Mariah Carey in Japan
Everybody was in on the action - from the star of the show, to the screaming crowd of 40,000, and yes, even Hello Kitty made an appearance. "THEY almost killed me!" Mariah Carey told Life! after her concert in Osaka last Saturday night.
Don't get her wrong. The American singer wasn't complaining. She loved Osaka, she said, and the Japanese loved her - so much that they all wanted a piece of her when she decided to get up close to her fans. The only problem was, most of them aimed for her chestnut curls.
But who could blame the melange of followers who had gathered at the Osaka Dome on Saturday night? To say that the sassy 30-year-old pop queen is hitting a high note in her career with her current Rainbow world tour would be a gross understatement. Her vocal talent has been called a number of things - high-octave squeal, dog-whistle wonder - but with the tour, which draws from her first release of all-new material since her marriage with Sony head Tommy Mottola broke up, Carey proves that she isn't all pitch.
The material that she showcases in her Rainbow concert documents high points in her career. Much is drawn from her 15 American number ones since her eponymous debutalbum back in 1990, but they also draw from the low points that she has also had in her life, which lends even her old tunes a new feel.
The fans - who came in everything from J-Pop getups to Carey-lookalike costumes - were out in full force. After all, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event to experience the "Mariah Carey Machine", as one fan, Mr Ray Benett, 24, a singer-musician, originally from New York, but who now lives in Kobe, put it.
While the exact number of people who turned up at the Dome was unavailable by press time, the venue seats about 40,000, and the fans showed up in full force, scarves, coats and all (it was 3 deg C on Saturday night) with the single aim of catching Carey at her best. And she certainly delivered.
Backed up by a light-and-sound show that equalled King of Pop Michael Jackson's spectaculars, she first appeared on-stage in a skimpy pink gown that was held together cleverly in front by a thin, transparent nylon string.
Above hundreds of "I love yous" and unconstrained screams, she drove the crowd of mostly non-English speakers - though they all knew her songs by heart - absolutely crazy when the first word she uttered was "konbanwa", followed by "ogendi deska". (Good evening, how are you?).
Throughout the gig, she tried to fit in as many Japanese words as she had managed to pick up in her short day here before the concert. Indeed, she did not even hesitate to call her interpreter, Akiko, up on stage when the word of the moment failed to come to mind.
To add to the Japanese flavour, she had a tray of Japanese eats brought onstage half-way through the show. To shocked yells of "Don't Mariah!", she supposedly packed in a mouthful of wasabi (mustard) which she washed down with a full glass of sake (rice wine).
Even the now-notorious Hello Kitty character had a place in her show, when she appeared on stage in pink bedroom slippers with the mouthless cat plastered on each.
While, at Carey's request, we won't spill too many beans on the details on her concert in Singapore next week, it suffices to say that with her old hits and new - almost all her number ones, with the stark exception of Vision Of Love, seem to have found their way into the tour.
But the one big leap towards the diva-status that she denies holding yet, is that her music finally seems to capture real feelings and her own emotions. A highlight was her rendition of Petals, which is found on her 1999 album, Rainbow. Just listening to the lyrics, which she co-wrote, you can't help but feel the song is her tribute to finally being able to write music that captures the angst of her difficult childhood and roller-coaster romances.
As she sang it on stage, it was hard not to notice the quiver in her lip and the tears in her eyes. Hey, even acting skills couldn't have brought on such an effect. But the rapport that she had with her fans, young and old alike, was one that would have been difficult to fake.
For example, while the whole act of getting a fan or two up on stage seems the regular deal these days, it was not the act but the thrill that she seemed to take in having them there that would have touched even the coldest Carey-sceptic.
She was all smiles when two Japanese girls she brought up from the front row not only had Rainbow T-shirts, but also two little doggie caps, "to remind me of my dog so I won't miss him?" she asked, to which they agreed enthusiastically.
The singer, who will be in Tokyo before she heads for Singapore for her March 13 date, says she is looking forward to her gig in the Republic. But, she adds, flashing her mega-watt smile: "Just don't pull my hair." (The Straits Times)
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