emma Brockes for such a great article… post a response to it by clicking here!
Source: Mariah Connection UK
Scans of Mariah’s recent interview with NOW Magazine are now available.
Please click on the thumbnails above for a close-up view.
The full text of the interview, in which Mariah answered questions submitted by the magazine’s readers, is available HERE.
Source: Mariah Connection UK
You can now view high quality scans of 20 May, 2008 issue of UK’s OK! Magazine. This issue featured the UK exclusive of Mariah Carey’s wedding to Nick Cannon. Click here to access scans.
Source: Mariah Connection UK
We have now added scans for another three Mariah Carey UK cover features. Click on the links below to be re-directed to the scans:
* Hot Tickets – February 2000
* K9 – 2005
* The Look – October 1998
Source: Mariah Connection UK
The nicest diva in the music industry, Mariah Carey is back with a vengeance, boasting a brand-new album and a slender physique. She talked to a tipsy Jessica Huie about the stress of dieting, the importance of friends and her relationship with God.
Last night Mariah Carey got me drunk.
I’d turned up at a studio located by the Hudson River, in Manhattan, for an 11:30pm interview with one of the globe’s biggest superstars. Three hours later…I was still waiting.
Gazing out from the 14th floor of the Hudson Studios, I took in the breathtaking magnificence of the New York skyline by night, mentally quizzing the woman whose comeback from an emotional breakdown seven years ago sensationally saw her The Emancipation of Mimi album sell 10 million copies worldwide, cementing her iconic status in pop history. Exciting stuff. Despite the jet lag that has crept in 24 hours after landing at JFK, I couldn’t wait to get a peek inside the wonderful world of MC.
At 3am I get the okay to go through for the interview. Three French journalists are waiting behind me- one dozing on the couch, another downing espressos to ward off exhaustion, the third obviously annoyed that Mariah’s publicist has given me the okay to take his slot and conduct the interview before sleep gets the better of me.
I’m asked to sit behind a large black screen on a director’s stool. Mariah is sitting on the other side. I feel like I’m about to audition for American Idol. I’m handed a glass of wine, which I down quickly in the hope that the alcohol will awaken my dreary senses a little.
I’m called in, and there she is, a slimmed-down 5ft 9in vision of loveliness, even at this ridiculous hour. Don’t believe the hype or the paparazzi’s unflattering tabloid pictures: Mariah Carey is gorgeous in the flesh, although after my interview I’m not altogether convinced that she knows it.
She stands to give me a hug and I’m bounced by her ample bosom. However, aside from this one surgical enhancement, there’s no evidence of the alleged £150,000 liposuction that is supposed to have resulted in Mariah’s fabulous new body.
“I know the whole UK is freaking out that I had some crazy plastic surgery done, but hit this,” and she motions for me to hit her thigh, which is rock-hard from hours of lunges and toning squats. “Honestly. It’s working out and diet. Look at what I’m eating right now: olives! It makes me upset that people think I’ve had surgery ‘cos let’s discuss how annoying the dieting process was. My girls will eat really good fried food, and I also love sweet plantain and rice and peas, but I can’t eat it! If I eat it, it’s this small [she signals to a coin-size portion]. Do you want some wine?” I respond that I do, and so my professionalism (along with my sobriety) begins its speedy decline.
Half an hour later and my carefully planned line of questioning is forgotten. The situation isn’t helped by the fact that we are sitting in a darkened room lit only by scores of scented tea lights that, while creating a lovely chilled-out ambience, make is impossible for me to see my notebook. Mariah’s lovely assistant Jim appears and signals that my time is up. “No, Jim we’re not done! It’s my fault, I’ve been distracting her- we need five more minutes.”
A tipsy half an hour later, and we’re talking men. I ask MC if she has someone, and she responds: “I don’t know…do you have someone?”, which prompts a conversation into whether you ever really have somebody or if a relationship is merely a transient thing that is never assured. Fascinating stuff, even at 3am. Despite my being happily ensconced in a relationship, MC’s trying to set me up with her nephew. “He’s 33 and has just graduated from Harvard Law School. He was even voted one of the world’s most eligible bachelors…you’d be perfect together!” What I really want to know, however, is why, at 37, with beauty, brains and a wicked sense of humour, Mariah herself hasn’t been snapped up.
I ask her if she wants children.
“I do if it’s right, I don’t if it’s wrong. I’m probably so much more insecure than you. I don’t know that I’ve ever been loved or ever felt loved or fulfilled emotionally, and I know that I’m able to give that. But I don’t know if I’m able to receive it. Maybe I just don’t feel like anyone could ever care about me that way…I don’t know. I don’t mean to say that in a weird way, but I’m so grateful for Jesus Christ in my life. I’m so grateful for the Lord in my life. Because if you’re not ashamed to admit that you know God, you feel like, no matter what, you’re going to be Okay, ‘cos there is one who loves you. Maybe He’s not of this world, and maybe I’m not supposed to be loved by someone of this world, because maybe I’m too difficult. I can accept that I’m a bad girl…maybe I’m not worth it.”
