| Saturday 27 November 2010 |
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Get ready for a very Carey Christmas
Whatever you do, don't mention the baby. Indeed, Mariah Carey might have tried to deny it for months, but there's an undeniable baby bump in the room. When I meet the singer in New York, Carey is a few days away from publicly announcing news of her impending parenthood the baby is due in the northern spring but it's obvious to all and sundry that, well, she's eating for two. She said later she had conceived naturally and she and her husband were yet to find out the sex of the baby.
From her mother ("the greatest influence on my life") to Nick Cannon, her husband of 2½ years ("he's given me the confidence to stop worrying, to stop being cautious"), Carey declares that she's "the happiest I've ever been". It wasn't always so. Over the years, the 40-year-old pop superstar has been branded everything from difficult to downright odd, an unapologetic diva, who still has no qualms admitting, "I do what I want."
There has been amazing success (200 million albums sold, second only to the Beatles for US number ones) and a few disappointments (Glitter) along the way, but she remains one of the biggest pop stars in the world she redeemed herself post-Glitter with 2005's The Emancipation of Mimi a bona fide superstar with a five-octave vocal range the world still seems intrigued by.
Carey will tell you she's not a diva, but occasionally her actions suggest otherwise. (For this interview I was kept waiting in a hotel lobby for close to five hours. She finally decided to talk at midnight.) "Look, I'm very regimented and I work let's not get it twisted," she says forcefully when questioned on her reputation.
"I really do go to work and I understand the value of money and I've kind of come full circle in terms of that whole thing. People don't think that what I do is work but it is. I mean, I'm here talking to you at midnight." Indeed, the reason she's talking is to promote her latest album Merry Christmas II You, a collection of Christmas favourites mixed with a handful of new tracks.
This is Carey's second crack at a Christmas album. The first, released in 1994, and featuring All I Want For Christmas Is You, proved one of the singer's biggest successes. "I had one of the greatest musical experiences of my career doing this," she says. "You get to tap into all of those emotions and feelings that you may not necessarily tap into on a regular release."
True, there's no denying Carey has Yuletide joy down pat. The night before, assorted minor celebrities Oprah's BFF Gayle King held court had gathered in a swanky space overlooking Central Park to listen to the album while a slideshow played on repeat.
Think Mariah and Nick in Santa outfits, Mariah and puppies wearing Christmas collars, Mariah and friends snow sledding. "I love Christmas, it's my favourite holiday," says Carey. "I'm very festive, I plan Christmas really far in advance and I get to be around all of my family, which is pretty rare."
Indeed, for the album, she roped in her mother, Patricia, an opera singer, to join her on a spine-tingling rendition of Oh Come All Ye Faithful. Carey says singing with her mother is one of her proudest moments: "I think it's nice because everybody gets to hear her," says Carey. "She's properly trained, she knows how to protect the voice, how to breathe. I take liberties, I go with the flow, I don't like being restricted or regimented."
But this flexibility has meant Carey is comfortable singing with everyone from Jay-Z to Luciano Pavarotti to Olivia Newton John ("a highlight"). Even as a child she knew that she would be a singer. "There was never a moment," she says, "when I didn't think it would happen. I think it's about loving music and about the choices you make - good or bad. Even if it's an acting project, you make your choice, it may be a mistake, but you live with it and you deal with it. It's all about exploring and I put everything of myself into everything that I do because my work is what's going to be here long after I'm gone."
Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas II You is out now. (Herald Sun)
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