Mariah Carey (Basically) Admits to being a Studio Singer

Everybody knows Mariah Carey has a track record of spotty vocals when it comes to taking her material on the road.

Yes, yes, the five-octave singer has had some incredibly stellar live showings in her mammoth career- I'm not disputing that. But for the most part, this is a Diva who has been consistently dogged by accusations of lip-syncing and post production being used to help bring the live vocals up to the level of those she laid down in the studio.

It's because of shenanigans like this that the Diva has often been labelled a "studio singer". And strangely enough, in an interview in 2001, she, in a roundabout way, admitted to there being a degree of merit to this.

Speaking on the process of writing her material, Mimi revealed that her songs are purposely composed in a key "that's too high", to make them more "exciting" and "sound better". That enough is bound to cause problems when trying to recreate them live. But to make things worse, she adds that the studio affords her the comfort to have fun with her vocals. The result: material that even she finds "demanding".

For fans of Mariah, none of this should come as news- we'd always inferred this to be the case. But to hear her admit it outright might give others pause before they go in on her for not always matching up to the studio when it comes time to go live.

Thoughts?