TRAFFIC CAME to a halt the other day in Times Square after word got out that luscious songbird Mariah Carey would be arriving at the midtown studios of MTV to appear for a live interview. Mariah's ratings for her "MTV Live!" stint went through the roof, even surpassing Janet Jackson's recent numbers. Mariah is covering all bases these days. She is also VH1's Artist of the Month, and has a good chance of snaring Artist of the Year. Next stop, the movies! (Hollywood is chafing at the bit to "do something" with Mariah.)
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The Spice Girls, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and Mariah Carey are among the artists tapped to perform during the 25th annual American Music Awards. The Jan. 26 ceremony will also boast performances by Janet Jackson, Matchbox 20, Boyz II Men and Latin crooner Enrique Iglesias, among others. Comedian-actor Drew Carey will host the event, which will take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It will be broadcast live by ABC (taped delayed in the West). Puff Daddy leads the field with five nominations, followed by the Wallflowers and Spice Girls with three each. The Spice Girls are expected to perform via satellite from London. Other artists bagging multiple nominations include Babyface, Erykah Badu, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, Celine Dion, Dru Hill, Jewel, Matchbox 20, LeAnn Rimes and George Strait.
How to get tickets and other stuff:
The 25th annual American Music Awards will be held on January 26, 1998, in Los Angeles, California at the Shrine Auditorium. Show starts at 3:30pm A small number of tickets will be made available to the general public. Tickets for this show will be sold through Ticketmasters in L.A. there phone number is 213-480-3232. And through Ticketmasters.com online. Tickets go on sale Monday, December 15, 1997 Ticket prices range from $20-$125 each, plus ticktmaster charges. $20 tickets are up in the balcony, and $125 tickets which are down by the orchestra. Mariah has been nominated for Soul-Rhythm & Blues - Female Artist or the Year The awards will be televised live on ABC.
Mariah's competition for the Female Soul/Rhythm and Blues Artist are Mary J. Blige and Toni Braxton.
Question: "My Steady & I have been together for two years. I love him but he's soooo possessive. He won't even allow me to go out with my friends. I'm 15 years old. What should I Do?"Answer:"Spread your wings & prepare to fly/for you have become a butterfly/Fly abandonly into the sun/If you return to him.... you'll know your love was meant to be. Follow Mariah's example: She ditched her bossy husband and look how happy she is now..."
VH1 to One 12/13 1:30pm 12/16 9:30pm 12/17 4pm 12/21 2pm,4pm Fantasy, @MSG 12/16 8:30pm 12/17 3pm 12/21 1pm, 5pm Mariah Carey Spcl 93' 12/16 10pm 12/17 2pm 12/20 8pm 12/21 2:30pm Mariah Carey Video 12/21 3:30pm Collection
Mariah was recently seen with Derek Jeter having a candlelit dinner and swapping tongues. The couple have had an on and off relationship, and Derek Jeter's teammates have blamed Mariah for a streak of bad games, claiming she doesn't let him get enough sleep, also it's said that last year Jeter's neighbours claimed that whenever Yankees played at home Mariah would show up at his door at 3 am.
The BET contest for Mariah Carey will run from Dec 15th through Jan 2nd. The winner will be chosen at random on Jan 7th during Planet Groove. Winner must name 3 guest stars in any of Mariah's clip's. Prize is a trip for two to Japan to one of her concerts and $1,000 spending money.
From Melbourne music newspaper (dec. 2)
In the Studio
"She had a lot of input on our album," admits lalisha "and you can tell the songs that she did write and produce because they have that feel."Vocal Coaching"Mariah made it as comfortable as possible, she was there every step of the way, every off-note, every sour note, encouraging us,'c'mon you can do it' she spent a lotta hours in the studio with us, she was very professional, she's very funny so it really wasn't like 'just get in there and sing'."
