--Mariah is one of the featured "Summer Music 2005: Swimsuit Singers" at AOL Music. Click here to view a photo of a bikini-clad Mariah as she runs down the beach with her dog Jack.

--Last night's Access Hollywood featured Mariah in a tiny segment called "Top 25 Celebrity Slip-Ups" and it talked about her breakdown, her alleged striptease on TRL and her hospitalization. Then, it mentioned "We Belong Together" and how it put Mariah back on top of the charts.

--Damizza was on Lambs Radio earlier tonight and talked briefly about Mariah. He said that the last time he talked to Mariah was before she went to perform at Live 8 and that Mariah is one of the artists he loves to work with. To find out more about Damizza's goings-on, visit his MySpace.

--Jane Pratt, founder and editor-in-chief of the lifestyle magazine, Jane replies to queries from readers on the selection of Paris Hilton as the cover girl of the magazine's July 2005 issue, "First we were all set for Mariah Carey (best-selling album, a classier image now but still a hint of scandal, she'd sell well). We were picking a photographer and a date for the shoot when we got a call saying Mariah is looking for a different image and had decided to go with the September cover of one of our competitors. All-righty, then."

--Female First UK reports, "Mariah Carey had to be carried around the set of her new video "Shake It Off" because she couldn't walk in the high-heeled shoes she chose for the shoot."

"People In The News" profiles Mariah Carey in a special interview with Paula Zahn which aired Saturday, July 30th at 5:00pm ET on CNN.

Synopsis: If ever an artist owned the 90s, it was Mariah Carey. Billboard named her the Artist of the Decade but after slumping sales, tumultuous relationship and personal lows, Mariah had a very public breakdown. Well now, she's back on top. Her new album, The Emancipation of Mimi has become a blockbuster, announcing the return of one of music's most overwhelming vocal talents. Paula Zahn sat down with Mariah for a rare and candid interview about her music, her marriage, and her comeback.

Click on the links below to download a video file (in six parts) of this exclusive interview.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six

Note: This interview is the same one aired last April 29, 2005 but with added footage.


Vote for Mariah in a poll that "People In The News" is conducting, "Who is your favorite pop diva?" Mariah is currently in 2nd place with 26% of total votes, behind Whitney Houston's 50%.

Mariah Carey - Shake it Off - [7.0]

Ian Mathers: Aside from the bizarre way her verse briefly emulate R Kelly, this is top quality. Mariah has gotten better at actually conveying emotion with her voice as she’s scaled back the fireworks, and Mr. The Click Five (among others) could take notes at how Carey preserves her self-respect by not allowing someone to treat her like dirt. Those massed Mariah backing vocals are great, and so is the insistent backing piano. All that and a shout-out to Calgon! [8]

Anthony Miccio: Usher is back!!! Oh wait, it's a woman. Anybody else find Jermaine Dupri's vocal interruptions seriously ironic? Shake him off the mixer. [5]

Matt Chesnut: The chorus has so much air-escaping-from-a-balloon breath on it. It’s a good thing. [7]

Alfred Soto: Another welcome example of how nervous breakdowns can do wonders for your sanity. Visions of love don't suit this hussy: let's remember that Mariah's most convincing persona was as Mrs. Tommy Mottola, kicking up sea spray over the lacquered beats of "Honey" and giving Ol' Dirty Bastard a case of the giggles on "Fantasy." An even better mockingbird now than she was gunning for Whitney's throne, Mariah apes Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody" and Ready For The World's "Love You Down" in a quest for a guy who can give her love like the kind she gives her Louis Vuitton purse. What she does with the Calgon is between her and her therapist. [7]

Andrew Unterberger: So glad to know for certain that “It’s Like That” was a total red herring—first “We Belong Together,” and now this breathy wonder. She’s still the best vocalist in the world, and we’ll likely never see her equal. It’s good to see her back on top again. [8]

--According to RateTheMusic.com raters, "Shake It Off" is #1 on the Top 40/Rhythmic Hits and Hip-Hop/Rhythmic lists.

"Shake It Off" also climbs to #60 on iTunes' Top 100 songs in only two days! It currently has 49.543 million impressions on Mediabase and 6,272 spins.

--On Thursday, July 28th, Rihanna was a guest on Regis & Kelly and Regis' wife Joy talked to her after her performance:

Joy: "Do you dance also, as well as you sing?"