Though we’ve just met, it’s hard to hear this beautiful woman speak about herself in this way, and the Pinot Grigo makes me want to give her a hug, and I feel my eyes welling up. This is certainly the most bizarre interview of my career, but also the most real. I remind her that the best things in life are hard work, while thinking how hard it is to be a woman.
She continues: “I wish I could be with a person who was exactly the same as me racially. Someone who would understand and not judge me. I believe that he’s still out there. But if there’s someone who just cares about me because I’m a famous person, it’s freaking ridiculous.”
Trust is a huge issue for Mariah, and so it was than when an interview with our very own Jasmine Dotiwala, who heads up MTV Base, resulted in a meeting of minds between the two inspirational women of colour, a very special friendship was born. When I mention I know Jasmine, Mariah instantly relaxes and touchingly explains: “She’s just such a good person. It’s so rare for me to find people that I feel close to. We met during an interview and we just had so much in common. She didn’t expect to like me, but we are so similar and I really care about and love her. We spend Christmas together now, we are family” She breaks into song: “I’ve got all my sisters with me!” She is my heart, and nobody can take her place. Do you want some more wine?”
Two more close friends of MC’s are Rachel, who sits in on our chat for the duration, and her nine-year-old daughter Sade. Rachel’s daughter is the coolest girl ever, and she’s one of my best friends. She’s a beautiful girl, she laughs at me ‘cos she knows that I’m eternally 12. She’s like ‘What are you talking about? MC’s not my auntie she’s my friend!’ We are like dumb and dumber, in fact, no, I’m dumber and dumber!”
I question whether it’s being well into her 30s that has allowed MC the confidence to revel in her sexuality on the new album. “Are you freaking kidding me? I’m 12!,” is all she’ll say, explaining that she no longer celebrates birthdays, preferring to view them as “anniversaries.” So how will she celebrate her imminent anniversary? “Honestly, I’d like to be 29 forever. I’m gonna be with Jasmine and friends somewhere fabulous. I’m so excited about that.”
Despite the insecurities that MC admits still dog her, the album itself, E=MC2, is a sure-fire winner, and an anthem for sexually empowered confident women in control. The first single, “Touch My Body” is a catchy send-up that sees a needy geek entranced by her svelte form as she invites him to “wrestle her to the floor” As diva-ish as they come (after all she thinks nothing of keeping the press waiting until the early hours of the morning for a 20-minute conversation), she’s a fabulous diva, famous for having no clue as to the number of bathrooms in her home. I wonder if the fact that she’s rarely spotted in the front row of the Milan fashion shows, or even alongside Beyonce and Jay-Z at the BET Awards, is a deliberate attempt to maintain the removed mystique of her stardom.
“I do award shows if they are all about me!” she laughs heartily. “I do them if I’m gonna have a promotional moment, but they’re a pain in the ass. When you’re on TV, you’ve got a camera in your face, and I don’t want to deal with that, it’s annoying. They’re in your face, they’re not even showing your waist, they’re right in your face with the worst lighting ever! It’s like…why? But it is what it is. Again, God had brought me a long, long way. I know it’s a lot to do with growing up in suburban America where you don’t feel that normal love.”
Whether or not there is a man deserving of Mariah’s love in her life, she’s adored by millions, has a yacht in Capri, a new home in the Bahamas, wealth beyond her wildest dreams, and a set of genuinely good friends. Then there’s the new album, which is full of club-banging summer anthems and sprinklings of T-Pain and Damian Marley to being the MC sound bang into 2008. It’s sure to meet, if not surpass, the dizzy success of the last record.
Her biggest blessing, however, is her relationship with God. I ask Mariah if she ever reflects on the strength of character it must have taken to overcome the breakdown she suffered years ago in such spectacular fashion. “I just look back and say, ‘Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord for getting me through my life and delivering me, for giving me strength when I almost lost it all.’ I can’t take credit for myself, you know why? In the word of the song ‘My Saving Grace’ on the Charmbracelet album. Whatever anybody else ever says, I say ‘I still exist because You catch my every fall.”
Ninety minutes after out interview began, we say goodbye, and I come face to face with the irate French journalist. Avoiding eye contact, I stumble back out into the brisk New York night air and smile. I’m not certain whether it was actually me who conducted the interview or Mariah herself. Regardless. I feel I’ve had an insight into one of music’s greatest icon. It won’t be an interview I forget- I shall always remember the night Mariah Carey got me drunk.