"Out of the four of us, I have the strongest voice" confides lalisha. "Knowing mariah's voice, she has that sweet, airy sound. so she spent a lot of time with me in the vocal booth, because I basically had to pull back a lot to just blend with everyone else."Advice on Handling the Media
"What she told us was that we have to develop a tough layer of skin, because we're constantly gonna be under the microscope people are just gonna nick and pick at things and try to get at things"
It looks like Mariah Carey is putting her singing career on the back burner. She has been taking all these acting classes lately, and looking for that perfect role. After that awful split with ex-hubby Tommy Mottola, things were a little rough. She went back to the basics, like sleeping on the floor of a friend's apartment in Manhattan. Not that she couldn't afford a hotel room, 'cause we know my girl could probably buy a hotel. But hey, when you leave a husband and a 200-room mansion, things can seem a little lonely. Not to worry, though: This is not a princess-to-pauper story. That 200-room mansion was recently sold, and Mariah got half the proceeds, which is not half bad--$5 mil. You go, girl.
From Dan Roberts
The video was pretty good. It starts of with her on a couch in a nice dress singing and the camera moves all over her body (feet, head, arms, etc.) Then it cuts to a scene of her in what looks like a bathroom waiting for someone and she keeps checking herself in the mirror, fixes her shoes, etc. Then she is hanging with a friend on a roof sucking on a lollipop and they show some people dancing. The scene changes and Mariah is now with some guy (me: grrrrr....Jealously levels rising! ;-)). And he starts to hang all over Mariah. I don't think he kisses her. It looks like it a couple of times but they don't seem to actually kiss. He nuzzles her neck a little and then it shows some more people dancing on the roof and then it starts to rain. Then they show the rap parts and some scenes of Mariah all wet on the roof and the guy is still hanging all over her (grrrrr.). And then it shows a scene of Mariah in the bathroom again and then Mariah with the guy AGAIN. This time Mariah's back is to the camera and the guy puts his hands behind her...It looks like he puts it a little TOO low. But I loved the video. Everything except that guy hanging all over!!! I'm jealous! I'm sure a couple of the other guys are jealous too! ;-)
I didn't find the video overtly sexual but its very sexy for a Mariah video. So please people if you hate her. Leave quietly off this list. I don't want to see 1000 arguments about why Mariah is a tramp or whatever. She isn't and the video is mature and sexy...To me this video is a lot more sexy than videos where they are making out a lot. The rule is the best love scenes are the one's in which there's hardly any hardcore action involved. Like in "Ghost" the movie. Ironically the director was Mariah herself and Diane Martel of Dreamlover fame. Those were the good old days but innocence doesn't last forever I guess. And Mariah doesn't seem to be pushing any new envelopes. (Phew!) She's just trying new things.
The movie's about a young 70s singer who beats the odds to become a superstar (sounding familiar?). However, the story is "not so cute" and includes things from Mariah's own childhood that could be shocking. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The film is tentatively titled "All That Glitters" and Mariah is reportedly developing the film from her own concept. She also says that the film is not autobiographical (yeah, right!)
The Wall of Sound recently had an article about this, referring to it as a "Disney film." Actually, it's not really a "Disney film" like in cartoons and such. Touchstone Pictures is merely a division under Disney.
Also, according to the tabloids, Mariah has already signed a three-picture movie deal worth $15 million!
Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Emmylou Harris, Jewel, Sinead O'Connor, and Youssou N'Dour are among the artists scheduled to perform Dec. 11 at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo's Nationaltheateret. The concert is in honor of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its coordinator, Jodi Williams, who will, one day earlier, receive the Nobel Peace Prize for 1997. Public broadcaster NRK is offering concert rights to TV stations worldwide, while national TV channel NRK1 will broadcast an edited version of the show later that day. Two as-yet-unnamed U.S. stations are also scheduled to run a 2 1/2-hour excerpt.Related News: Mariah and the Boyz will be dedicating their performance to Princess Di. Michael McCrary said in an interview that he and the Boyz would be performing other songs also, but no word on Mariah.
Mariah performed "My All" and then talked with Rosie on Nov. 25th. Of course, I missed everything but the last part because my local station decided to preempt the show with some "breaking news." But here's what one person who did see it had to say:
She performed "My All" which was great (better than she did on SNL IMHO). She even said she was sorry if she sounded raspy, because she was out at a Fresh Air Fund benefit last night, and they were piping in smoke to add to the mood. Not a good thing to do, but she sang wonderfully anyway. She then gave a real interview, not at all like she did on Letterman where she just kinda smiles and says she's doing fine; she was telling stories of her growing up and she was joking with Rosie the whole time. Mariah said she was starting her tour in January (no dates or locations though...) and she said they were trying to decide if they should release "My All" as a single (she said if we liked it, maybe they would do it). And if anybody doesn't like the skimpy clothes she's been wearing lately, you won't like the dress she had on. It was a REALLY short tan skirt and top which showed a whole lot of leg. She sat down for the interview with her legs crossed (she didn't really have a choice, or we would have seen things we're not supposed to see). I mean, she still looks good, but I kinda wish she would be a little more conservative you know?