Rihanna: "It's part of my culture so I grew up dancing all the time. And then talent - I just started singing. Inspired by Beyonce, people like Mariah Carey, Whitney Huston."

Regis: "Got a lot of good role models out there these days."

--From Virgin: Two of Britain's biggest new bands, Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs are set to team up for a bizarre cover version of a Mariah Carey song.

The bands are planning to get together to record a festive version of the diva's 1994 hit 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'.

Nick Baines from Kaiser Chiefs told The Sun: "We talked about doing a festive single with Bloc Party, like a sort of limited-edition cover."

Please take a few moments to vote for Mariah on MTV's Viewer's Choice Video Dome Battle.

On today's battle, Mariah's "We Belong Together" is facing Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone".

If Mariah wins the battle, she will be joining Green Day and Snoop Dogg as one of the nominees for the "Viewer's Choice Award" on the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards.

Click here to vote for Mariah.

Make sure to vote as many times as you can!
Lets all vote and get Mariah her first MTV Viewer's Choice nomination!

Important note: Voting ends on Saturday, 9:00 am EST / 6:00 am PST.

International fans, the voting ends on Saturday, 2:00 pm GMT / 3:00 pm CET so be sure to vote on Saturday when it's night time in the US!

Here are Mariah's Billboard chart positions for the magazine's issue date August 6, 2005.

The Emancipation of Mimi 3
Billboard 200: #2 (Last Week #5)
Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: #6 (Last Week #4)

We Belong Together
Billboard Hot 100: #1 (Last Week #1)
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay: #1 (Last Week #1)
Billboard Pop 100 Airplay: #1 (Last Week #1)
Billboard Pop 100: #2 (Last Week #1)
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #1 (Last Week #1)
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay: #1 (Last Week #1)
Billboard Adult Contemporary: #14 (Last Week #16)
Billboard Adult Top40: #20 (Last Week #24)
Billboard Rhythmic Top 40: #1 (Last Week #1)
Billboard Top 40 Mainstream: #1 (Last Week #1)
Billboard Hot Digital Tracks: #11 (Last Week #11)
Billboard Hot Digital Songs: #11 (Last Week #8)
Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #1 (Last Week #4)
Billboard Dance Radio Airplay: #3 (Last Week #5)
Billboard Hot Ringtones: #1 (Last Week #4)
Billboard Tropical Tracks: #34 (Last Week #38)
Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales: #10 (Last Week #29)
Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales: #19 (Last Week #40)

Shake It Off
Billboard Hot 100: #50 (Last Week #66)
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay: #28 (Last Week #52)
Billboard Pop 100: #46 (Last Week #63)
Billboard Pop 100 Airplay: #35 (Last Week #43)
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #42 (Last Week #54)
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay: #37 (Last Week #52)
Billboard Rhythmic Top 40: #15 (Last Week #21)
Billboard Top 40 Mainstream: #31 (Last Week #40)

It's Like That
Billboard Pop 100: #69 (Last Week #71)
Billboard Hot Dance Music/Sales: #13 (Last Week #11)

Mine Again
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #82 (Debut)
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay: #74 (Debut)

---

15 Years Ago, on the Billboard Hot 100, Issue Date: August 4, 1990, "Vision of Love", Mariah's first ever single hit #1 on the chart and went on to spend 4 weeks in that position.

15 Years Later, on the Billboard Hot 100, Issue Date: August 6, 2005, "We Belong Together", Mariah's latest single, spends its 9th week at #1 on the chart.



"We Belong Together" has been #1 on each of the following Billboard charts:

Hot 100 (9 weeks)
Hot 100 Airplay (11 weeks)
Pop 100 (3 weeks)
Pop 100 Airplay (6 weeks)
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks (10 weeks)
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (10 weeks)
Rhythmic Top 40 (10 weeks)
Top 40 Mainstream (6 weeks)
Adult R&B (Radio Monitor) (2 weeks)
Dance Music/Club Play (1 week)
Hot Ringtones (1 week)
Hot Videoclips

The popular radio station B96 in Chicago plays their Top 20 songs every Saturday and Mariah broke another record with "We Belong Together" as it stayed #1 for 10 weeks in a row - first time ever on B96's playlist.

Eddie and Jobo from the morning show called Mariah yesterday while she was in Capri to congratulate her on this new record.

