Can Mariah tune up her career?
Mariah Carey is hoping that a cameo appearance on Ally McBeal and singing the National Anthem at this year's Super Bowl will bring her fans back into the fold after a lousy record, a public breakdown and an ugly break-up with her record label. But first she thinks she has to lose a few pounds.
Sources told The Post the songbird flew straight from the Sundance Film Festival to a spa in Palm Springs, and now has landed at Enchantment Spa, in Sedona, Ariz. Carey, who's with her therapist and her bodyguard, ordered a treadmill for her room and works out on the spa's equipment after hours, when the other guests are in their rooms.
But experts say the star, who appeared with American soldiers in Kosovo in December, still has a long way to go to restore her image. Her downfall began with a wacky appearance on MTV's Total Request Live, a series of bizarre messages to her fans - and then a stint relaxing in the Silver Hill hospital in Connecticut. When she emerged, she took a candlelight bath on MTV Cribs and showed viewers her closet full of Victoria Secret-ish lingerie while wearing a teddy.
This week, she was officially dumped from EMI, being paid $28 million in severance, in addition to the $21 million she got when she signed her $80 million, five-album contract last April. Sure, the Super Bowl appearance will do her well, but what else can she do to restore her shine? Here's what some music and fashion insiders think:
* Dress with dignity - more like an adult, not a teenage tart.
* Sing ballads for an older audience; forget the younger one.
* Take a year to rest up.
* Forget MTV Cribs and skip all those garish TV appearances.
"She needs to get her mind straight first," said Monty Frazier, a makeover magnate to the stars who thinks Mariah still has what it takes to rise again. "Her handlers need to let her heal, they can't push her until she's useless." Even though appearances on the Super Bowl and with the troops will help keep the diva in the limelight, insiders think a year off will do her better than anything else. Then she can go on Barbara Walters, and have a big comeback.
"She's still a household name, in some ways more than ever," said Spin editor Alan Light. "She needs real management." Many in the music biz also think Mariah needs to play to an adult audience, to whom she can sing her ballads with her wide-ranging voice. "She needs to tone it down a little, not be a totally new person," says Light. "I'd make her a little more grown-up, make it a little bit more about prestige, rather then put her in disco shorts on a drag strip."
Many in the music biz think the public is with Mariah, and it won't take much effort for her to recover from the disastrous movie and album Glitter or her public breakdowns. "You don't tangle with Mariah," said Jennifer Eliscu, who writes about Carey for Rolling Stone. "She's got public sympathy on her side. This is one of the biggest-selling pop stars ever. She's just had one failure, and it wasn't even a proper album, but a soundtrack album, not a properly marketed record." Most folks want Mariah just to be herself, to sing like herself, not try to be like anyone else. (Fox News)
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