THE REAL MARIAH

She has a deep voice and she is starting to direct videos for alternative
bands. Can this really be Mariah Carey, the 26 year old the biggest-selling
female artist of the '90s. Her current album, Daydream has sold 17 million
copies worldwide and went platinum not just once, but FIVE times in australia
alone. right now, mariah's in pre-production of her next album, her
seventh, which will be recorded early next year - and the word is she may be
coming to australia on tour when the album's released. but today, we're
talking about her marriage, a few truths about the price of fame, clearing
up a few rumours and trying to find out more about the real mariah.


So what's this about a deep voice? mariah has a deep voice today because she
has been out late at night in a smoky club "i am very hoarse because i went
out last night to a place where i threw a little party for my crew," she giggle.

How do u take care of your voice?

number one is not talking before the show, which, doing press and interviews
you have to do. number 2, sleeping as much as i can, which with the time
changes between countries is hard. number 3. i sometimes take steam for my
voice. number 4, i drink tea with honey and lemon.

is it true you are starting your own record label up?

yes. i think it is going to help me in terms of control over my own stuff.
it's also going to be a lot of fun ot work with new artists. i always find
myself meeting really talented people and a lot of them dont have a record deal

your husband tommy signed u to sony records. what is it like working with him?

i have learned a lot from him, and other artist who have worked with him
will tellu that he is very creative and that he understands music as well.
he has great ideas and they can be helpful.

If u asked and advice columnist about marrying a guy 20 years older than
you, they would advise against it. what do u think?

i think that it's all about who u are inside. sometimes things like that
make a difference and sometimes they dont.we have so many other things in
common that it overrides the age gap.

You share your 12 million dollar house not just with tommy nbut, it's been
reported, a whole lot of animals.

What? that's one of the many stories made up about me. yeah, i have six
llamas,28 chickens...i'm kidding. i have a cat called clarence. he's very
old now but he is my lifelong friend. i have a cat named puffy, a jack
russell called jack who has been in a lot of my videos and he swims and he
dives, he goes underwater. and there's ginger, the yorkshire terrier who was
in the Boys 11 men video one sweet day. i have two doberman pincshers,
princess and duke. duke is wild and everybody wants me to get rid of him but
i can't part with him because i'm the only one who understands him. he hates
everybody else!


this image of you doesn't fit with a quote that recently appeared on your
internet website page. you supposedly said, "when i see starving kids all
over the world, i cry. i'd love to be skinny like that , but not with all
those flies dnd death and stuff"

that was absolutely untrue. somebody on that internet went on under a fake
name and jsut sat down and decided to completely make up an interview. i
guess magazines picked it up and treated it as though it were real with
reeal quotes. what was said was horrible and if anybody ever thought i'd even
remotely think about saying anything like that, then they are very wrong.

how does it make u feel when people do that?

i think it was very irresponsible of magazines not to check. they should
havecalled the publicist and said, "did she say this disgusting thing"
people can write things completely different to how i say. it was 100 % made
up. I'd like to find the person who said it but... it's tough

what do u think of all the internet pages devoted to you?

I'm really behind in the computer age, i just haven't got into it because
that side of my  brain is not the strongest one.  so i don't really see all
that stuff but friends of mine tell me about it. of course, i am always
grateful to fans who are there. i make sure that every special letter posted
to me is saved for me.

On your tour u wore a ball gown on stage. how often do u get to wear an
outfit like that and do u and Tommy get to lead a glamorous life?

for the past year in videos, all i've been in basically is jeans and shorts
and people were saying, "she never changes what she wears!" you do one thing
and then u come out in a ball gown and people say "it's so over the top."
but it's fun to change and it gives a break to my voice for a minute because
that hour and a half of singing  at that height is hard. it's fun to dress
up - i dont get a chance to wear a ball gown very much. i'll have to pull
them out and put them on at home and pretend i'm somewhere else!

You do a lot of charity work. can u tell us what the camp mariah project is
about?

i work with an organisation called the fresh air fund and they take
under-privileged kids from inner cities who have basically only negative
influences around them, likedrug dealers adn a lot of criminals. the fresh
air fund takes kids out to these different camps that are free or perhaps
the kids will stay with ahost families where they can see a more positive
environment.

what does the project mean to you?

i think it's critical for kids like these, who would otherwise only see bad
things in their lives, to break that cycle . this particular camp is a
career awareness camp. people teach them about working in record companies
or management, production engineering, whatever.

Do u enjoy being famous?

i have had some bad times. i dont like the overall sense of helplessness and
vulnerability that comes with doing this. it's a strange feeling to sit in a
room full of people and talk about yourself and field questions never
knowing what people are going to say because i'm just a normal person. i dont always have
the right answere. the up-side is that this is always what i wanted to do
and i'm doing it. i dont feel sorry  for myself. it's just like anybody
else: "i'm sure everybody has good days and bad days, things that are great
about what they do adn things that they probably hate.

how much have u enjoyed working with other artists?

it's been a lot of fun because i have made some great friends. i was talking
to Boyz II men this morning and we are going to write together again.

do you intend to carry on directing your own videos?

yeah, and i have directed a video for an alternative group. i have never
talked about this before. they are a group who people probably dont know so
i wont mention their name, but people would be surprised if they found out!
that is all i'll say about that one. it proves people still dont know the
real me and i like that.