Click here to download the interview, recorded by Aladerri.

--Wednesday's Access Granted on BET featuring Mariah's Shake It Off shook the competition to dust! It got nearly 1 million viewers (899,000) tuning in -- BET's best numbers since May 25 when R. Kelly's episode drew 1.1 million!

2005 Access Granted Episodes
#1: R. Kelly 05/25/2005 1,174,000
#2: Mariah Carey 07/27/2005 899,000
#3: Bow Wow 05/06/2005 840,000
#4: Missy Elliott 06/08/2005 838,000
#5: Fat Joe 03/09/2005 714,000

--From Elle Magazine: "The singing arm of the Jessica Simpson brand is now the shakiest component of her fame. She started recording her upcoming album right after she wrapped Dukes; she says her epiphany on the film's set made her sing differently than she had on the first three records. “I always felt I had to show off. I had to sing in the rafters, to try to be Mariah, try to be Christina."

--Mariah's videos are the focus promotion of the special "Then & Now" feature on Yahoo! Music. Click here to see many videos from Mariah's extensive catalogue. The main page of Yahoo features a huge ad for Mariah's new video!

--This Is London reports that in the online poll for FHM Music TV, "Heartbreaker" was named the 8th sexiest music video:
"Mariah Carey's Heartbreaker - which features a girl-on-girl fight - was eighth, followed by Britney Spears's Toxic, and Narcotic Thrust's I Like It. More than 150,000 votes were cast in the online poll."
Click here to see the top 10 list.

--Yahoo! Music predicts Mariah will win the VMA award for "Best R&B Video" but lose "Best Female" to Gwen Stefani.

--From Undercover: Undercover interviews with the some of the world's biggest stars are now available as Podcasts from iTunes. In coming weeks, more Undercover interviews will be added to iTunes Podcasts including new interviews with Glenn Frey from The Eagles, Akon, Queens of the Stone Age, Willy Mason and Rob Thomas as well as classic interviews with George Harrison, Mariah Carey and David Bowie.

--"We Belong Together" drops one spot to #2 on VH1's Top 20 Countdown.

Mariah Carey shakes it off in her next video — so much so that she's practically nude, twice.

Not that we get to see much, of course, but Carey keeps viewers guessing during the Jake Nava-directed "Shake It Off" as she costume-changes her way through a breakup that starts with her in the bath and ends when she drops her robe.

Carey reaches the realization she has to "shake you off" while lying in a bathtub overflowing with water and rose petals: "Just like the Calgon commercial/ I really gotta get up out of here." So she leaves a message for her lover while sitting on top of the dining room table, decked out in bright blue makeup and high heels: "By the time you get this message/ It's gonna be too late/ So don't bother paging me/ 'Cause I'll be on my way," she sings into the phone.

Still, her mind must not be that made up, because she manages to change yet again, before grabbing her bag and heading out the door as she sings, "So I packed up my Louis Vuitton/ Jumped in your ride and took off."

It takes her a bit to jump in that ride, because first she has to stroll down "Emancipation Street," where shops are called "So So Fetch" and "Pink Yet Lavender," and schoolgirls do a sort of shake dance at the pay phones. Jermaine Dupri, who produced the sparse, thumping, mid-tempo track, also pops up on a television screen and on street corners to give a little guidance, with suggestions like "Check this out" and "Bounce."

When Carey does get in the car, with a possible new love in tow, it's time to leave another message to remind her ex that she's found out about his cheating ways "with this one and that one/ By the pool, on the beach, in the streets." Her phone breaks up as she drives past the "Hollyhood" sign, so she tells him, "Hold on," singing, "Save this recording, because I'm never coming back home."

After performing the chorus in two more settings — the bleachers of a football game and a stage with her name in lights ("Mimi," that is) — Carey finally shakes off the song itself, lip-synching the second track where she does more of her vocal gymnastics, instead of the main melody.

She then slips out of her robe and walks into the sunset, with the glare obscuring whether she's wearing anything at this point. If this is her emancipation proclamation, perhaps it's something she should have done before the wedding in "We Belong Together."

— Jennifer Vineyard

Another review from Blog Critics states:
"The lush "Shake It Off" finds Carey head-bobbing and snapping with a wink. The name-dropping of products is used sparingly and not overdone. However, it's a so laid-back that it almost disappears."

