Check out these beautiful wallpapers wishing you a happy new year made by Denny, Eric and Mario, plus a wallpaper using picture from "Allure" by Alisha. Thank you Omri for the logo!

MC On Access Hollywood Tonight
Watch Access Hollywood tonight - apparently Mariah is going to be on! After seeing it, please report back to us! (Thanks Alfreda)

AOL Interview Link
Thanks to everyone who sent in the link (AOL Members only) Click Here to view the interview with Mariah at AOL Highlights Show.

Buy "Wisegirls" DVD!
Today, the Wisegirls DVD is released in the US, so go out and get your copy!

Gilles sent us the following bit:
For US residents
If you are a US resident and you're at least 17 years of age, you can enter this contest on Cinema Confidential to win a WiseGirls DVD. For the details click here. Good luck.

Jet Mag Top 20 Albums
In the January 6th issue of Jet Magazine, "Charmbracelet" is No. 5 on Jet's top 20 albums! Way to go Mariah! (Thanks Tray0217)

Vote For MD
Click on the picture below to vote for MD as your favorite site. Thanks Mark for nominating us :)

Music Video - Mariah Carey - Los Angeles - (12/20-22/2002)*** UPDATED AGAIN***

ALL CHARACTERS ARE JAPANESE - PLEASE SEND HEADSHOTS NOW NOW NOW (12/18 10PM)

Space Airline Building Attendant Women - $500
20 Salarymen - $150
8 Cops - $150
12 Swat Team - $150
Audio Technician in recording studio

Mariah Interview Sessions On AOL
Alan told me that AOL presents a short interview with Mariah (from the same set as the holiday message), talking about "Charmbracelet", playing the TTR video and answering a question from an AOL member regarding her songs being autobiographical. If anyone finds the links, please share them with the rest of us :)

New Film Article Part II
Kara sent me the rest of the article about the new supposed film Mariah's in (absolutely not confirmed).

"The film reportedly will be produced by Anthony Esposito, who has worked with diva Carey before , on the independent movie "Wisegirls"and "Sweet Science," in which Carey plays a boxing manager...the local tourism industry might welcome the attention generated by another major Hollywood film; in the mid-1980's, the already flourishing industry exploded, after "Witness" starring Harrison Ford as an FBI agent who hides out on a Lancaster County farm to protect anAmish boy, became a big hit. Still at least one of the reputed stars of Sinking Springs seems excited about the chance to exchange his usual gaudy wardrobe for Plain Threads. "I'm there; I'm there," Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler told Salon.com , which in a September story reported he woud be featured in "a buggy-riding role. "I love the Amish," said Tyler. "They've got it all together."

Quien Magazine Scans Part II
Thanks again to MariahMania for the scans:

Mariah On The Cover Of Quien
Mariah is on the cover of the Mexican magazine Quien, which comes out tomorrow and includes new pics! Here are the scans thanks to Eva & MariahMania:

Canadian Singles Chart:
This Week: #10
Last Week: #11
Number of Weeks: 5 (Peak: #5)

Hot Dance Music/Club Play:
This Week: #25
Last Week: #25 (Peak)
Number of Weeks: 3

The Billboard Hot 100:
This Week: #83 (New Peak)
Last Week: #84
Number of Weeks: 2

Top 40 Mainstream:
This Week: #29
Last Week: #29 (Peak)
Number of Weeks: 4

"Irresistible" (West Side Connection):
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks:
This Week: #81
Last Week: #81 (Peak)
Number of Weeks: 2

CHARMBRACELET:
Billboard 200:
This Week: #18
Last Week: #14
Number of Weeks: 3 (Peak: #3)

Top Hip-Hop/R&B Albums:
This Week: #14
Last Week: #7
Number of Weeks: 3 (Peak: #2)

TTR On MTVE's Best of 2002
MTV Europe ranked the best 100 hits of 2002 and "Through The Rain" came at #73 (Thanks Liran & Eran).

MTV Most Talked About Moments
Alfreda told me that Mariah was #15 on MTV's most talked about moments of 2002 with her special on "MTV Cribs" (perhaps some of you remember we told everyone to vote on it a few weeks ago).