Source: Pride Magazine | Text and Scans: Mariah Connection UK
It’s an hour or two before midnight. For some people in some situations this is seen as the beginning of the day. ‘Here’s the thing,’ says a chatty, relaxed Mariah Carey, clad in costly stretchy skintight black from neck to ankle, wearing shoes that blend the architectural and substantial with the glossy and ephemeral. Her legs are coyly folded underneath her body. Her long hair is tightly pulled back from her face, which is expertly made up to conquer tiredness and appear fresh. Her skin glows with success. There is no hint of any dubious celebrity tightening or enhancing around the eyes, nose, ears and mouth. Her figure implies a certain amount of almost surreal attention has been paid to maintaining fantasy curves. Oddly, when in the presence of pop performers whose image has been defined for many years by cliched magazine covers, glamorous videos and spiteful internet gossip, you find yourself checking out such things.
The singer turned 38 a few days before, and maybe this is the reason she’s got a comfortable sofa all to herself. I’m on a stiff-backed dining chair to her left at the correct journalist distance from her superstar shape. We are alone in the dimly lit room except for a member of her management team who sits a careful few metres away from us concentrating on a laptop as though he isn’t listening to a word we say.
‘Here’s the thing,’ confides Mariah, softly, extremely skilled at talking about herself to a total stranger and pretending it’s a very natural thing to do.
‘Here’s the thing,’ firmly decides Mariah, definitely not clutching any fluffy animals.
‘Here’s the thing … As a human being, this is a very abnormal state to be in,’ admits Mariah Carey about where she finds herself these days, trying out new ways to say things that she has found herself saying for years, for her benefit as much as anyone else’s.
‘To have people meet you who have already formed an opinion of who you are prior to meeting you based on these sweeping generalisations that they have read, well, not that it doesn’t happen in other jobs but clearly it happens more in this job … which happens to be a job even though people don’t think of it as a job, but it is …’
She laughs one of her sudden, winning laughs. She has many laughs for all sorts of purposes: some defensive, some cute, some really quite lusty, some fake, some perfectly calculated to woo the listener, some to demonstrate that she’s got charm, some because she just likes to laugh, some to make you see that she is very aware of the absurdity of her situation and the fact that she’s Mariah Carey, which if it is a joke and there is a world where it has been turned into a joke then: ‘I get the joke. Most of the time I am not taking stuff too seriously. Sometimes I will have a serious or cathartic moment when I am writing a song and doing whatever … but the truth is that this is freaking entertainment, you know, and I get “the joke”. A lot of the things I do are done with a wink.’
When she uses the phrase ‘the joke’ – and it is another one of her favourite phrases – she likes to represent with her fingers and her eyebrows that she is placing quotation marks around the words. Sometimes she will use the phrase ‘quote unquote’ occasionally in collaboration with the finger and eyebrow movement, when she is using certain of her other favourite phrases, or when she wants to indicate her suspicion of certain words, or when she is describing how there are those that ‘get her’ and those that ‘love to take a shot at her’. When she talks about those that hate her, mock her, repeat lies or even just unsettling truths, because of what she wears, or because of what they’ve read, or because of her obsession with butterflies, or because she’s always late, or because she has a personal masseuse on call 24 hours a day, she wears an expression that communicates much of the following:
1. Everyone is always passing judgment on me based on an image of me that’s not even real! Well, judge not, less thou be judged!
2. ‘Everyone has to have something that makes them easy to categorise. It makes people very uneasy if they cannot put you in a box. First of all me being bi-racial already makes people a little freaked out – it messes with their head, it always has and it always will.’
3. When I go to church, I can have that Mary Poppins look going.
4. I have a real connection with my fans, truly fans, who have listened to albums and not just seen a couple of videos and read some tabloid stuff. They fill a void like an unconditional love type of thing. I know that sounds strange but it’s true.
Eventually, as long as you have been invited, you get to meet Mariah Carey. You may have to wait a few hours, as the closer you get to meeting Mariah Carey, particularly when she’s got a new album to sell, the more you notice that there are other people waiting to meet Mariah Carey. Many of these people don’t know that they’re not the only ones waiting. I have been given a time slot of 5.30 in the early evening. I notice that other people expecting to meet Mariah have been given the same time slot. We are all waiting in the George V Hotel in Paris; naturally, because this is as much fairy tale as routine business, Mariah is occupying the most expensive suite in the city.
Five thirty comes and goes. It appears that journalists are slowly getting to meet Mariah and talk to her, no doubt, about her one time ‘complete emotional breakdown’, the tragic Glitter movie and subsequent fallout, her aborted multi-million record deal with Virgin, the question of whether she was the creation, prisoner and possession of her former husband, Sony president Tommy Mottola, her immense Nineties success, her 1998 divorce from the controlling Mottola, her notorious princessy behaviour, her insecurity, the falling from her pedestal in 2001, her five-or six-or seven-octave range singing, her surprising 2005 comeback with the club-pop classic The Emancipation of Mimi.