Read the entire review here.

Shortly after its worldwide premiere, Mariah fans noticed the small details, hints and private jokes Mariah and director Jake Nava included in the video. Here are some of the cool bits that were picked up:

Cameo appearances include:
Producer Jermaine Dupri (on the street)
Actor Chris Tucker (in the car)
Rapper Da Brat (on the bleachers)
Mariah's cat Willy D (right after the bathtub scene)

Signs on stores and buildings that Mariah passes on the street include:
"Jack's Cafe" (reference to Mariah's dog Jack)
"Shake It Off"
"Pink Yet Lavender" (reference to Mariah's interview with Lambs Radio - Read Transcript - January 30th, 2005 news)
"The Rarity" (reference to the E! Uncut special where Mariah's leg muscle was called "the rarity")
"So So Fetch" (reference to JD's label "So So Def" and 'fetch' from Mariah's favorite movie "Mean Girls")

Other signs in the video include "Hollyhood" (behind the car) and "Mimi" written in neon lights, like Mariah's famous 2003 Blender Cover.

More interpretations point out similarities of various shots to past Mariah videos:
"Breakdown" / "Boy" (big hair / make up scene)
"Fantasy" (little girl dancing)
"Vision of Love" (microphone Mariah sings into at the end)
"Crybaby" (bathtub with petals)
"Through The Rain" (same family in the video)

It seems the video is a homage to some fine moments in Mariah's career!

Click here to download the "Shake It Off" music video (MPEG format, 38.2MB) and look for all the details yourself!

If you need help finding them, check out the screen captures below!

Soaking Wet
The recipe for an unforgettably stylish video? Just add water. Take your pick of the best moisturized masterpieces of the year.

The poll's options are: Simple Plan, Mariah Carey and Green Day.

Mariah is currently behind both other acts. Click here to vote for Mariah! You can vote as many times as you want.

"If you download any one of the eight versions of "We Belong Together" between 28 July and (including) 30 July you can enter our competition to win:

First Prize
One Track Spanish CD Promo of "We Belong Together"

Runner up
A Copy of the Spanish "We Belong Together" commerical CD single release (3 tracks + video)

Rules:
One download is one entry. Do not purchase more than one download on each purchase order/receipt. You can enter as many times as you like, provided you can prove all enteries. To get a list of all the sites that contribute to the Official UK Charts, when the cut-off date and where to send enteries to the competition, click here."

Click here and scroll down to "Shake It Off" to view Mariah's brand new video on Yahoo! Music. Be sure to give the video a 4 stars rate when you're done watching!

Unfortunately, it seems that the video is available to visitors from the US and Canada only.

International Fans: Click here to watch the stream of the video (opens in Windows Media Player)

Click here to download the video, courtesy of topmariah.com.

Canada's popular music channel "Much Music" surprisingly premiered Mariah's new music video to "Shake It Off" just moments ago.

According to fans who saw the video, Chris Tucker is reported to have a cameo in the video, and there are shots of Mariah singing into a microphone in front of a red "Mimi" sign, driving a car and in the end - walking down a beach and taking her dress.

Tomorrow, Yahoo! Music and BET's "Access Granted" will premiere the video as well.

Be sure to tune into "Access Hollywood" tonight for a sneak preview from the video!

Mariah Carey will "Shake It Off," exclusively for Yahoo! Music
North American Online Premiere kicks off 8pm (PDT), July 27th

Beginning 8pm (PDT), July 27th Yahoo! Music, the number one source for music videos on the Web, will have the online premiere of Mariah Carey's new video "Shake It Off." The latest single from Mariah's tripple platinum album, The Emancipation of Mimi, will be exclusive to Yahoo! Music and Yahoo! Music, Canada from July 27-29. Currently, Carey's "We Belong Together" is Yahoo! Music's most watched video of 2005 with 7.5 million streamed performances.

"After "We Belong Together" broke several Yahoo! Music records, we couldn't wait to premiere the follow-up. The fact that Mariah chose Yahoo! as the place to premiere her video online is a testament to artists and record labels knowing that Yahoo! Music gets legions of music fans to watch their video more than anywhere else online." - Jay Frank, Head of Artist & Label relations

Congratulations Mariah! The P. Rauhofer/Atlantic Soul Mixes to "We Belong Together" bring the song to #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart (August 6th issue date).