Mariah sang "Butterfly" and "My All" on Saturday Night Live November 15th with Claire Danes as host. It was her first appearance on the show since she came out with her debut album! Butterfly was okay. It was better than on Letterman in that she seemed more comfortable. My All was even better. She really sang it perfectly.
Here's what one viewer said:
When she started I was sure she was lypsynching,like we heard it from Oprah, b/c it sounded just like on CD.When it came to the chorus it was definitely live, you could hear it clearly that the background singers were singing live just like Mariah did.She even left out the part where she sings "spread your wings and fly..." with an extra force. Afterwards the host emphasized "This was live live live!". So I have decided, for my part, to believe it.Mariah seemed a little shy when the host came to meet and thank her,but she could not help laughing when he noticed that the way her background ladies were standing it looked like "small, medium and large".Check out screen shots of this performace at http://privat.schlund.de/LHoffmann/index.htm
A two-hour entertainment spectacular honoring Quincy Jones, the renowned composer, arranger and producer. Already set to appear live at the event are: Ashford and Simpson, Patti Austin, Mariah Carey, Tevin Campbell, Lesley Gore, Whitney Houston, James Ingram, Chaka Khan, Little Richard, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Salt 'n Pepa, Stomp, Tamia, Nancy Wilson and Stevie Wonder.
The show was taped in Pasadena, CA Nov. 1st with Oprah Winfrey as the Hostess and MARIAH performing. No word on when the show will air on ABC. Visit http://www2.southwind.net/~ksims/MariahHotNews/hotnews.html for more info.
Q: I've been hearing rumors that Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter and pop singer Mariah Carey were dating. Any truth to those stories?--L. Tatum, Patchogue, N.Y.
A: A source close to Sony Music honcho Tommy Mottola, Carey's estranged husband, tells us Mariah, 27, and Derek, 23, began seeing each other last November, despite her recent denials to the press. Our source also says Mottola, 48, is "heartbroken" and desperately wants to save his marriage to Sony's most popular songbird. That was one of the reasons he built Carey a $10 million home with a recording studio in Bedford, N.Y., shortly after they wed in 1993. But insiders say she felt like a bird in a gilded cage and found marriage to an older man boring. Her search for independence is reflected in her album Butterfly, released last month.
The rumor first broke in the tabloids, which aren't exactly known for their accuracies. But this one caught on, which made me think that it was true. When Mariah was on Letterman the day after Parade came out and Dave asked about false rumors in the tabloids, Mariah seemed very reluctant to say names and when finally pressed by Letterman, she mentioned everyone EXCEPT for Derek Jeter.
Mariah was wearing a black dress and sporting a blond do (imagine!). I personally didn't like the blond look, although it did look better than her hair in the Butterfly video. Dave talked to her about her dog (who was on the show when Mariah last appeared on Letterman), her divorce, and her new album. When talking about who she worked with, Mariah told how she went down to Virginia to colloborate with Missy Eliot and she had a hangover and then passed out. After all the rumors about being rejected for apartments because she was too "wild", Mariah said that she has finally find an apartment in NY. Then Dave asked about rumors of her seeing other people and who the tabloids have falsely linked her to. Mariah seemed uneasy and responded, "everyone." Then, later in the show, Dave asked the question again and Mariah said Donald Trump and some other guy. I found it interesting that Mariah didn't mention Derek Jeter, who she's been most linked to. So maybe that rumor isn't false??
As for the Butterfly performance, a lot of people thought it was great, but I thought she could've done better. It sounded great, but for most of the song, it seemed like every word she sang was a struggle by the way she was grimacing. When I was watching it, I was afraid that she would sing and then nothing would come out of her voice. The power voice for the bridge was there, but again, it seemed liek she was struggling and she was forcing it. It'll be interesting to see how her voice fares in the upcoming World Tour. A related note: you know how people thought she lipsynched Butterfly on the Oprah show? Well, the general consensus now is that Mariah actually sang it, but for one reason or another, the performance was dubbed over in the TV version. The only reason I can think of is that it was bad, and Mariah didn't want people to see it. How bad? I guess we'll never know.