There are so many journalists waiting to see her some of them go in two at a time. Eventually, after five hours, which I spend in splendid meditation, it’s my turn. I follow the Sun, whose 5.30pm slot turned into a 9.30pm slot. There is a sudden sense of urgency as I am ushered through the grand hotel lobby, not towards the most expensive suite in hostelry history where some of Mariah’s outrageous, or mundane, secrets might be strewn across a vast luxurious bed, but a more anonymous conference room. Arranged in various states of boredom, patience and attention outside the room are signs of an entourage, a gathering of what Truman Capote called ‘social protection’ when he wrote about Marlon Brando holding court in a Japanese hotel in 1956. The entourage helps give the impression that even though nothing exciting is going on, this particular hotel corridor by the toilets is the most happening place on the planet.
A door opens, and there – flash – in an ornate Parisian room the size of a basketball court smiling out of her skin like her day’s just beginning is Mariah Carey. She looks like she’d be tall even without her earth-defying heels. She does not look like she’s just been through hours of repetitive interviews. She seems indifferent to any idea that the schedule is running five hours late, or even that there is a schedule. The only thing that gives away the fact she’s been talking all night about such things as her spaced-out TV appearances, the strange, bewildered messages she left on her website in 2001, the death of her strict Venezuelan father in 2003, her Grammy awards, her Long Island accent, on marrying again, on lack of sleep and hardly ever eating, working with Jermaine Dupri and Will.i.am on her skilful, sparkling genre-blending new album, her new video directed by Brett Ratner, her mysterious breasts, her time in rehab, is the rich huskiness of her voice.
She seems pleased to see me. This might be because I am officially the last interview of the day. It might be because it’s her job to seem pleased. It might be her way of apologising for keeping me waiting, or she can sense, with the extra-sensory perception of the private jet set famous, that I consider the five-hour wait to be a vital part of the international superstar thing and I’m pleased to see her. Under the circumstances, I would have considered punctuality disappointing, and was quite happy to let time and to an extent space dissolve while I waited so that by the time I get to meet Mariah Carey I’m disorientated enough to feel I have entered the correct metaphysical zone. A grim-looking nutritional shake with bendy straw is handed to a hungry Mariah, who sighs a little pretend-sadly ‘Lovely, lovely, lovely … I so totally want to eat French fries …’ in a way that instantly communicates:
1. I am very plain and simple in my taste, although I am not averse to luxury.
2. I really want to have some fun, and I’m a fun girl, but I guess I’m working.
3. I am not really going to eat French fries in front of someone I don’t know.
4. It tastes really foul but what can you do?
5. I’m in control of fame, it is not in control of me.
6. I will answer your questions with a particular kind of honesty that gives nothing away about anything other than the fact I know how to conduct an interview whatever the angle. I will seem eager to please not because I necessarily am but because it makes for a better story. I don’t want any trouble. I’m not bitter. I’m happy. I just want to be nice. Don’t be nasty. I believe things will in their own way turn out for the best.
Within minutes of us meeting, despite or perhaps because of the third person in the room, Mariah is remembering when she would be less relaxed in such an interview. ‘We’re having a conversation, whereas back in the day, if this was happening, my answers would just be one word or one sentence. That’s what I was told to do. People around me didn’t want to think that I had my own thoughts. Whatever. I’m not going to delve into that and give a “woe is me” moment. It’s done, who cares, whatever, but at least I’m sitting here with you being myself and even if I never see you again you are seeing me at this moment as me and I don’t really know how to be more down to earth as I feel now … I mean, I’ve met a lot of famous people and a lot of them have disappointed me because I’m a huge fan and maybe they’re in a bad mood on the day but they don’t look you in the eye …’ She looks me in the eye. ‘And there’s no one there.’
She wants me to know that with her, when you look here in the eye, there’s someone there. I do notice this within seconds of being with her – and also that she’s harder, in a pleasant, straightforward way, and more sophisticated, brighter and aware than the tabloids and the celebrity bloggers would want you to believe. ‘I’m still the same person I was prior to quote unquote fame and people maybe expect me to be twisted by the fame situation and are actually disappointed if they find out I’m not. They prefer it that I have been.’ She looks at me, and smiles a steel and silk smile that is all of the following:
1. Resigned.
2. Defiant.
3. Distant.
4. Friendly.
5. Knowing.
6. People have said so much about me at this point that who really cares.
7. ‘Jay Z “gets me”. He knows that there is a person with a good heart and a sense of humour and a talent who can look good in a picture every now and then … and it’s OK to be all those things!’
8. Melancholy.
9. Guileless.
10. Shrewd.
A couple of days later, Mariah and supporting company are in London. The entourage seems to change size and personnel by the hour, depending on what business needs to be done and how far from midnight it is. Engineered attention-seeking promotional stunts have been carried off with the necessary tabloid-rousing aplomb. Various early morning radio interviews have been cancelled. The simple excuse I am given is that Mariah and entourage were up late drinking champagne in celebration of her 18th US No 1 – which takes her past Elvis, and two behind the Beatles’ all-time record. The cancellations cause tabloid outrage in those convinced that this confirms Carey is obnoxious, fragile, narcissistically deranged and addicted to attention even if it is negative.