AOL Mariah Theme
Click here (AOL Members only) under Music - there are Mariah wallpapers and buddy icons for AOL. (Thanks Jimmy)

Fan Sites

Maggie writes: I am collecting quotes for Cindy, the street team leader, as sort of a fan appreciation letter. In quotes, I mean just maybe a line of text from fans saying what they think of the street team, perhaps incorporating a line from a Mariah song into it. I am going to send all the quotes in an email to Cindy. For example, something like "Thanks for making the street team happen" (but better lol). Please email quotes to webmaster@mariahplanet.com.

Also, MariahPlanet.com is completely revamped and has many new pages as well as additions to old ones. Check it out!!

Rumor Time
This is coming from the gossip column of the NY Post Page Six, so read it for fun and PLEASE don't take it for granted!

MARIAH'S GUY IS JUST VIN TIME
JUST a month ago Mariah Carey asked reporters to help her find a man, but now it appears the sultry songbird has found one all by herself. Carey, who last dated South American cad Luis Miguel, is happily seeing action star Vin Diesel.

On Monday, the two caught up with each other in Aspen. "Vin flew in on a private jet for a quick visit," said our spy.

"On Monday night, Vin took her to dinner at Pinions and was canoodling with her. After dinner they went back to the house she's staying in with her entourage and I think they spent the night."

Early the next morning, Diesel flew out of Aspen and headed for his family in Connecticut.

Diesel's rep, Toby Fleischman, denied he was dating Carey, but acknowledged the two spent some time together.

"Vin was in Aspen snowboarding and ran into Mariah," Fleischman explained. "They talked about her collaborating on his next film, 'A Man Apart.' Vin thought maybe she could do a song for the soundtrack."

Diesel may have the hots for Carey but has reason to be wary of having her act in his picture. Her last efforts, "Glitter" and "Wisegirls," were roundly panned. Her flack, Cindi Berger, confirmed Carey was in Aspen.

Carey was resting in the resort town after an embarrassing situation in Minneapolis, where she was accused of pulling a "Sharon Stone in 'Basic Instinct' " by the Minneapolis Tribune.

Carey wowed observers when she showed up to an interview with a local television station in a micro-mini. But it appeared to witnesses she was wearing no underwear.

"Mariah's skirt was so short, she couldn't step up on the elevated set and members of her entourage had to lift her," spies said.

Carey was placed in a high director's chair on top of a raised stage - giving everyone a view under her skirt.

At one point during the telecast, after Mariah crossed and uncrossed her legs, an assistant's arm shot out and tried to pull down her skirt. Moments later, a coat was placed across her lap.

"I'm sorry," Carey said. "We didn't know that I was coming to sit up on a platform, or I would have had a little bit of a longer dress."

Berger fumed, "First of all, she was wearing underwear! Mariah was wearing a short dress and she didn't realize it was going to be a telvision interview or that she would be so high up. A one-of-a-kind Dolce & Gabbana shearling coat was placed on her lap."

VH1 Special Captures
Check out the captures below from the VH1 Special "What It's Like: Mariah Around The World" (thank you dis for the video).

Source:
Billboard

Vote For Mariah
Anthony told me Pop Dirt's latest poll asks the visitors what in their opinion is the best album of 2002. Please vote for "Charmbracelet"!

(Thanks Matt & DJ Ron)

MC #4 On the "Billboard Book of #1 Hits"
Fred Bronson of Billboard's "Chart Beat" column rated the top 100 #1 Billboard hits and put "One Sweet Day" by Mariah & Boyz II Men at #4.
In this week's column, he mentions talking to Mariah about the book:

The fact that artists like Nelly and Ashanti dominated the Hot 100 in 2002 also gave me something to write about, as those artists helped rewrite the record books. And by the way, I owe some thanks to Nelly and Ashanti -- both of them spent time on the phone in the last few days doing their interviews for the fifth edition of "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits," along with Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland, Joe, and Mariah Carey.

The 31-year-old City Hall accounting clerk already has her dress, her shoes, her coat and her jewelry thanks to a little shopping trip she took at the Mall of America last week with her new friend, Mariah Carey.

Last week Monday Albrecht won a $5,000 shopping spree with the pop music diva by correctly answering a trivia question on radio station 101.3 KDWB.

"I felt just like Julia Roberts in the movie, 'Pretty Woman,'" she said. "It was like a dream having personal shoppers bringing me things in the dressing room at Bloomingdales - and Mariah Carey pulling dresses off the rack like she was one of my girlfriends and telling me 'Here, try this one on. This will look great on you.'"

Albrecht had been following clues in the contest for almost a week when her call to the radio station was connected last Monday morning. The contest, which was part of the station's "Morning Show," required listeners to answer yes or no questions and take one guess in an effort to locate a "Charm Bracelet" (the name of Carey's latest CD) that had been fictitiously hidden somewhere in the world.

"I was just so excited to be caller 10," she said. "It never even crossed my mind that I could win."

By the time Albrecht took her chance, the location of the bracelet had been narrowed down by previous callers to Elvis Presley's mansion, Graceland.

Albrecht also knew from answering her first question that the bracelet was not in the kitchen of the mansion. When she asked the radio announcer if the bracelet was in the bathroom, he said he had some bad news for her.

"He told me he was sorry but that I was going to have to take some time off from work on Wednesday because I was going shopping," she said. "I couldn't believe it. I just kept saying, 'Are you kidding? Are you kidding?'"

Albrecht said once the shock wore off she started to get nervous about meeting Carey. She called the station back and got permission to bring her sister, Chelsei VanNurden, also of River Falls, along on the shopping trip.

"I was so nervous," she said. "I know she's just another person, but I couldn't help thinking, 'Just what do you talk about with Mariah Carey?'"

Albrecht said she discovered that her fears were unfounded when Carey asked to see pictures of her children, 11-month-old son Nicholas and eight-year-old daughter Taylor, and signed her daughter's autograph book.

Albrecht said she was put even more at ease when Carey borrowed a ponytail holder out of the hair of one of the Bloomingdale's personal shoppers and gave Albrecht an "upsweep" hairdo to go with the evening gowns she was trying on.

"She was very nice to everybody -- very genuine," she said. "It was very cool because I think she was having fun too. She said that she never gets to shop like that anymore and that people are always 'picking and poking' at her. She was pulling dresses off the racks and bringing me shoes and jewelry to go with them and saying, 'Here. How about this?'

"As cool as it all was, it was kind of bizarre standing in the dressing room and realizing, that's Mariah Carey out there saying, 'Hey, Bridget. What do you think?'"

When Albrecht told her supervisor, City Finance Director Julie Bergstrom, the reason she needed a day off, Bergstrom teased her saying, "Well, I don't know if we can give you time off just for that."

"Everyone at the office was really excited and happy for me," Albrecht said.

Although she did become comfortable shopping with the singer, Carey's two bodyguards, stylist and a couple of cameramen from E-TV and Access Hollywood, Albrecht said she wasn't comfortable spending $5,000 in one shopping trip.

"I'm not a real frivolous person," she said. "It was really hard for me to think about spending that kind of money just for a pair of shoes."

After buying things for herself, her sister and her children, Albrecht said she had only spent about one quarter of the $5,000 prize.

"I had no concept of how to spend that kind of money," she said. "Now I just have to decide what to do with the rest of the money.

"It was all really exciting, but I really would have been happy just to meet Mariah Carey."

Source:
River Falls Journal

Liz Smith Compliments CB

AT THE other end of the spectrum we find Mariah Carey, declared a wash- out last year when hit with emotional turmoil and career disappointment. The songbird says all she needed was rest. Well, look at her - that's all she did need. She's back, as cheerful and scantily dressed as ever, with a popular new CD ...

Source:
Newsday / NY Post

No "Charmbracelet" On Billboard's Top 10
The full billboard charts will be updated tomorrow but E! Online published the top 10 and unfortunately "Charmbracelet" isn't on it. However, it was a week with big sales numbers, so hopefully "Charmbracelet" managed to sell a good amount of copies on its third week. (thanks thebigham)

VOTE ON TRL!!
Alyssa told me MC hasn't been on the TRL countdown for the past 4 days, Team Mariah sent out the following reminder to everyone:

We can make it through the rain...(and the snow...) Keep Voting!

Remember to vote for TTR during all the madness of the holiday season! Let's give Mariah a gift to remember...#1 on TRL this week!

While you're at it, vote for Mariah as best international artist on the NRJ Awards (Thanks Alex).

Blender Wallpaper
Dan made the following 3 wallpapers using the gorgeous pictures from "Blender" magazine:

A California Doctor Rocks With The Stars
Part of his practice is to treat pop singers. It's only rock 'n' roll, but he likes it.

Mariah Carey singing a roller coaster of notes. Britney Spears slinking across the stage in a sexy outfit. The Eagles rocking to "Hotel California."

Stuart Finkelstein, MD, has seen them all, but not as part of the audience. You'll likely find him watching from just offstage. But you have to look closely: He dresses in black to blend into the shadows.

His inconspicuousness, however, belies his importance. Dr. Finkelstein is doctor to the stars, the one who makes sure Mariah, Britney and the rest are healthy when they take the stage.

The Cerritos, Calif., doctor works a handful of concerts a year, showing up at the Staples Center and other arenas to give flu and B-12 shots, treat respiratory infections and tend to the other ills of singers, band members and the crew. He was the doctor for Michael Jackson's world tour in 1993 and was the one who ordered Jackson to bed for dehydration, postponing the star's second Bangkok show.

Hearing Dr. Finkelstein talk about his experiences is like listening to a boy who just got an autographed baseball from his favorite big leaguer.

"If you wanted to script this much fun you couldn't," said Dr. Finkelstein, 47, an internist at Cerritos Family Medical Group, south of Los Angeles.
...
Mostly, he does individual concerts in Los Angeles.

He has been there for Nine Inch Nails. At Carey's rehearsal, Dr. Finkelstein's son and daughter got their picture taken with basketball legend Magic Johnson.
...

Source:
American Medical News

Meet & Greet Story
Joseph met Mariah two months ago in the Dallas meet & greet, and his school's newspaper wrote an article about it, check it out:

"Blender" Scans
Moni from the palace scanned the Mariah article and pictures from the Dec. 24th issue of "Blender" magazine:

Source:
MariahCarey.com

Make sure to also check out the new mission from Team Mariah!

CNN's Top 10 Christmas Songs
"Music Room" (CNN) chose the top 10 Christmas songs of alltime and Mariah entered the chart once at #9 and semi-entrance at #10 (doesn't she get credits for writing the song?!)

9. Mariah Carey f/Jermaine Dupri and Lil' Bow Wow
"All I Want for Christmas is You"
10. Faith Hill
"Where are you Christmas?"

Source:
mcfanatic, Music Room

When The 'Rain' Begins To Chart
Talk about close calls. It looked like I was going to have to report that 2002 was the first year in her chart career that Mariah Carey did not have a song debut on Billboard's Hot 100. Beginning with her first entry, "Vision of Love" in 1990, Carey has had at least one new title debut every calendar year. As of last week, her most recent chart entry was the medley of "Never Too Far/Hero," which opened at No. 81 the week of Dec. 29, 2001 (Carey had already charted in 2001 with "Loverboy").

In a last minute, 52nd-week save, Carey's "Through the Rain" (MonarC/Island) enters the Hot 100 at No. 84. Commercially released vinyl singles combined with airplay gave "Rain" enough fuel to drive onto the chart. It's the lowest-debuting song of Carey's 27 chart entries, but given that it keeps her string of chart songs intact, who cares?

In an odd coincidence, Carey also has her first chart entry of 2002 Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. She has had at least one title debut every year since 1990 on this survey as well, and that accomplishment holds as "Irresistible (West Side Connection)" (MonarC/Island) enters at No. 81. Carey is joined on "Irresistible" by Ice Cube, Mack 10 & WC.

Source:
EJ, Billboard

Mariah's a "Hit" of 2002
"...The agency's year-end "PR Hits and Misses" list takes a closer look at the role communications play in everything from company mergers, album releases, product launches and politics."
Below are Stanton Crenshaw's 2002 "PR Hits and Misses:"

Hits:
Mariah Carey: In the tradition of her heroine anthems, Carey made a successful comeback through an exquisitely orchestrated series of appearances to support her new album and label. She stayed "on-message," maintaining that her collapse was due to exhaustion rather than emotional or substance problems, projecting both honesty and a little bit of 'tude that one would expect of a true diva.

Source:
PRN Newswire

Vote For Mariah
Lori told me about the two following polls:

Vote for "Charmbracelet" as the best CD of 2002 on BET

And Alyssa told me "Through The Rain" fell out of the TRL countdown today, so please keep voting - we only need 12 more days until the retirement!

International Charts
Philippines: Magic 89.9- Week 12: #8, previous week #3
MYX- Week 6: #5, previous week #6
MTV Diyes- Week 4: #1, previous week #3
MTV Asia Hitlist- currently #10
(Thanks Kenneth @ Mariahisms)

Taiwan: After 12 weeks of up and down, Through the rain finally climbed to the top spot of the Taiwan Mandarin Billboard chart. It is the No.1 online and phone request and No.3 on single sales. (Thanks Carl)

Pictures Update
Two pictures that were sent in by Julian from the San Fransisco meet & greet and 5 nice pictures that Nacho found at VH1's site:

Tune into VH1 and catch What It’s Like: Mariah Carey.

Few if any in the music world have matched Mariah Carey's achievements. With a legendary voice, an amazing connection with her fans, and more number one singles than any woman in history, she’s been in the music stratosphere since her late teens. The superstar is also known as one of the hardest working artists in the business. All good reasons why those loyal Mariah fans would love to get an insider’s look at what it’s like when she travels the globe to spread the word about her 12th album, Charmbracelet.

To find out more about the show please visit VH1

Source:
MariahCarey.com

Here are the rest of the airings, thanks to Alyssa:

Monday December 30th - 9:00pm
Tuesday December 31st - 12:00am
Thursday Jan 2nd - 4:00am
Saturday Jan 4th - 12:30pm
Sunday Jan 5th - 4:00pm

Mariah In Magazines
Jan '03 issue of Twist - Pages: 10, 74 and 75.
Jan '03 issue of J-14 - Page: 97
Dec. 26, 2002 issue of Rolling Stone - page: 20

Bringing back the ballads -- in a personal way (January 2003 issue of J-14 Magazine on page 97)
After a year of stormy turmoil and label changes, Mariah Carey has made it through the rain. It's no coincidence that the first single from the new CD is called "Through the Rain." She's used her personal experiences in writing her songs. Says Mariah, "The way I try to word it is, 'it's okay once you say I can make it through the rain.' Not just me going, 'I can make it through the rain.' It's me telling people that if you believe you can get through whatever you're going through, you can get to the other side." The CD is called Charmbracelet. Mariah decided on the title because charm bracelets have always had a personal significance for her. "Charms tell a story, like a song," she says. The disc mix of soaring Mariah-style ballads and uptempo tracks. Look for appearances by Justin Timberlake and Jay Z as well as a cover of Cam'ron's "Oh Boy." Mariah receives the "sweet" mark = 4/4.

Should she Fight Back? (January 2003 issue of Twist magazine on page 74-75.)
It's another Eminem dis song -- but this time it's Mariah Carey who's doing the dissing! On her song "Clown," Mariah sings: "You should have never intimated we were lovers/I gotta break it to you delicately-who's gonna love you when it's over? Who's gonna care? Although Mariah will only say the song is about a guy who talks a big game but is a softie underneath his tough exterior, many say the song is a response to Eminem's claims that he dated and dumped her. But some like Carson Daly think Mariah has bitten more off than she can chew. "She's a lunatic to take on Eminem," he says, "keep it to yourself!"...Carson check billboard, Mariah is here to stay...Eminem, "eh."

Source:
Mariah 4 Life

More From "Allure"
Allure January 2003
Friday December 20, 2:42 pm ET

Mariah's Second Act
In the public consciousness, Mariah Carey's story reads like a bad screenplay. The superstar "had a complete physical and emotional breakdown" (according to a statement from her publicist), and her record company dumped her. Now, 18 months after this infamous stumble, Carey is back on her feet, and she's on the cover of Allure's January Makeover issue. When asked what explains Carey's compulsive work schedule, she says, "Longing for acceptance or stability ... Look, I don't want to wind up back living on a mattress on the floor."

Source:
Yahoo! News / Allure Magazine

Here are the beautiful scans from the magazine thanks to Khandi at the new and improved Mariah's Diary:

Mariah DJs on AOL
Knista found a really nice feature on AOL (AOL Members can see it by using keyword: Radio, look under Celebrity DJs) where Mariah chose songs she likes to be played on her own "station" on AOL. In between the songs, they also play some short interviews with Mariah. Here are some of the songs she chose:
The Gap Band - You Dropped A Bomb On Me, The Cars - Let Go, Earth, Wind & Fire - Devotion, Jay-Z - Things That You Do (F. Mariah Carey), Stevie Wonder - That Girl, Janet Jackson - That's the Way Love Goes, Erykah Badu - On & On, Joe - What If A Woman, Diana Ross - I'm Coming Out, Blondie - Heart of Glass, Aretha Franklin - Ain't No Way, Brandy & Monica - The Boy Is Mine, Mariah Carey - Emotions, Nelly - Hot in Herre, Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain, Mary J. Blige - You Remind Me, D'Angelo - Lady, Whitney Houston - Heartbreak Hotel (F. Faith Evans), Refugee Camp All-Stars - The Sweetest Thing, Mariah Carey - Lullaby, Atlantic Starr - Silver Shadow, Angie Stone - Wish I Didn't Miss You, Deneice Williams - Free, N'Sync - Gone, Amel Larrieuz & The Roots - Glitches (The Skin You're In), Prince and the Revolution - When Doves Cry, Michael Jackson - Off the Wall, DMX - Get At Me Dog, Aaliyah - Rock the Boat, Ludacris - Rollout (My Business), Mariah Carey - The One, G.Dep - Special Delivery, Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing, Mystical - Shake It Fast, Jay-Z - Izzo (H.O.V.A.), Snoop Dogg - Lay Low (F. Master P., Nate Dogg), Chico DeBarge - No Guarantee, Lakeside - Fantastic Voyage, Minnie Riperton - Lovin' You, Jay-Z - Money Ain't a Thang (featuring Jermaine Dupri), LL Cool J - Luv U Better, Mariah Carey - Dreamlover, D'Angelo - Untitled (How Does It Feel), Chaka Khan - I Feel For You, Mary J. Blige - No More Drama, Brandy - Angel In Disguise, Clipse - Grindin' (Remix), Glenn Lewis - Don't You Forget It & Stevie Wonder - Do I Do.

TRL Stats
Yesterday, "Through The Rain" dropped 3 places to #9 on its 38th day on TRL. The countdown continues - only 12 days to go! We have the entire weekend to vote so lets do it! (Thanks Alyssa)

French News
Matt told me about the three following facts coming straight from MariahCarey.com's French section: * It is said that "Charmbracelet" has already shipped Gold in France.
* 3 millions copies of CB have already been sold worldwide.
* Mariah will sing TTR in the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes the 18th of January. She's also nominated for Best International Female.

For more international news, check out the new update at the Team Mariah Headquarters

Chart Tidbits / Pic
Tom and Daniel wanted to inform everyone to watch the VH1's Top 40 Videos of 2002 because Mariah's "Through The Rain" comes in at #39!

Paul told me that TTR is also #39 on its debut week on Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40 show on KIIS fm. Here's a picture from Mariah's appearance at KIISfm's Jingle Ball on Dec. 19th (Thanks CalendarLive):

ANAHEIM, CA - DECEMBER 19: Singer Mariah Carey performs on stage during KIIS FM's Jingle Ball Concert at the Arrowhead Pond on December 19, 2002 in Anaheim, California. (Photos by Robert Mora/Getty Images)

Check out Wire Images and LFI for more pictures!

Larry King Transcript
Mariah's interview aired last night on Larry King Live, CNN and the transcript is now available to read.
Click here to read it on CNN's site.

MC To Do MTV UK/Europe Special
Tom writes: "I e-mailed Mariah's friend Jasmine a few weeks ago asking if/when they'd be playing TTR remix on her station, I got an auto-reply saying she was away for a few weeks and she never responded, but this morning I got this:

MTV are recording an exclusive and intimate live performance with Mariah Carey in London in the second week of January 2003 and we're looking for some of Mariah's biggest fans to be part of a small invited audience. So if you know your 'Butterfly' from your 'Rainbow', and are aged between 18-25, we'd like to offer you the chance to see Mariah up close and personal. There'll even be an opportunity for a lucky few to ask Mariah a question they've always wanted answering.

Please e-mail Ashley Cowan (Cowan.Ashley@mtvne.com) at MTV before January 1st with your name and a contact number for more details."

International Update / Pics
Belgium: (Thanks Gilles)
Official Belgian chart on December the 20th.
Ultratop 50 Albums
For the French speaking part: Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - 28 (entry)
For the Dutch speaking part: Mariah Carey - Charmbracelet - 48 (entry)

Germany: (Thanks Honey & Kate)
In the German album charts Mariah's "Charmbracelet" dropped to #47, after entering on #32 last week. "Through The Rain" is on #59 in its 6th week, last week it was on #54.

Check out Ken's picture with Mariah at the Dallas meet & greet plus a scan from Dec. 17th National Enquirer sent in by mcfanatic

To be truthful, Blender is both disappointed and delighted by Carey’s apparent normality. Disappointed because we had half-hoped she would arrive with a selection of fluffy animals and an attitude (great copy!); delighted because Carey is perfectly capable of stringing a coherent sentence together. Anyone who had witnessed her spaced-out performance on MTV Cribs last year — showing off her walk-in closets like a louche, lonely, Valium-conked housewife — would have wondered if there was anything at all behind those sparkling eyes.

Two thousand one was the year Mariah Carey fell — splat! — from her pedestal. Throughout the previous decade, she had appeared unassailable — a superstar from the moment she burst onto the charts in 1990, just 20 years old, with the self-penned “Vision of Love.” Her debut album, Mariah Carey, sold 9 million copies, producing four number 1 hits. In the next 10 years, she sold a staggering 150 million records overall, posting more chart-toppers than anyone except the Beatles and Elvis Presley. These days, her five-octave voice is as familiar as your mother’s, and her flouncy vocal style is much-copied, not least by just about every female contestant on American Idol.

Initially, cynics attributed Carey’s world-beating success to her then-husband, hugely powerful Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola, whom she married in 1993. Mottola, 20 years her senior, certainly had an excessively guiding — some would say controlling — hand in his young wife’s life, down to making her swap her tiny tops for less revealing outfits. But when they parted, in 1997, Carey rode the split apparently without effort: releasing Butterfly, following that with 1999’s Rainbow and squaring up her contract with the best-of collection #1’s. She dated both New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter and Latin American pop hunk Luis Miguel.

In 2001, she left Sony, with great fanfare, for Virgin, which signed her to a four-album deal worth $80 million, the most lucrative in history. Her first LP was set to be Glitter, the soundtrack to the ’80s-style movie of the same name, which would showcase her acting in a story based on her life. But during that summer, before either the movie or the CD was released, Carey began to unravel.

She split from her “too serious” relationship with Miguel. She acted strangely on TV, most memorably MTV’s Total Request Live, on which she prevented host Carson Daly from going to a commercial break and delivered a weird monologue about ice cream. At other times she announced that she was invisible and that Marilyn Monroe was speaking to her through her piano. She left strange, sad messages on her Web site: “What I’d like to do is take a little break or just get one night of sleep without someone popping up about a video or something.”

Headlines blazed: She had trashed her room in New York’s Tribeca Grand Hotel; she had been taken into North Western Hospital in Westchester County, New York, with bandaged arms; she had gone out for a burger dressed as Wonder Woman; she had checked into rehab twice, in Connecticut and Los Angeles. Suddenly, it was hard to find a report on Carey in which the word troubled didn’t precede her name.

Events raced to a nightmare close. Glitter, the film, was a flop, costing $22 million and making just $5 million. Glitter, the LP, hit stores on the worst day ever to release anything: September 11, 2001. Though it finally went platinum, it was widely regarded as a failure, and in January 2002, Virgin bought out her contract for $28 million — in addition to the $21 million she had already been paid. Financially, she was riding high, but creatively and emotionally, Carey appeared to have drained her account.

In May 2002, she signed, quietly, with Island Def Jam, which gave her a $20 million, four-album deal and her own label. Charmbracelet is the result, recorded over six months in Capri, the Bahamas and the U.S.

“It’s called Charmbracelet because charms are like pieces of yourself that you pass on to other people, like a song,” she explains. The album is a return to Carey’s earliest, friendliest incarnation. There’s nothing here to scare her long-term fans: a couple of ballads, including the single “Through the Rain”; two cute, almost-urban tracks featuring Jay-Z and Cam’ron; a Latin-ish track; a gospelly one. Carey has returned to favored producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Randy Jackson and Jermaine Dupri. The subject matter is love, mostly: love failed, love wanted, love of God.

One track, “Clown,” stands out, as it appears to be about Eminem — whom Carey was rumored to have dated last year — with lyrics like “I should have left it at/I like your music too” and “You should have never said that we were lovers/You know we never even touched each other.” It also refers to “Superman,” one of the tracks on The Eminem Show that mentions Carey (the other is “When the Music Stops”). Neither is a love song, to say the least. (“Superman” disses every woman who has ever come into Mr. Mathers’s life and includes the line “Am I too nice? Buy you ice Bitch if you died/Wouldn’t buy you life/What you tryin’ to be, my new wife? What you Mariah?”)

But when Blender presumes that “Clown” is about Detroit’s mouthiest, Carey laughs.

“No, we can’t presume that,” she says. “With all the clowns I’ve come across in my life, how the hell could we narrow it down to one?”

He was rude about you, though.

“For him, I don’t think he was that rude. For him, that was mild.”

Carey shrugs and tosses her hair. Subject closed — but only for the moment, as we’ll see. We move on to the events of 2001. Though at one point she sighs — “This is so last year” — Carey has clearly made the decision to tell her side, to try to clear things up. She launches into an explanation that lasts the better part of an hour. Settle back for the story of a butterfly life.

Thanks JClovesMC563!

'Allure' Scans
Alan took some pictures from the "Allure" magazine with M on the cover:

In other 'Team' news, Check out your e-mails for a new mission for members involving a Mariah snowglobe.

MC At BET Studios
Tom sent me a picture from today's NY Daily News (Dec. 19th) of Mariah exiting the BET studios (possibly to film next week's "106 & Park") :

Last Night On Extra
Last night, Extra showed clips of Mariah's appearance on Larry King and confirmed her appearance on the cover of "Blender" magazine that comes out on Christmas eve (Dec. 24th). (Thanks Lani)

Holiday Wallpaper
Jeffrey sent me a nice wallpaper for the holidays season;

"I'm not wacko. But my point is already made. I mean, we're all a little wacko sometimes, and if we think we're not, maybe we are more than we know," Carey said.

"But my point was, these things are personal sort of messages to my fans, and they understand it. I don't expect, you know, whatever talk show host to understand my little lingo with my fans, you know what I mean?"

The singer also denied rumors she attempted suicide.

"That was the thing that really upset me the most. ... There are kids who are such fans that they emulate almost everything I do. So the last thing I would want them to think is, you go through something, or you're having a personal problem or whatever, and you go and try to commit suicide," she said.

She described her marriage to Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola as full of highs and lows.

"I have to say there were some very good times and there were some very, very, very difficult times. And that's what it is. And we both benefited a lot from the relationship," Carey said.

"I don't want to go into it, because I respect him, and I want the best for him, and I hope he's happy in his life now.

"But it's difficult. It's difficult to take somebody like me and try to make me be a different way than what I am," she said.

"I allowed myself to be controlled, but every time I got a chance, and I let myself go and had some fun, it was almost like, you know, a dark cloud would come over and we'd all have to go, 'OK. Let's not have so much fun now.'"

But while telling King that she considers herself a romantic -- "I think I have to be romantic to write the kind of songs that I write" -- she questions whether she has been in love.

"I don't know that I've ever actually really been in love," she said.

Carey also questions whether she can sustain another romantic relationship.

"I think it would be nice, but you know, my problem is I can't really trust people, because you never know what their agenda is. ..."

Carey's appearance came on the heels of the release of her new album, "Charmbracelet."

Carey, 32, one of the best-selling female performers of all time, was bought out of her last recording contract by Virgin Records for $28 million after disappointing sales of her previous album, the soundtrack of her movie flop, "Glitter."

The axing by Virgin came as another blow to Carey, whose professional and private life has been the target of tabloid gossip columns since the collapse of her marriage to Mottola, who discovered Carey as an 18-year-old waitress.

The launch of "Glitter" had been delayed and downscaled after Carey suffered a painfully public breakdown. It was then launched on a day when world eyes were elsewhere -- September 11.

In July 2001, Carey checked herself into a hospital for "extreme exhaustion." Her publicist cited the singer's recent work in completing two movies, "Glitter" and "Wise Girls," while simultaneously writing, recording and producing the "Glitter" soundtrack album.

"Glitter" came after an almost uninterrupted decade of success for