CAREY MARIAH BUTTERFLY 9.95 11/03/97 CD Single CAREY MARIAH BUTTERFLY 15.95 11/03/97 CD Maxi Single CAREY MARIAH BUTTERFLY 14.00 11/03/97 12" Maxi Single Vinyl
While in L.A. for the Seven Days in Tibet premiere (see next news story), Mariah did a radio interview for 92.3 The Beat for half an hour. They played Breakdown, Always Be My Baby (The Remix) and The Roof. She said that all the other movie rumors out there were not true (What rumors?) and that the real movie she will be in, the script is still being written for this instant. She said she already got a song for the soundtrack, in fact she was going to put it in her Butterfly album but she decided that she wanted to save it for the soundtrack instead. She was also majorly flirting with the guy at the radio station, saying stuff like "Ken looks good tonight ladies or Ken, you have a sexy voice." She was eating popcorn there too...she said "The Beat makes good popcorn you guys!!"
Also... she said that she is making the remix and video for "The Roof" right now!!
The Brad Pitt connection: Mariah was at the L.A. premiere of Seven Years in Tibet. She reportedly dyed her hair blond for it! A tabloid said that Mariah and Brad Pitt were getting close and he gave her his phone number. Hmmm...
According to one source, Sony and Columbia are denying that this has been confirmed, saying instead that it is mostly hype by DJ's over something that probably won't happen. If Mariah does decide to host the event, says Sony, she most likely will not perform.
The pair seemed startled to see eachtother. It may have been one of their first meetings since their marital breakdown this summer. They didn't kiss, just shook hands across the table and stayed at opposite ends of the Cheetah Lounge.
That's where the party adjourned from Sean "Puffy" Combs' Justin's, where Donald Trump and Mike Tyson were on hand.
Jeff Timmons, the hunky TOM CRUISE look-alike of Motown's 98 DEGREES boytoy goup is the latest to be linked to delectable diva MARIAH CAREY. Now that she is footloose and fancy free, no longer inhabiting TOMMY MOTTOLA'S spectacular manse, Carey been looking more luscious than ever. She can't seem to say "hello" to a guy without somebody insisting it's a romance.
Well, Carey is hot as a pistol--She now has the most No.1 singles of any female artists, edging out MADONNA and WHITNEY HOUSTON. Most of her fans want to envision her life as one endless erotic daydream, but the truth is Carey is career-obsessed. Hate to burst the bubble, but high-profile women like Carey probably have less romance in their lives than the average woman at the 7-Eleven Checkout.
MTV will present the world premiere of "Butterfly," the new Mariah Carey video (and title track from her best-selling new album) on Monday, October 6, at 7am, 9am, 11am, 4pm, 6pm, and 9pm. You can catch "Mariah Carey - Raw" on MTV on Wednesday, October 1, Friday, October 3, and Sunday, October 5, at 7pm.
Beginning Tuesday, October 7, you'll be seeing "Butterfly" on VH1, the Box, and BET. Watch the Box for details on a Mariah Carey contest from October 1-22; a two-part "Box Talk" with Mariah begins running on October 23.
VH1 has named Mariah Carey the network's Artist Of The Month for all of December, so stay tuned for a cornucopia of Carey come Christmastime.
From Vision Member:
As everyone who saw Mariah Carey Raw on Sunday night...they showed a few more different clips of Mariah's "Butterfly" video. I'm thinking this will even be better than the "Honey" video:) I've been thinking of the video and it's story (if it has one), and here's what I have come up with:
I see Mariah wondering through the country side/fields, and she's absorbing all of nature around her...watching butterflies (duh!) on flowers and fluttering away, birds soaring in the blue sky, and picking flowers and putting them on her hair:) She's singing as she does these things. And then she spots the horse, and it is confined within a wooden fence.
She sings to herself that wild horses must run unbridled or their spirits die...and then she flings the gate open and watches the horse gallop away into the horizon (corny, I know:) That's when she tries to run after it (remember the clip of her running), but she knows she can't catch up...but it's o.k. because she was able to set free a creature that would have died if kept there by itself.