Early afternoon, I line up among management, record company, Coca Cola-with-bendy-straw-fetchers, nail technicians, hair, make-up, dancers, musicians, in a corridor curtained off from the studio where the raucous, gaudy Paul O’Grady is recording one of his Channel 4 teatime shows. A live audience is having hysterics at a mundane conversation between John Barrowman and O’Grady. Mariah, looking nervous and jumpy in the studio but just dreamily disconnected on screen, performs her super light, electro-lithe YouTube inspired new single ‘Touch My Body’. Sat politely chatting with O’Grady and Barrowman, she wears a moist white smile whipped up into an incandescent emptiness that says:
1. I’m no threat to anyone. Honest.
2. I’m not the girl you think I am.
3. I haven’t a clue what they’re talking about.
4. I can fulfil my duties as mildly damaged middle of the road diva even as my mind wanders.
5. I’m alone. I’m trapped. The media is so powerful, its grasp so insistent and seductive. The image is the message.
In Paris, I’ve been given 45 minutes, but I don’t take that for granted, and assume from the start that the next question I ask is going to be the last question I’m allowed. For my first question, which might be it, I decide not to ask anything about her white opera-singing Irish-American mother Patricia, about the time Mariah thought Marilyn Monroe was speaking to her through her piano, how most of the female contestants on pop talent shows try to emulate her voice, her love for Ol’ Dirty Bastard, her relationship with Eminem, what she spends her money on, the lovely song on her new album about her father, the brave one about Mottola, the bright one or two or three about love and/or sex and/or about playing at being Mariah singing about love and/or sex – if anyone needs to know any of this, there is plenty of information instantly available on the internet.
We’re sat in front of a large blow-up of the cover for her new album E = MC2, which uses the idea of a sultry, provocative Mariah draped in nothing but a feather boa. Selling yourself so blatantly as a sex object surely distracts from you being taken in any way seriously as an entertainer, or the kind of expressive, inventive soul singer you want to be seen as, and plays into the slimy hands of those who like to reduce you to a cartoon, a figure of fun, a dumb female money-making puppet.
‘To be honest, I just like to have fun with my covers. It’s like playing dress up. I call myself eternally 12, because I am, and if I was 12 that would be the photo I would like to have of me. I have pictures of me at eight on a piano wearing a boa. But at nine I was reading Norman Mailer on Marilyn Monroe … The funny thing is … and you’re probably going to be, “Yeah, right,” but honestly, this is how I would dress whatever I did, if I was a waitress or whatever. I dress this way not because I’m a promiscuous person … and on the album cover I’m just selling the idea that I like the boa and it’s festive and it’s got freaking pink lettering because I like pink and I’ve turned Einstein’s Theory of Relativity into my album title. It’s not that deep, it’s not that tacky. It is what it is. I’ve taken so long to be able to have fun with this, so I am now.’
But does the 12-year-old dressing up, and rumours of tantrums, emotional meltdowns, and babyish demands, help explain to people that you are an award-winning songwriter in control of her image, music and career?
‘Here’s the thing. Calling yourself eternally 12 and wearing a boa is one part of who I am. Then there’s the writing of certain songs that I do feel could enhance people spiritually and there is real talk, real words from me about people in my life that I am trying to say something positive to. This is something that is very personal and very real to me. So clearly, I am somewhat of a conundrum and I know that there is a dichotomy between a lot of what I do and the visual presentation. If I had a guitar in my hands all the time and my hair was really wild, there might be more credibility, but half of those people are acting up anyway. The minute they get the chance they lose the guitar, they throw on a bra top and a pair of low-waisted jeans, get a blow out and put on make-up. The thing with women performers is unless you see them behind a piano for the first eight videos that they do then you are not going to think of them as a songwriter if they look remotely pleasing.
‘If you’re a solo woman and you want to be taken seriously without playing a guitar or sitting behind a piano you have to dress obscurely or differently and not too sexy. If I tried to change my image to get more credibility, well, even though praise the Lord I have accomplished what no other woman has in the music business, most people don’t want to believe that I’m capable of anything other than being the person they think I am.’
The day after the O’Grady show I watch her rehearse in another studio for an appearance presenting The Friday Night Project, C4′s crude version of America’s Saturday Night Live. A non-neurotic, matter-of-fact, dutiful and mostly shut-off Mariah is treated by ingratiating hosts Justin Lee Collins and Alan Carr as decorative bait, stooge, sidekick, moll, younger sister, hostess, alien, superstar, target, camp icon, and delicate flower. Collins seems determined to nickname their stoical guest Fine Ass Carey.
