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About MC1989 from Spain: I love music. From soul to pop. Mariah is my passion.

Vanishing live in Sydney (Butterfly Tour) (102,412) by MC1989 from Spain

I cried listening to this. Here's the one and only Mariah Carey. Se need this on The Rarities 2. Happy Anniversary.

(Tuesday 28 March 2023; 01:52)

"My All" (Sydney 1998) (102,411) by MC1989 from Spain

Literally amazing. Her tone is unmatchable.
(Tuesday 28 March 2023; 01:49)


this is a reply to message		102,407

Whoopi Goldberg mocks Mariah (101,896) by MC1989 from Spain

Amen.

By the way, now that you said that these days every artist wants to have a Christmas album and be as great as hers, I've just watched Kelly Clarkson's performance of "Santa Can you Hear Me" and am I the only one who clearly sees it's a copy of AIWFCIY? She has a phenomenal voice and she seems to be a very nice person, I have nothing against her. But the melody of the song, the bridge and the whole vibe is so AIWFCIY that it bothers me that only a few artists nowadays admit they are inspired by Mariah or have the guts to credit her because she's not trendy anymore. I think something happened between Kelly and Mariah because a few years ago she kept referencing Mariah a lot and she even seemed to be a "lamb" and in the last years, when she talks about her biggest inspirations she names Whitney and others but no reference to Mariah. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they choosed Jennifer Hudson instead of her to do Oh Santa. I remember that back then there was a strong rumour that the song was going to feature Ariana and Kelly. I don't know. Maybe there's nothing wrong between them and it's just me supposing things.
(Sunday 18 December 2022; 23:17)


this is a reply to message		101,894

Whoopi Goldberg mocks Mariah (101,892) by MC1989 from Spain

So Darlene Love went to The View and after her performance they coronated her as The Queen Of Christmas and they talked about Mariah without mentioning her. I didn't like Darlene's attitude, especially since she came to terms with Mariah, and they both praised each other on Twitter a few days ago, and Darlene even proposed to Mariah if they could record the song in a diet for 2023. Mariah was very sweet to her, talking about how her rendition of Christmas Baby Please Come Home was an homage to Darlene's version of the song. And I also notice that Whoopi was kinda laughing at Mariah, and it's not the first time she does it. Here's the full video.
(Sunday 18 December 2022; 16:07)

MSG final night (101,891) by MC1989 from Spain

Thanks for sharing that. Happy Holidays too.
(Sunday 18 December 2022; 11:41)


this is a reply to message		101,884

Why is everyone surprised? (101,857) by MC1989 from Spain

Hi, first I want to say that I usually agree with your thoughts and I respect your point of view. But I don't agree with the part of "Mariah always sound this bad". I've been a huge fan since the late 90's and I saw her in concert too, and although she's been using smoke and mirrors for decades now to camouflage her vocal deterioration, she's capable of singing live very good. I think she still has a good voice, but it' s a very fragile instrument. Until this year. She never sounded as bad as in this MSG performance. She was clearly sick and that's not an excuse. There are a few videos from different angles where you can see she doesn't even remembers that the track comes in, like in the Emotions intro - which by the way is very mediocre considering it's prerecorded. Some concert goers said people booed before the concert started because she was more than an hour and 40 minutes late. That is unacceptable.

I've never seen her singing out of tune through the whole, and I mean the whole song. She could barely hit a note. All of the videos from this concert are embarrassingly sad. They remind me of Amy and Whitney's last performances. Again, I hope she will recover, maybe she got the flu or whatever, but at this point I think she really needs to stop performing and consider vocal surgery and vocal therapy. I can't excuse this.

But from the clips I saw of her cover of "Christmas Wrapping", she will probably do a pop-rock album. I like the idea but not the girlie sexy kinda pop rock at 53. I think she's going to put out the Someone's Ugly Daughter project with her new vocals, and that would be a mistake I think. It would be better to put out the original album, with the 1995 vocals. She can promote it if she wants to, with some interviews, but really stop performing. Adele and many others had to stop singing for more than a year and have had vocal surgery. But Mariah is older now, and I think she will play the game of pretending to be a great vocalist without addressing any problem, always smiling and looking like an ageless doll, portrait of her life.