Then comes the clips of her on the tree branch(?) singing...and her leaning on the trunk of a tree, on the verge of tears. Finally, at the end of the video, she is alone in the middle of the field...she bends on her knees and sings the part, "Spread your wings and fly. Butterfly." The camera moves up, from Mariah to the sky, as her lovely voice fades away:)
By the way, in Australia, Honey is being released as a video cassette, containing the original video and the remix video.
Accompanying picture is a caricature of Mariah with boxing gloves and Janet swinging a rope around.THE DUEL: Mariah Carey vs. Janet Jackson THE STAKES: The pop-diva throne. On Oct. 7, three weeks after the release of Carey's hip-hop flavored Butterfly, Jackson's The Velvet Rope hits stores. It would seem Carey has the upper hand: Besides being first out, her last effort, 1995's Daydream, sold 9 million copies; 1993's janet sold 6 million. But Jackson's ambitious Rope, which includes forays into rap and tribal music, will make her a strong competitor. "Janet's album is going to broaden her sonic palette," says Billboard's director of charts, Geoff Mayfield, who predicts the two records will be neck and neck. "It expands her potential" THE LINE: Carey probably still has the edge--Butterfly debuted last week at No. 1--but Jackson will likely prove that the charts aren't a one-woman show.
STRONG response from radio in ALL formats...New at: HOT97, WAKS, KKRZ, B97, WBBO, KBOS, KGOT, KYLZ, WABB, and more....THIS WILL BE HUGE!!! MARK SHANDS, PD, ALLRADIO.COM, Worldwide "What a grabber!" MARCUS D., MD, KBOS, Fresno "Pretty song!" MIKE TIERNEY, PD, KUBE, Seattle "Pulling real strong early phones. No surprise there." JEFF DAVIS, PD, KWNZ, Reno "Getting phones already!" MARK ALLEN, PD, KYLZ, Albuquerque "Great ballad!" MICKEY JOHNSON, PD, WBHJ, Birmingham "I like it. It's a great second single!" JEFF 'HITMAN' DeWITT, PD/MD, KBFM, McAllen-Brownsville "It is an automatic!" CHET BUCHANAN, APD/MD, KBKS, Seattle "Hey, Oprah doesn't do an entire show with some schlep who's not going to ever have any more hits! Mariah looks great, and this is going to be a huge smash!" MR. ED LAMBERT, PD, KHKS, Dallas "Will be huge!" KEN BENSON, PD, KKRZ, Portland "In Rotation and destined to be a smash!" JON ZELLNER, PD, KMXV, Kansas City "Very mass-appeal - sounds like a top 5 record!" JAY MICHAELS, Co-MD, WERZ, Portsmouth "Another Mariah smash!" JEFF MOREAU, MD, WWDE, Norfolk "This will be big! She is a megastar, and was mega-sexy at the New York premiere party for this album!"
Germany 9/16/97 Butterfly #15 DEBUT UK 9/15/97 Butterfly #2 DEBUT, Honey #14 France 9/13/97 Butterfly #6 DEBUT Canada 9/27/97 Butterfly #1 Honey #3 Australia 9/7/97 Honey #12 Italy 9/15/97 Honey #10 Eurochart 9/17/97 Butterfly #5 DEBUT Sweden GLF 9/12/97 Honey #8 DEBUT From Sony: Butterfly is #1 in Japan, Canada, and Holland.
Mariah Carey lounges with Boyz II Men during a celebration of her new album "Butterfly" in the London club Cafe de Paris. (see photo)
Hey, is it just me or is Mariah doing a lot of interviews in beds lately?
When you're channel-surfing this weekend (September 20 and 21), plan on spending some time watching the E! Network. The cable network's "E! News Daily" will be running exclusive footage of the celebrity-dappled Mariah Carey "Butterfly" release party held last Tuesday at Manhattan's Chelsea Piers. The segment includes an interview with Mariah that you won't want to miss.
I saw this and it wasn't that much worth it. The actual interview as incredibly short, and Mariah basically just talks about how her lyrics are more personal on her new album, etc. Stuff most of us knew already. E! showed clips of her appearance at Tower Records, interviewed some girl who was there, showed clips of the release party, and said how Honey was Mariah's 12th #1 single. Mariah was wearing this funky top which showed a whole lot of skin. See the following CNN article for a picture and more details.
Read it online at Entertainment Weekly's site.