Game Mariah reads from the autocue a series of weak, squalid jokes and works hard to put up with the slapstick joshing without slipping into the touchy, demanding diva mode everyone in the studio seems on the look out for. The one real glint of potential, frustrated prima donna behaviour is when the production wants to musically represent her with her melodramatic bland soul version of Nilsson’s version of Badfinger’s ‘Without You’. She politely grimaces, hoping without wishing to hurt anyone’s feelings that they don’t go to heavy with the ‘Without You’ because :
1. That song did a lot for me but it’s not really representative of me as an artist. ‘Fantasy’ in 1996 was a classic moment in music and I’m saying that in a humble way because people have told me, in terms of the pioneering fusion of hip hop and the song, it was groundbreaking because there was me having huge success in the pop charts and there was Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who was in the hottest, grimiest rap group … It became the norm for R&B stars to combine melodies with rapped verses after me. Other people have pointed out that it was me who established R&B and hip hop as the sound of pop. Right back in 1993 on ‘Dreamlover’ I was using freaking loops.
2. A lot of my collaborations have not been on the radar of people who only look at the pop charts.
3. It is the vain, virginal-vamp, straining to impress, panic-stricken voice of the early Nineties, Sony Mariah, the one people confuse with Celine Dion, which seemed to contain no knowledge, and no soul, and no life. Her new downbeat, digitally detached voice, for her trickier, wittier 21st-century sound, a Tamla-techno hip hop cabaret, pulses with synthetic subtlety, wired intimacy and computer-generated mystery. It’s more artificial but more emotional, less real but more sincere.
4. She didn’t write it. She would like them to use something she’s written, even if it’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.
I tell Mariah that I’m surprised she’s doing all the Euro interviews, telling her soapy story again and again. I’m amazed that she’s booked in for all the lightweight radio programmes and the trite trashy TV shows – surely all this will undermine her picky-perfectionist determination to be seen as something special.
‘You mean it’s like I’m doing what a new artist should be doing ? You’re not wrong, but I want this album to be successful. It’s a science these days reaching the people you need to reach, and you have to do what you have to do. I don’t want to get into a saga that’s been told 20 million times but no one seems to remember it … I grew up without a lot of money …. We moved around a lot when I was a kid and my father’s black and my mother’s white and I had a lot of issues as a kid and we moved 12 or 13 times, whatever it is. I don’t want to be inaccurate but the point is that I always had this fear that the rug could be pulled out from underneath me at any time … And so I think that got carried over. I’m a hard worker and that’s part of it … I’m almost afraid of losing what I’ve got. I’m very ambitious. People say MC, no one works like you.’
Doing the trashy stuff might not be the best way of keeping what you’ve got.
‘It’s what you have to do now, find ways to stay in the public eye without giving away your real life. Honestly, every time you walk out of the door it’s a YouTube moment, it’s a blog moment, a whatever website moment. When you appear in public it instantly travels the world … The self-promoting situation in the world now has reached the next level – it’s people’s relationships, it’s porn videos – and I have to find whatever ways to compete with that … I’m doing promotional shows but the other people use their lives as promotional vehicles. I don’t want to say anything negative about anyone else but other people just have their relationships in order to promote their careers and enhance who they are and be talked about in the tabloids. I do what I can to make sure whatever is said about me in the tabloids, it still connects to the music.’
As I watch the Friday Night rehearsal surrounded by crew and entourage, Mariah sits next to me, removing herself for a moment from the role she’s been playing. I’m surprised she even recognises me. Perhaps someone has whispered in her ear about the presence of a journalist.
She’s wearing shoes of such elevated flamboyance it makes you proud to be a biped. She stretches out her legs on the seat in front of her, sucks on the bendy straw in her non-diet Coca Cola, and asks me how’s the story coming. She asks this because :
1. She really wants to know.
2. She knows it will look good in the story that she sits next to me and asks how the story’s going.
3. She’s probably heard I wanted to ask her some more questions and she’s given me the opportunity, even though this time I’ve probably only got a minute.
I tell her that I’m at that point in the story where I asked her what she makes of Leona Lewis at No.1 in America, representing all the blank Cowell-driven Mariah Carey wannabes that there’s ever been.
Mariah keeps a perfectly straight face. ‘Honestly there has been so many “this is the new her” … and I’m like, “OK, show me the new her. Can she come and work for me and be my double?” And I’m not talking about this particular girl, because I only heard her once and I didn’t really see a true similarity, particularly in the style of music. It is what it is and they have compared me to so many people who are not really singers and they’re certainly not writers. If I was to focus on this and really dwell on that, it would really bring me down and so I just try to pray for, like, OK, lose the spirit of jealousy, it’s not a good one – envy is a really powerful thing. Not good. I don’t have anything to be concerned about because there is no new me. I am me until the day I die. Whenever that is, that is when it is.’