Many of us all we want is to know what happened as you said, we want her to stop the live venues before it's too late. Before another bad moment goes viral and ruins her reputation which is not exactly good. The general press is always attacking her and they rarely talk about her triumphs, her recent awards etc. She certainly regained some confident and got back some love from the general public. She gave as a great album in 2018 and a great collection of rarities which proved her legendary status. When she addressed her bipolar disorder many empathized with her struggle and same happened after her memoir. And the celebrations for her 30 years in music and AIWFCIY becoming number one these last years seemed like the general public loved her back again. But many people haven't forgotten about Rockefeller, Mariah's World and the NYE disaster, and too many people perceive her as a diva in the bad sense of the word. If she was honest about her vocal problems it would make her more relatable. Look at Celine, and she never sang this bad.

She can retire happy because she gave us more than 3 decades of amazing music and she inspired generations. But at this point, I wish she would retire from singing. Write another memoir, write songs or a book of poems like Lana Del Rey. I want her to be involved with music and arts in general because she is super talented, but there's no need to disappoint concert goers or to struggle while singing if she can't sing her classics anymore. No need to be all over the media again for a bad reason. Retire with dignity, like Kate Bush, Tina Turner and many others. She will always be our favorite, but not if she continues downhill like this.
(Friday 16 December 2022; 17:10)


this is a reply to message		101,852

Supreme songbird (101,846) by MC1989 from Spain

Well, I don't know that Joseph Khan, but if I agree with him. "No one like Mariah", no one could go and do Christmas Baby Please Come Home like this and make you feel like her vocal chords are bleeding. These people don't really love her. Someone who loves her would tell her to go to a doctor as soon as possible. I'm afraid Mariah is going to need a lot of cortisone for her last MSG show.
(Friday 16 December 2022; 09:26)


this is a reply to message		101,830

Hero live MSG 2022 (101,845) by MC1989 from Spain

So this may be her worst performance of her career. It's supposed to be aired on TV in a week. It doesn't matter how they end up editing it, people were there and the videos are all over the Internet.
(Friday 16 December 2022; 08:54)

Supreme songbird (101,836) by MC1989 from Spain

Sad, but true. I've never seen her struggling like this before. She used to struggle with high belted notes and hard climaxes like many singers do. But since this year's Saudi Arabia performance I really started to worry. Even in her recent tours in 2018, 2019 and 2020 where the raspy parts were there, and she would sing many flat notes, she was still capable of doing a very decent show. But this really hurts. I know she's doing what she can with what she has right now. But again, though I love her, I can't help feeling a little angry and sad for her. There are no excuses. She doesn't work 8 hours as we do. She has a team of well paid people doing whatever she wants her to do for her. She has problems and probably mental issues as most people have, but the difference is that she's a millionaire and she can afford the best doctors, the best vocal coaches, and relearn how to use what's left in her beautiful instrument. She's singing worst than ever, looking more nervous and insecure than ever - but disguised with barbie outfits and allegedly glamorous outfits, lots of dancers, etc- and yet exposing herself more than ever. The Mariah I fell in love with was a perfeccionist. She stopped singing Emotions, Vision Of Love, Make It Happen etc during many years because they were so demanding and so hard to sing. She would sing other songs and though she started struggling after 1997, her agility was insane, her riffs and runs and her musicality were there until not too long ago. But now it feels like she doesn't care, she stands there and sings her hardest songs that she would avoid singing even in her prime, like O Holy Night, Emotions, Fantasy, My All etc and she does it at the worst vocal state. And she knows she's struggling. What she may not be thinking is that singing in higher keys than her range is damaging even more her voice. I can't help imagining Celine, Barbra, Beyoncé, Gaga, Patti Labelle, all partners and great live performers, watching these videos and thinking, wow, she really has lost her voice and she's lipping too much. Considering Mariah doesn't dance, she just walks through the stage and does some girly poses here and there and nervously moves her hand all the time, why do a live concert if the voice is not there? She can cancel. She can say no before going on tour. But I guess the money nowadays is more important for her than what it used to be, even though she's ruining her reputation as a great voice. Which I believe she can still get back if she works hard and regain a part of what she lost.