"We Belong Together" becomes Mariah's 10th song to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. Earlier this year, "It's Like That" was named the 9th.

The Dance Club airplay chart is released earlier in the week than the rest of the Billboard charts. Find out Mariah's position on the Hot 100 and the rest of the Billboard charts later this week!

Here are Mariah's #1s on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play:

1. Someday
2. Emotions
3. Dreamlover
4. Anytime You Need A Friend
5. Fantasy
6. Honey
7. I Still Believe
8. Through The Rain
9. It's Like That
10. We Belong Together

The official press release posted yesterday on Mariah's Official site has been updated and now confirms that Mariah will be a performer on the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards to be held on August 28th in Miami, Florida. Mariah's "We Belong Together" is nominated for two VMAs: Best Female Video and Best R&B Video.

--Two days ago, Sunday (July 24th) - Mariah arrived in Capri island in Italy for a vacation.

--Tune in to "Access Hollywood" tonight for a sneak preview of Mariah's new video "Shake It Off"!

--From an interview with Peter Rauhofer at Hour.ca:
Hour: Do you often re-record vocals in your remixes?

Rauhofer: It's very rare [today] that a singer wants to re-sing [a remix]. Most of the times I have to work with what I get. Artists are not involved in remixes unless they're Mariah Carey or Madonna.

--From Los Angeles Times: Nobody was allowed to engage in character assassination, but when it came to dishing about the career prospects of the artists who finished in the Top 10 — and those who didn't — our panel of executives didn't hold back.

Mariah Carey
"She has made a remarkable comeback," an executive said, summarizing the feeling of many panel members. But he wasn't alone in adding, "Still, I don't think it's going to last."

Click here to read the rest of the article, which includes the names of the panel members.

--From USA Today: Edmée Daenen of D.H.T says she was influenced "by many different styles. I started singing after I bought a CD of Mariah Carey. And I grew up with Roxette. My parents were huge fans, so I was very excited when Flor decided that we should do Heart."

--Be sure to check out some old music videos from Mariah that were recently added to her page on Launch Music.

Australia
"We Belong Together" (certified platinum) drops one spot to #3 on the ARIA Top 50 singles chart. "The Emancipation of Mimi" drops two spots to #8 on the albums chart. The album also drops one spot to #2 on the Urban Top 40 albums chart.

Brazil
In its 13th week on the Brazilian charts, "The Emancipation of Mimi" remains at #5 and has already been certified Platinum (125,000 CDs sold!) "It's Like That" takes a huge leap from #62 to #33 in its 11th week on the chart, while "We Belong Together" remains at #35.

Canada
On the radio hits chart, "We Belong Together" stays at its peak of #3 for a 2nd week. "The Emancipation of Mimi" stays at #16 this week.

Holland
"We Belong Together" enters the top 3 in the Mega Top 50! The song climbed one spot to #3 from last week's #4 position. "We Belong Together" also rises on the Top 40 chart from #4 to #2!

"The Emancipation of Mimi" climbs from #24 to #16 on the Album Top 100 chart.

Hungary
"We Belong Together" is #1 on the important Hungarian chart: Viva TV Chart.

On July 26th, fans will be able to order the CD single at the 'Media Markt' and 'Saturn' music stores.

Ireland
"We Belong Together" stays at #4 on its 3rd week on the singles chart. "The Emancipation of Mimi" inches up from #58 to #47 this week.

Italy
"The Emancipation of Mimi" rises one place from #77 to #76 on the albums chart and "We Belong Together" rises 3 places from #32 to #29 on the Italian singles chart.

Sweeden
"We Belong Together" climbs to #18 from last week's #22 on its 2nd week of charting.

UK
From Billboard: James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" sold more than twice as many copies as its nearest singles rival, Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" (Def Jam), which rebounded 3-2 in its third week.

"The Emancipation of Mimi" drops one spot to #8, selling 20,186 this week for a total of 227,784 copies.