Are you worried about getting old and being replaced by younger, fresher candidates ?
‘I’m eternally 12 and I’m going to stay 12 for ever by saying it for ever! I may change how I dress or how I change my hair or whatever but the point is that you look at people who I look up to and who can still stand on a stage and command your attention, be it Aretha Franklin or Diana Ross. You look at them and you think, “You can grow up without losing your place,” and I’m hardly putting myself on the same level, it’s just that we’re all Aries …’
You seem happy with how old you are considering you’re always saying you’re a 12-year-old.
‘It’s because I’m not getting old. Because if you think and act old and look old then you’re old but if you don’t then you ain’t …. OK!!!!!’
You can almost see the exclamation marks pour out of her mouth, confirming that my time is up and that she can rejoin her entourage, if not travel back to her life.
Mariah sits next to me before she has to return to the Friday Night Project rehearsal. By now she has replaced Leona Lewis at No.1 in America. For a moment we’re both quiet, not sure of our roles outside the 45 minutes in Paris. I have no idea who she really is, just a fair idea of who she is when she plays at being the sweet, kind, slightly anxious and insubstantial, sexy singing Mariah her fans and those who make money from her like her to be. I tell her she’s honest and revealing in interviews and songs, but really, that’s still just a mask. She gives nothing away about who she actually is. She answers as a self-conscious 38-year-old mind and media manipulator who skilfully runs her own successful business in the friendly disguise of a professionally immature pop star.
‘Well, if you want to come out with me and my friends on a festive night then you can see who I am on a night like that …. Look, for the media, if I was to be in this interview with all my friends around me laughing it up and joking it with our private jokes, just like if you were spying on anyone at home with their best friend and family on their private lives, they’d be like, “Who’s that? Why are they acting like a totally different person.” Why? It’s because I’m with people who love me and who don’t judge me … The media are always judging me, that’s their job, so I have to hide behind whatever and have fun as much as I can, and make my music. That’s my job.’
She gets up and returns to “the fun”. She waves goodbye to me with her 12-year-old wave, walks down the steps without throwing a tantrum, and gives me a final look that says:
1. Here’s the thing, whether you like it or not, I’m quite good at my job.
· E=MC2 is out now on Universal
Source: Observer Music Monthly | Scans: Mariah Connection UK
She’s one of the biggest-selling female artists in the world, with 18 worldwide No.1s under her belt-and Mariah Carey makes no bones about it. When she jetted into London on a whirlwind promotional tour last week, she took no prisoners. One DJ suffered her wrath after he mistakenly suggested that she’d sold 90 million records rather than the 165 million she’s actually shifted.
This time around, the queen of divas is showcasing not just a brand new album, but a brand new body, too. At 38 years old, Mariah boasts the body of a teenager again- and judging by her sensational new photos, she’s not embarrassed to show it off.
It’s nearly midnight when NOW finally catches up with Mariah. Clasping a chilled glass of Chabilis, she arranges herself by a window, Her favourite white orchids are dotted around the room and she’s bathed in the flattering glow of flickering tea lights. The effect is either romantic or a bit nutty depending on your point of view.
Still this is the woman who “doesn’t do stairs” and insisted that a hotel roll out a red carpet for her. Against that background tonight almost seems reasonable.
As she spills the beans on her new body, babies and marriage, we discover that as although she has a penchant for referring to herself in the third person, Mariah’s really just an ordinary girl who craves attention- albeit on a grander scale than most of us.
On the cover of your latest single Touch My Body you’re pictured starkers, hiding behind a large black hat. Why’s that?
I’ve lost weight!
The photo’s very tasteful.
I wouldn’t do sleazy or explicit photos. Many photographers see me in the style of Marilyn Monroe. That’s why they come up with props that they’ve seen in old Holly wood photos, That’s nice, but my own style is more modern. I’d rather go around in Diesel than classic outfits.
You’re obviously in great shape. How are you feeling about your new figure?
I’m really proud. I’ve lost a lot of fat and a little muscle. Now I have the body I had in high school. My jeans size is the same as when I was 17.
You look as if you’ve lost at least a stone. How did you manage it?
I like to swim, but I don’t do it fanatically. I can run fast, but I don’t lose weight doing that- my endurance is pretty low. So I did yoga and strength training- but carefully. Too much and your legs and arms ends up even more powerful. My thighs became really hard. Here, come on, feel…
I’m not sure that I should…
Go ahead, grab my thigh.
Wow, hard and firm-congratulations! Who helped with that?
My trainer Patricia. She’s French, from Bordeaux. I met her by chance on vacation in St Barts and asked if she’d teach me aerobics. That’s her speciality. She’s teeny weensy and very thin- as thin as one of my arms. Before, I didn’t pay attention to my diet, but if you don’t eat sensibly then no amount of sport is going to help you lose weight.
