Mariah Carey may be the Elusive Chanteuse, but when she's not available, you can book impersonator Laura Pasqualoni... assuming you can afford her near-Mariah-level fees. The 41-year-old from Connecticut gets as much as $70,000 per appearance, per Daily Mail. "I am very lucky that my career as a lookalike has been so successful and profitable. I get to travel all over the world, and I have been known to make quite large sums when I've been hired for certain jobs."
Unsurprisingly, Laura is busiest around the holidays, since everyone wants her to belt out Mariah's yuletide hits like "All I Want For Christmas Is You". (Spoiler alert: She lip-syncs to the tunes.) "Appearing as Mariah brings a lot of joy and smiles to guests over the festive season, so I like to perform for free for good causes, too."
Producers for The Ricki Lake Show discovered Laura in 1996, when she was still working reception at a car dealership. Not long after, she went Mariah full-time. Laura isn't a carbon copy of the Grammy winner, though, and admits it takes her hours to prepare for each gig. One TV show offered her free plastic surgery to permanently transform into Mariah, but she turned it down.
And, as you might imagine, Laura has stories to share from her two decades impersonating the singer, like a memorable run-in with a promoter of an unknown Toronto rapper named Drake. "He thought I was Mariah Carey, and he begged me to listen to Drake's CD! I did send the CD to the actual Mariah, though. I just don't know if she ever got it!"
We hope Mariah thinks imitation is the highest form of flattery.
(Wetpaint)
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