There has been much- well some- buzz about the return of Mariah Carey, after the singer made a startling revelation in an interview that her pipes had become stronger because of her pregnancy. [Watch the interview below]
Well, she said it so it must be true, right? So, I got to thinking: what could possibly be the reason for pregnancy improving a person's voice? Here are the two, pretty far-fetched, possibilities I came up with before I got distracted by the paint drying on the wall.
First: The positive changes to her voice may have been because Mariah had stopped guzzling the alcohol we all know she loves while pregnant- remember her hilarious drunken acceptance speech at the Palms Springs International Film Festival [Link]. Any singer will tell you that a hydrated voice produces the best sound, and as alcohol dehydrates the voice it's usually a no no for singers. Thus, perhaps taking a protracted break from consuming it allowed her chords time to rehydrate and heal thereby improving the sound they produce.
Second: The improvements could have been because of the effects of the hormonal changes induced by pregnancy. May sound crazy, but Whitney Houston said in an interview with Oprah, that at that special time of the month for our female friends, her voice could lower as much as an "octave or two" due to hormonal changes [link]. So, stretching this logic- perhaps waaay past breaking point- maybe being under the influence of 9 months worth of hormonal fluctuations led to a positive change in not only the chords but the other parts of the body that aid singing too...Note again my use of "far-fetched" in the intro.
But what does her voice sound like now?
Yesterday we got to hear for ourselves if the claim was true, as a post "Dem Babies" Mariah Carey performed, via futuristic holographic means, simultaneously to various destinations in Europe for T-Mobile. I'll insert the video here, before giving my opinion, so you guys can watch it first.
To the voice now. Those who believed Mariah's "strengthened voice" statement, prepare to be disappointed. This was text book Mimi: lots of pre-recorded vocals. I think there was one fully live song, in the form of fan favourite Hero, but her hammy movements even made me question that. Still, I'll chose to believe it was "live" because why would Mariah chose to lip-synch to the modified-to-make-it-easier-to-sing, Mimi "you and you and you and you and you" rendition instead of the soaring Mariah Carey version.
All joking aside, I could hear some minor improvement to the voice -assuming this was live- but nothing that warranted the bold claim of "pregnancy made my voice stronger". The texture has become a little fuller, a littler stronger, and a tad heavier, but her endurance is just as weak as it was pre-pregnancy. I honestly think she could improve her voice tremendously, and it's live reputation, if she just built on it's stamina.
However, if this was all lip-synced, as some on Youtube are claiming, then we'll just have to wait for the next, real "live" performance to verify her bold claim..
Update 20th November: Tom Joyner, on his Morning Show, asked Mariah the question posed in the post title and she answered in the negative:
Tom Joyner: So did the pregnancy strengthen your voice?Source: MariahDaily
Mariah Carey: I think it did but this morning it sounds like it didn't!