Mariah, bruised and hurting
Mariah Carey soldiered on and last night, and shouldered on. She kept her promise and sang - very much live and in great voice - at a Major League Baseball event that raised money for survivors of Hurricane Sandy. Mariah brought her back up singers and sang with the New York Philharmonic led by Alan Gilbert.
This was no small feat. She has a painful dislocated shoulder in a sling, and it is extremely bruised. She covered it up her sling with three ingenious get ups that were put together by her old friend designer Wilfredo Rosado. One we called the Bling Sling, white and dotted with Swarovski crystals. Then she covered that one up with a white goose feathers. And a third was a ripped up black Gucci jacket.
On top of this, Mariah came and went from the stage on a elevator platform, so that she emerged and then disappeared as if through a trap door. Again, she has nerve damage in her right arm. And when we saw the actual purple bruise on her arm backstage, there was audible gasping. So let's say tonight E did equal MC squared. The fact that she came, dressed, and sang the hell of out of four songs was pretty cool.
And you could hear her singing live - live - clear across Central Park. She sang "My All" and "Looking In" in the first half. (She got a little teary verklempt during the latter and paused briefly.) She returned to do a bit of "#Beautiful" and then banged out "Hero" with a gospel choir. Her voice was extremely strong and very much in good shape. Jackie Robinson's widow, the famed Rachel Robinson, was sitting in the front row and grinning from ear to ear.
Backstage Mariah chatted with her mom and played with her two kids, Roc and Mo, the twin boy and girl who were really unbelievably cute. The little girl is a doll, and does a hysterical imitation of Mariah that includes Mariah's hand gestures. Roc is a mini Nick Cannon, with a high forehead, a forest of hair that stands right up and he's a bundle of energy.
An orthopedic doctor was backstage doing some therapy with Mariah on her arm when I made a brief pass through. "Did you ever see anything like this?" she said, all the while playing with the kids. PS Mariah says work is continuing on her album, which was delayed but, she assured me, is coming. "I can't wait for you to hear it." Randy Jackson was a guest star tonight on guitar, and he's in town helping Mariah put on the finishing touches. (Showbiz411)
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