So you haven’t always had to watch your weight?
I was always relaxed about it. It wasn’t the end of the world if I suddenly weighted three kilos [around 6lbs] more and didn’t fit into my pants. My proportions were OK, as everything got fatter at the same rate.
Why is your shape more important to you now?
I like to dress fashionably and the really cool things only come in size 2 or 4 [UK size 6 or 8]. I decided to pull myself together. But don’t worry: Mariah will never have an eating disorder. And she’ll never be as skinny as a rake either.
You new album E=MC2 is named after Einstein’s theory of relativity?
Pretty bold, right?
Er, yes. Do you know much about physics?
Zero! In school I was so bad at maths that I couldn’t even pass the simplest course. I was so crap, they didn’t let me study a foreign language either.
So what made you choose E=MC2?
The album title is so ironic. Einstein and me- it’s a joke.
Oh right. Besides that, does the title mean anything?
The theory of relevance. I’m often asked how I’ve been able to remain relevant with my music for almost 20 years.
How do you do that, then?
Don’t let yourself be dragged down. Be confident, but not egotistical. Listen to other people, but make your own decisions. I was married [to record boss Tommy Mottola between 1993-98], then I freed myself. I felt like a prisoner, like I was being kept down, for years. But that doesn’t work in the long term with Mariah Carey because I’m strong and can assert myself.
You don’t seem like the type to let things get you down.
Nah, but in my marriage that was the case.
There’s a track on your new album, Side Effects, with the lyrics; “You were scared that I’d become so much more than you could handle.” Is that about your marriage?
Yeah. That was my reality. I had to be tough. I always had to function and smile. I nearly had a breakdown. I also felt under pressure from my old record company. I had to always go from one appointment to the next, always witty and on the ball. No one can stand that for long, I was really unhappy.
Your 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi was a massive hit. Did that put pressure on you when you were making E=MC2?
No, this album was fun to make. Can’t you hear that? [She sounds a bit cross.]
Oh yes, the mood’s upbeat. Were you trying to make an album that showed everyone how happy you were?
I didn’t want to prove anything to anyone. I made this for me and my friends- I want to play lively, fun music for them when they come over. I live on the 18th floor and last summer we all sat on the roof terrace and listened to my music.
Do you go out to bars and nightclubs much?
Not often. Too much partying isn’t good for me. I have to be responsible when it comes to my throat. Mostly my friends come over and we lie around and have a pyjama party. There are no guys and we prance around the apartment in pyjamas, talk nonsense and drink wine. I love that.
No guys allowed?
Sometimes there are some. The main thing is that they don’t take pictures of us when we’re sleeping. Then I would be mad. [She laughs hysterically.]
Your current single Touch My Body sounds a bit saucy, with lyrics such as; “Put me on the floor wrestle me around, play with me some more.”
You shouldn’t take it so seriously- it’s all in fun and totally cute. The song isn’t especially deep.
Do you come on to men in real life like you do in the song?
You have to forget your indecent fantasies and accept that I’m harmless and playful and anything but a man-eating vamp! Touch My Body shouldn’t provoke or shock in any way, absolutely not.
But it’s a bit filthy. Are you looking for a bit of rough?
It’s OK when a man’s a man in a way that’s playful and full of fantasy.
Like how, for example?
I’m not going to get any more intimate than that!
What kind of man do you like?
I’m not very demanding. All I want is a man who loves me for myself, who accepts me for who I am and who sees the real me and not the singing freak.
You’ve reportedly been dating music manger Mark Sudack for four years. Is marriage on the cards?
I’ve learnt that it’s better not to talk about these things. There’s a lot of speculation but why should I always add to it? I don’t find it necessary to publicise my private life.
Do you dream of one day having a family?
Of course-I’ve just turned 38. But I also don’t drive myself crazy when it comes to having children. If it happens, then I want to the one to take care of the child. I don’t want to be a part-time mother.
Mariah on…
BRITNEY SPEARS
It’s easy to say “With Britney, this and that didn’t work out,” but I’m not that presumptuous. I’ve experienced it myself. Setbacks come if you lead your life in the public eye and let people get closer to you then you should. But it was never as dramatic with me as with Britney. I’ve never done hard drugs and I always had a firm hold somewhere
LEONA LEWIS
It makes me feel old when girls like Leona say that I’m their role model-although I do have the body of a 12 year old! No, it’s an unbelievable honour when other singers say that I’ve inspired them or when people say my songs helped them through difficult times.
What’s my diet secret? Wine and Cheese!
My personal trainer overhauled my diet, so no more cookies, no more crackers and very little sweet stuff for me. I’m allowed wine, of course! But without chips and chocolate. The only thing I’m allowed to eat with wine is olives-and a little cheese.
Source: Now Magazine | Text and Scans: Mariah Connection UK
Sunday, November 22, 2009
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