Below are Mariah's upcoming TV Appearances in the UK:

The E! True Hollywood Story
14:00 on Monday 25th July
03:00 on Sunday 31st July
07:00 on Sunday 31st July
20:00 on Tuesday 2nd August
14:00 on Wednesday 3rd August
10:00 on Friday 5th August
-Showing on E! UK (30 minutes)

Mariah Carey - Greatest Hits
17:00 on Thursday 28th July
-Showing on VH1 Classic UK (1 hour)

FHM: We Salute You Mariah Carey
18:00 on Friday 5th August
-Showing on Q (30 minutes)

Ride with Funkmaster Flex
19:30 on Friday 5th August
-Showing on Men & Motors (30 minutes)

MARIAH CAREY GRABS 2 MTV VMA NOMINATIONS – BEST FEMALE VIDEO AND BEST R&B VIDEO FOR “WE BELONG TOGETHER”!

MARIAH BECOMES 1st SOLO ARTIST TO TOP 8 BILLBOARD CHARTS, AS WE BELONG TOGETHER STAYS #1 !

Mariah is nominated for 3 Teen Choice Awards, including Choice R&B Artist, Choice Love Song for We Belong Together, and Choice Hip-Hop song for It’s Like That.

THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI album crosses triple-platinum, 14th week in top 5.

With THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI crossing triple platinum, performer and songwriter Mariah Carey, who has been nominated for 2 MTV VMA awards for Best Female Music Video and Best R&B Music Video for the #1 hit We Belong Together, continues to make chart history this week. We Belong Together takes over the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, Pop 100, Pop 100 Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Adult R&B (a career-first for Mariah), Rhythmic Top 40, and Mainstream Top 40 – and she becomes the first solo artist ever to top all eight charts concurrently, it was announced today by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group.

While We Belong Together stays in its 8th (non-consecutive) week at #1 on the Hot 100 and 9th week on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles charts, Shake It Off is starting to bullet its way up the Monitors. The third single was #2 Most-Added at Pop radio last week, and #1 Greatest Gainer in audience and spins this week on the R&B/Hip-Hop Monitor, debuting at #52-bullet on the Airplay chart with a 25 million audience and over 3,600 spins. The video for Shake It Off, directed by Jake Nava, will enjoy its premiere on BET’s Access Granted, immediately followed by MTV and VH1 on Wednesday, July 27th.

THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI stays in the top 5 for a 14th consecutive week, after peaking at #1 twice, in April and again in June. Worldwide sales of the album have topped the 4 million mark.

Last month, Mariah became the first artist to break the 200 million one-week BDS Hot 100 audience barrier with We Belong Together (which went on to more than 212 million listens). We Belong Together, written by Mariah and co-produced by her with Jermaine Dupri, became the first song to top 1 million BDS spins in a week at Yahoo's LAUNCHcast online radio, and remained #1 on the AOL song charts for 10 straight weeks. Named the biggest single in the history of both Mariah and the Island Def Jam Music Group, We Belong Together, secured her place as the #1 most successful female artist of all time when it became her 16th song to top the Billboard Hot 100. This positions Mariah as the only active artist with the potential to match or surpass the Beatles (with 20 #1’s) and Elvis Presley (18 #1’s) in the modern era. (With 69 total weeks of #1 hits since 1990, Mariah also ranks 2nd only to Elvis, with 80 weeks.)

On July 27th, at 7:30 PM EST: Head out to beautiful Los Angeles, and hang out with Mariah Carey. Mariah takes us behind the scenes of her latest video, "Shake It Off". After they wrap the production, BET will grant its viewers access to the world premiere of her video, "Shake It Off".

The show will repeat on Saturday, July 30th at 8:00pm EST.

Nominees were unveiled in Miami on Monday morning (July 25), where it was also revealed that de facto Miami mayor P. Diddy will serve as host when the VMAs return to the city on Sunday, August 28. Mariah's "We Belong Together" is nominated in the following two categories:

Best Female Video
Amerie, "1 Thing"
Gwen Stefani, "Hollaback Girl"
Kelly Clarkson, "Since U Been Gone"
Mariah Carey, "We Belong Together"
Shakira w/Alejandro Sanz, "La Tortura"

Best R&B Video
Alicia Keys, "Karma"
Ciara w/Ludacris, "Oh"
John Legend, "Ordinary People"
Mariah Carey, "We Belong Together"
Usher w/Alicia Keys, "My Boo"

Complete Nominees List

More announcements regarding performers and presenters are expected in the coming weeks.

Catch all the sizzlin', star-packed VMA action direct from Miami on August 28. MTV News' preshow kicks things off at 6:00 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the big show at 8 p.m.

The singer promotes the successful album "The Emancipation of Mimi" in Barcelona (Spain.)

Two days ago, Mariah Carey sang happily to freedom and to the sensation of feeling liberated during a press conference to promote her latest album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," a huge success in the United States. Of course she talked about freedom of creativity, but sometimes it seemed like she had suffered some oppression from the industry in the past.

To clear up some misconceptions, she admits that she's Mimi herself, in private. "That's the nickname my family and people who know and love me use." The emancipation, on the other hand, is related to the composition and album recording process. "This album reveals who I am, the other side that only my friends used to know, what's behind the wall. This album is not a Mariah Carey's, the star, album, but Mimi's."

Mimi, nevertheless, has some similarities with Mariah Carey. She doesn't care about watches, for example. She appeared one hour late to the press conference. And she likes daring clothes. She was wearing, in fact, a very short dress that showed a lot of cleavage. A proof of freedom.

SPIRITUALLY CALM
But besides the clothes and the concept of freedom of creativity, the most important thing about this album is how good it's doing in sales. 3,000,000 copies sold in three months.

What's more, her single "We Belong Together" has become her 16th #1 in her career. Only The Beatles and Elvis Presley surpass her. "I'm very proud of it. This is something I never imagined. Anyway I want to make it clear that I don't want to put myself in the same category of Elvis and The Beatles. Not at all."

Mariah Carey talks quietly, as she was afraid of losing her voice. "My voice is my instrument," she says. Everything is going fine with her, however, she seems fragile, a person who needs to be surrounded by her two assistans and two bodyguards who always go with her. She decided to go with them to the Tibidabo theme park.

She seems to prefer to be calm and to get a balance in her life. She was asked if she felt like taking revenge now that she has come back to the top. "No," she replied. "I have always received bad criticism and a lot of bad things about me have been written. I understand that this is something that comes with success. I prefer to get a spiritual state of mind which helps me not to be affected by these negative comments."

"Now," she added with a smile, "I feel happy with my work and my personal life, while in the past my career was going pretty good but it was not the same with my life." She didn't mention it, but she might be talking about her marriage with Tommy Mottola, her rupture with the singer Luis Miguel or the suicide attempt the press talked about some years ago. The success of her latest album, the most personal, might have helped to the actual optimism of the diva. "In the past I had to sing my songs the way the producers wanted to. Sometimes I agreed, sometimes not. With this album I have felt free and I have enjoyed it more than ever. I have been able to express myself, be myself, and the fans have noticed. I think this is my best album so far."

Below are a Spanish article scan by Maria, a photo of Mariah with a group of fans at the Tibidabo theme park by Mini and pictures taken by Albert all through the week of Mariah's visit in Spain:

B96 is offering Mariah fans another chance at winning tickets for the event that will be hosted by Mariah on August 12th in Chicago.

"Show us your B-96 and win tickets to Mariah Carey's
Mansion Party!

The Killer Bee, B-96.3 has another way for you to crash our Mariah Carey party!

Show us your B-96! Put B-96 on your car window, spell it out in the lights of your office building, mow it in your lawn. How about showing us your B-96 on the marquee at the movie theater where you work or take off those high prices at the gas station where you work and show us your B-96! The wilder the better and the sky is the limit!"

Send B-96 the pictures here or mail your entries to B-96, 630 North McClurg Court, Chicago IL 60610. The best ones will win!

Barcelona, Spain. Excited people waiting expectantly, cameras... What was going on in the luxury Hotel Gran Florida yesterday evening? The answer: Mariah Carey was promoting her latest album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," in Spain. Prior to the press conference, some journalists got tired of waiting for the diva - who, as every celebrity, was late - and a group of fans that had won a contest made by the Mariah Carey fanclub to stay in such place, willing to wait for her as much as needed to see their idol. One hour later, Mariah appeared surrounded by several bodyguards. She was dressed in a spectacular tiny dress with such high heels that made her keep the attention while walking. Smiling and nice when being questioned, miss Carey made clear that "The Emancipation of Mimi" was her most authentic album. In fact, Mimi is the nickname used by her closest people.

To Carey, this album has been a liberation: "Nobody thought it was going to be so succesful as it is. I didn't feel any pressure when I was writing it". And that's why she thinks that "it's the best album I've made, the most sincere". She is the female artist with more #1 in charts history, behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles. She doesn't want to be compared to them, because "they are in another level." After