I don't want her to be perfect, nobody is. I don't even want her to sound perfect as she used to in the first decade of her career. I like in fact her vulnerability as a human being. Her mistakes. Her sense of humor many times. I want her to be honest with herself and her fans. What Celine did last week is an example of honesty as an artist.
(Thursday 15 December 2022; 00:43)


this is a reply to message		101,834

MSG show (101,829) by MC1989 from Spain

I hope they have good editors because it was her worst vocal day. I hope she gets medical attention soon. Address the problem to her close circle and go to a specialist. But her close circle would only say yass queen. You did amazing and you sound amazing. How is she going to stop if anyone around her wants to milk her? She even admitted that in the past she felt like an ATM with a wig on. Funny she doesn't see it's still happening. If I were her boyfriend I would tell her, darling, I love you and I want you to succeed, and because I love you I want to tell you the truth of what I hear, you still have a great voice, but you're struggling while singing. Go see this doctor or this therapist or whoever. Touring with this vocal condition is not a good idea. She's really struggling while singing. The hand movements while singing, that in the past felt organic or natural, now are an obvious symptom of feeling nervous, insecure and pretending to seem she's singing live when we all know she's lipping those damn parts. And the lipping it's not good. So my wish is to stop the exposure. Sometimes I think that until she reads really bad press commenting on her vocal deterioration she won't stop. Watching these performances I feel like another NYE disaster is about to happen anytime anywhere. I remember when fans walked away from a Whitney concert during her last tour. I don't want that to happen. But she needs to work hard on her technique, sing more often, rehearse over and over again and stop forcing her instrument like that.
(Wednesday 14 December 2022; 17:52)


this is a reply to message		101,827

Nodules and whistles (101,791) by MC1989 from Spain

Sorry, I said 2020. I meant 2018 in Madrid lol.
(Monday 12 December 2022; 16:05)


this is a reply to message		101,788

Nodules and whistles (101,788) by MC1989 from Spain

Whistles used to be an ornament in her songs, an extra or a plus to her huge voice range and singing abilities. Nowadays the narrative of "I don't remove my nodules because thanks to them I can hit whistle notes" is absurd. But then again, it' s Maria's choice, and I can even understand the fear of going under that kind of surgery. But right now, in these recent years, the whole range has been affected by the nodules, the lack of training and rehearsing, the bad habits and of course age. She even admitted that she doesn't train her voice before concerts during her Masterclass. She said she does a few vocal scales to see if the whistles and the low notes are there and goes singing. That's not that your instrument has become weak due to age or whatever, it's a personal choice of not wanting to warm up and really train on a regular basis. No vocal resting will change that. But hey, Mariah can whistle. Flat whistles that most of the times sound more like high weak screams than whistles. Between the lipped parts she keeps doing these little whistle screams to try to prove that although she lipped, she can hit some similar sound, if we can consider a shout a note.

I'm here because I'm a fan. I'm always hoping to see if she gets better and if she can surprise me. I loved her memoir, The Rarities, some of her recent interviews, because I love Mariah. I spent more money on her than in any other artist I admire. I want her to succeed and to reach number one and I want people to appreciate her legendary catalogue apart from AIWFCIY. But lately I feel a little sad when I see her performing. I don't like people including me, talking about how bad this or that performance was. So why keep the exposure that much? If she can't sing good an entire song without any lipped part, lipped whistles etc, then stop performing, stop singing impossible songs for her current voice.

Mariah can fool a non fan or a recent fan, but she certainly cannot fool fans like me who have been following her for more than 2 decades and have watched every single performance she has done since 1990. I can recognize immediately when she's lipping. And I had come to a point where I didn't mind she was using prerecorded tracks in some parts of certain songs if the rest of the vocal performance was really good. But this year's performances are really mediocres. Nowadays it's so evident when the lipped part comes in, that she can be happy that the thousands of people who pay the astronomic prices for her shows can think those parts are not lipped, and that they can't hear the differences between her 2022 voice and the 1994 voice for instance in Hark The Herald Angels Sing, where the alternation of those 2 different tones is pure cringe for someone who has a good ear.

By the way I've also noticed that her lip synching has become a little more convincing to the general audience because in the recent years she's been using fillers in her face, and though she looks beautiful I also notice a lack of expression in her face. In the past her face muscles revealed very clearly when she was singing live and when not.

I saw her in Madrid in 2020 and even though she lipped the same parts - because basically it's the same show with a few changes - the show was good and her voice sounded strong and beautiful. But 2022 is one of her worst vocal moments from what I've seen this far. Again, I hope she gets better. I will support her upcoming movie or series about her life, I would also love to hear her 1995 version of Someone's Ugly Daughter and her upcoming projects. But I would like her to stop giving these bad performances.
(Monday 12 December 2022; 14:23)

Toronto shows (101,787) by MC1989 from Spain

Amen. My point is that Mariah still has a beautiful tone and can sing in a low and medium register. But the problem is that she lost so much voice that she can't handle her songs from 20 or 30 years ago. She even lips the few verses she sings in Big Energy which aren't difficult. She should abandon those old songs. They will always be classics. No need to be struggling singing them and giving us cringy playbacks. She should only sing songs she can perform 100% live. By the way the beautiful duet with Monroe is prerecorded, so it's cringy to watch a kid doing playback with her mom in the middle of a "live show". If we think for a moment, there's not a single song in her concert that she does 100% live. Not a single one. Not even the few verses and first chorus of Miss You Most which also has some prerecorded parts. There are a few good vocal moments here and there during the show but that's it. I love her forever and I will support her albums and stuff in general but she's not a good live performer anymore, until she proves us wrong.
(Monday 12 December 2022; 13:16)


this is a reply to message		101,782

"Emotions" in "The Crown" (101,621) by MC1989 from Spain

Emotions is plaid on the first episode of the new season of The Crown. This is great, to see her legacy being used in popular series like it happened with "Love Takes Time" and "AYNAF" in Pose.
(Thursday 10 November 2022; 09:14)

One Child rehearsal (101,604) by MC1989 from Spain

I just saw the clip from Mariah's rehearsal of "One Child" live in Washington in 2010. Wow. This was one of the last times Mariah went for really powerful high belted notes live. What a a treasure she is.
(Monday 7 November 2022; 19:18)

Alternative playlist (no #1's or #2's) edition (101,565) by MC1989 from Spain

I would go with more uptempo songs, with some exceptions.

Here We Go Around Again
Make It Happen
Dreamlover Def Club Mix Radio Edit
Daydream Interlude
Slipping Away
Always Be My Baby Def Classic Radio Version
Just Be Good To Me
Honey Def Club Mix
Breakdown
All I Want For Christmas Is You (00 version)
Loverboy Firecracker Version
Didn't Mean To Turn You On
All My Life
Want You
I Know What You Want
It's Like That
Stay The Night
Cool On You
Obsessed
H. A. T. E. U Remix
Unforgettable (with French Montana)
GTFO
With You
Caution
A No No
Giving Me Life
Oh Santa (Fear. Ariana Grande & Jennifer Hudson)
Fall In Love At Christmas Time Arlo Remix
(Friday 28 October 2022; 01:47)


this is a reply to message		101,564

Funko Pop (101,550) by MC1989 from Spain

I didn't like the first Merry Christmas Funko figure because it could be any woman dressed in red, it didn't look like Mariah at all. Then I saw that they did another Merry Christmas figure with brown hair and sitting on the snow like in the album cover that looks much better, because they tried to replicate Mariah's intricate coiffure from the Merry Christmas era. The Fantasy figure is very nice, the hair looks very Daydream era and the skates, the knee pads, the posture, the shorts etc. So iconic. I would love to see more figures coming, it would be great if they do a Vision Of Love one, holding a vintage microphone like they did with the Amy Winehouse figure, and the curly hair. Curlyriah lol. Also a Honey one would be great. Mariah has so many iconic looks and videos that they could do a whole collection inspired in MC.
(Wednesday 26 October 2022; 12:47)


this is a reply to message		101,546

Totally against "vocal resting" (101,542) by MC1989 from Spain

Sorry for my bad English, I read my last post and I hope you understood it because it has many mistakes. One thing I forgot to mention is that I'm totally against the "vocal testing" thing. Maybe it works for Mariah, or maybe she thinks that it works for her.
Vocal chords are muscles. If you don't train them on a regular basis they oxidize.

Some people, like Mariah and Whitney, were born with an unique gift. Maybe Mariah thinks it's enough to do some vocal resting before her shows and pray to God and put humidifiers around her. But as any musician, if she wants to stay in the business of selling concert tickets with her voice being the center of attention, she has to practice every week. Practice scales and arpeggios to maintain fluidity and agility. Maybe she has a vocal coach but I think that not a single teacher or vocal coach would recommend to go and sing songs like My All if you sound as uncomfortable and forced as Mariah did in this last concert. And it happens to her many many times.

I'll just share this article I found from St. Olaf Collage that illustrates this point very good: "What about resting the voice when there's a problem, such as vocal nodules? Medical opinion on this has changed over the years; you can search online and find every possible recommendation. In the early days of voice care, when there was a problem with the voice, doctors would often prescribe complete silence for a month or more. That might have worked for people with servants and no children, but it is no longer considered realistic or necessary in most cases. Extended silence can even lead to a fear that the voice will 'break' when speech resumes." Sounds familiar?
(Tuesday 25 October 2022; 16:45)

The future (101,541) by MC1989 from Spain

Mariah still has a powerful rich and beautiful tone, a gifted tone actually. She still sounds very good and on pitch in her low and mid range. But she can't barely belt nowadays. The same happens when she has to reach high notes, the same when she goes for whistelings - most of the times they sound unpleasing, the same when she tries to imitate her old runs and riffs. There are some nice attempts here and there and as I say she still can perform live, but not the way she did in Saudi Arabia. It was painful to watch as a longtime fan. I think that everyone who goes on a stage has to be comfortable in every part of the song. Not trying to go for notes or parts that are out of your range. If you watch her performance of I'll Be There in that concert, she starts so good, but when it comes to the belting parts and the more difficult parts she's unable to reach and sound good.

At this point, someone, if not she, should admit the problem, and readapt each and every song, but not only lowering them. But reinventing them. Invent other turns, other bridges, rearrange those classics if you still want to sing them. Some greatest singers have lost tons of voice, it happened to Elton John in the 80's and many others, but they rearranged and adapted their repertoire to their current abilities. But you know what? That takes some work, hours of thinking, trying with your musicians, rehearsing etc, and first, admitting that you can't sing like you did in the first 2 decades of your career. I guess Mariah is a bit lazy these days, it's easier for her to lay on playbacks and prerecorded climaxes that most of the times are predictable and cringy to watch. At least Celine or others lip synch so well those climaxes that you don't even care. But we all know Mariah lip synchs bad. So why sing a song where she sounds uncomfortable, unpleasant, shouty, off key at times? The thing is that they are always going to compare to her prime. So if she doesn't want to quit the classics from her repertoire, at least she has to sing them live, and decent.

So my point is, if you want to still sing VOL, Hero, Fantasy, My All etc, rearrange those damn songs to a point you are absolute comfortable and where you don't have to depend on how your throte woke up that day. And she should visit a vocal coach, but she's Mariah Carey, you know, she doesn't need to re-learn how to use better her voice. As much as I adore Mariah, her diva ego works against her sometimes.

The other option is leave those songs out. Sing jazz, slow songs that aren't so demanding, like when she sings Lullaby Of Birdland. I want to see her comfortable because she still has a beautiful gifted instrument. But it's a fragile one. And nowadays the bad or mediocre performances are becoming the majority. That's the unnormal. When you're a singer you have bad days, bad performances. But they should be the minority of them if that's what you do for loving. But we all know Mariah doesn't need that for living anymore. So why losing her time on facing the situation and only sing 100% live even if that means to totally change and rearrange her catalogue? Because as someone said, I'm fearing another disaster like NYE or an epic playback with full media coverage.

The third option is retirement from stages and big venues and live concerts. She will be loved forever. She can do music in the studio, publish another memoir, or whatever she wants cause she's a legend like no other.

I hope she gets better for the December shows. I love Mariah and I love many of her recent performances at home, or some during the Caution tour etc. But this Saudi Arabia concert was Mariah at her worst vocally speaking. She's lucky that the media didn't criticize this performance but if that happens on a TV performance or on the Madison Square Garden she will receive a lot of backlash. And what I want, is her to succeed.
(Tuesday 25 October 2022; 16:08)

Saturday Night Live performances (101,366) by MC1989 from Spain

I think that there might be some problems with the copyright of Mariah's performances in SNL. Since she started celebrating her 30 years in the music industry and the whole MC30 surprises where she finally opened the vault and gave us The Rarities, restored videos and TV performances, she didn't upload any of her SNL performances. Now, with Butterfly 25 it's happening the same. It's a pity because all her SNL performances are amazing, some of the best live interpretations she did. Vision of Love in SNL in 1990, If It's Over and Can't Let Go in 1992, My All and Butterfly in SNL in 1997 etc. Instead they uploaded some of the TOTP performances, some of them are great but instead some are lipped, like My All, and that's the one she will put in her YouTube Channel as I see in the Butterfly 25 clip.

(Thursday 29 September 2022; 11:56)

Pitchfork picks "Fantasy Remix feat. O. D. B." (101,357) by MC1989 from Spain

Pitchfork has just named "Fantasy" the greatest song of the 90's.

(Wednesday 28 September 2022; 09:06)

Re: RIP Olivia Newton John (100,940) (100,942) by MC1989 from Spain

It's very sad, yes. She was an icon and I remember being obsessed with Grease as Mariah says. And when Mariah released "Around The World" I watched their duet so many times. Mariah has just written a beautiful and heartfelt text on Instagram. Rip Olivia.
(Tuesday 9 August 2022; 09:17)

Kygo feat. Mariah Carey and OSTs (100,935) by MC1989 from Spain

Am I the only one who would love a new Kygo remix of one of MC's classic songs? "Higher Love" with Whitney became a big hit all over Europe, and the remix of Tina's "What's Love Got To Do With It" wasn't as big as Higher Love but it introduced Tina to a new generation. The same would happen to Mariah. Which song would you like to be remixed in that way?

Now that some of Mariah's songs are being used in soundtracks, like "Love Takes Time" and "Anytime You Need A Friend" in Pose, or "Fantasy" in Free Guy, I hope some of her greatest songs in her catalogue are used for soundtracks in series or movies. Just look at Kate Bush and her worldwide success almost 40 years later with "Running Up That Hill", just for being included in Stranger Things.

I wish the general audience would know Maria's songs other than Hero or AIWFCIY, which seems to be the only one she puts all of her efforts in promoting, and most people only know that song of hers. And also I don't like all the memes of "Mariah Carey is defrosting" when the "ber" months come. It's like Mariah is only being known nowadays for that song.
(Monday 8 August 2022; 10:25)

Re: Bey snubs Mariah (100,919) (100,934) by MC1989 from Spain

Yeah, I realized the big absence of Tina Turner too. But considering she performed with her and paid tribute to her in 2008, it's not as striking as not naming Mariah. Maybe it was Madonna or her team who didn't want Maria's name to be included. Maybe it has nothing to do with that, who knows. I would like a Beyoncé - Mariah collaboration. And I totally agree with your thought about the cultural apropiation of the underground ballroom culture. But it's also good that she is naming all of the legendary houses like "House of Extravaganza", "House of Ninja" etc that appear in the legendary "Paris is Burning" documentary.

By the way as much as I love "Vogue", if you listen to "Deep In Vogue" by Malcom McLaren featuring Willy Ninja, which is prior to Madonna's "Vogue", they sound almost the same. Today they will sue her for plagiarism lol.
(Monday 8 August 2022; 10:08)

Re: Bey snubs Mariah (100,907) (100,912) by MC1989 from Spain

Yeah. I know Beyoncé is entitled to namedrop whoever she considers in her new song, but I feel it's a little unfair that she is paying homage to the most famous razialiced women in music history without naming Mariah Carey. She included some big legendary names like Betty Davis (the funk icon), Rosetta Tharpe, Sade, Whitney, Janet, Anita Baker and a long etcetera. She even names Nicki Minaj and RiRi (Rihanna), which makes Mariah's absence even more striking. Beyoncé once said that "Vision of love" was one of the reasons why she started singing. She also said that Maria's voice comes from God. MC worked with Jay Z long before he became worldwide known in songs like Heartbreaker or You Got Me. Destiny's Child were big fans of Mariah, and you could notice her influence in their way of singing and phrasing, the melismatic singing that Mariah developed as a trademark during the 90's and that later will use Christina Aguilera, Ariana Grande, etc. Maria's influence on the female singers that came after her is undeniable, but few credit her nowadays.
(Saturday 6 August 2022; 13:58)

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