Erm, awkward! I don't know if I even want to get into Mariah Carey's Good Morning America mini-concert. But here goes:
From the moment she stepped onto the stage, you could see that all wasn't well with the usually pristine Carey- I mean, come on, when was the last time you saw her hair looking greasy?? Surviving a wardrobe malfunction, things really went downhill before new single #Beautiful, when Mariah inadvertently swore live on television. The choice of word was an ominous sign of things to come from the impending Miguel duet.
Fans will know moments like these aren't unusual for the singer and actually aren't much of an issue when she's in concert, with her fans and not being recorded. However, the Mariah that gets in front of a camera is a different beast and wants everything to be as perfect as possible- hence the triple pre-taping of her American Idol performance.
I'm not going to lie, I actually loved watching this looser persona up on the GMA stage. But since it's so out of character for her televised recordings, I have to wonder: what happened? I'd like to say she was on the hooch, but considering it was so early in the morning (and I don't want to be sued for libel), I think it was more likely due to a lack of sleep. Admittedly it was funny to watch, but I'm praying this isn't the start of another Glitter-style meltdown.
As for the vocals, I'd say she was actually slaying. Always Be My Baby and We Belong Together weren't perfect, but those imperfections are what showed us this was all live and that she can still sing without playback! Especially impressive was what went on during We Belong Together. I'd always been of the opinion that, other than her BET performance of the song, all other renditions were somewhat lipped as the song jumped an octave. But this performance shut me up with how easily she handled it live and in an early morning/ outdoor setting.
Yep, #Beautiful was a mess. No getting over that. Mariah, you need to stop the whisper-register and stick to your full voice. It only adds to the opinion that your voice is damaged when you're singing in that often-ghostly and frail sounding timbre. The other performances show this is certainly not the case.
In conclusion: get that publicity, baby! Just don't make this a habit!
Always Be My Baby:
We Belong Together:
#Beautiful:
