FEBRUARY 22, 2004 9:13PM

Despite no costume change, only a couple of songs from her Charmbracelet album and a 90-minute delay, the local audience welcomes Mariah Carey with open arms at her first concert here.

Carey’s Friday concert at Merdeka Stadium was a bundle of surprises right from the very beginning. Fans who came expecting to see a scantily clad diva were thrown off guard when Carey, dressed in a bright pink spaghetti-strapped top and tight-fitting blue jeans, made her grand entrance perched at the back of a BMW convertible as it went around the stadium before finally stopping by the stage.

With no opening act and a one-and-a-half hour delay, the American pop-diva smiled and waved to the crowds as she opened the 90-minute set with the remix version of her 1999 No.1 smash hit Heartbreaker taken from her Rainbow album.

Looking conspicuously like a Barbie doll complete with her pink platforms and long blond curly mane, Carey’s concert had a happy, colourful and somewhat childish theme going on that seemed to enthrall the excited crowd of close to 30,000 who immediately took to their feet (and stood on their chairs) to get a better view of the 33-year-old international singing sensation who said: “I’ve waited a long time to come and see you.”

Royalty, celebrities and fashionistas were out in full force.

While pop-diva concerts are predominantly about the visuals, (Cher rode a fake elephant on her Farewell tour and Christina Aguilera steamed up her Stripped tour with a hunky guy who well, strips), Carey had none of that and, in fact, went all out to stage what could possibly be the most demure performance in her current world tour.

When after several stage exits Carey re-emerged wearing the same outfit, which had the words “Automatic Princess” splashed prominently across her chest, the slightly peeved crowd emitted sounds of disappointment (the best the audience got was half way through the show, when she switched from her bright pink platforms to strappy high-heels).

However, the songtress did apologise. “Typically I change clothes like eight times during the show and I’m sorry if I’m being boring but that’s the rules and we gotta play by them,” said the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter referring to the strict stage regulations imposed by officials and concert organisers.

Funnily enough, similar “strict guidelines” were ignored during her recent concert in Jakarta when curvaceous Carey performed in six of her tour costumes.

For a large part of her show, Carey was flanked by five dancers, all dressed in mismatched hip-hop circus wear – like the girl who had a tutu over her tight jeans. She was accompanied by five very good band members and three back-up singers led by long-time friend Trey Lorenz (who later joined her in an impressive vocal-Olympic version of the Jackson 5 classic I’ll Be There).

While the 33-year-old superstar did another one of her disappearing acts, a buffed up and very bald Lorenz took centre stage to render the song A Friend of Mine and also highlighted the vocal prowess of the other two backup singers as well as the band’s pianist. Much to the delight of everyone, especially the ladies in the crowd, Lorenz heaped praise on the nation’s capital saying it was one of the best venues they ever performed in.

As trademark of the true musical icon and gifted vocalist she is, Carey needed no elaborate set design or flashy pyrotechnics to prove that she can still deliver the goods. In fact, a simple, minimalist stage (with a set of steps), and two giant screens on each side showing accompanying videos to some of her songs, was all she had. This nevertheless added to the overall magical spell Carey cast on her audience.

Carey’s pure talent and superstar quality was never more obvious as she belted out emotive and highly inspirational ballads like Through The Rain and Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme). Both songs earned loud ovations as she dug deep to hit some spectacular notes.

In recent years, Carey has faced unfavourable media attention, which is hardly a surprise considering the tumult of a divorce in 1998 with ex-Sony Music Entertainment chairman Tommy Mottola, a record-label change, a universally panned movie and album (Glitter in 2001), and that very, very public “breakdown”. The gifted singer however, who has always sought refuge in writing songs, eventually produced Charmbracelet, which made its debut at No.3 on the US Billboard Charts.

And one of the most poignant parts of the evening was when Carey bared all (with her clothes on) in a very personal video presentation of her childhood, career highs and lows and her rise from it all as she rendered a deeply moving version of her gospel-inspired song My Saving Grace.

Although dubbed ‘An Intimate Evening With Mariah Carey Charmbracelet World Tour 2004’, to promote her latest album Charmbracelet, only two songs (Through The Rain and My Saving Grace) from the album were featured. Carey also sang the single I Know What You Want from her newest Remixes compilation.

Instead, Carey, who sang a total of 16 songs, primarily delivered a series of her hits from the previous decade including Dreamlover, Make it Happen, Always Be My Baby and her first ever single and No.1 hit, Vision of Love, thus, endearing herself further to many Malaysians who have long said they missed the “old Mariah”.

Carey also maintained a steady and cheeky banter with the crowd – often throwing back “I love you’s” and asking the crowd to sing along as she teased and gyrated a few times by rotating her hips and thighs suggestively and flashing the sweetest smile.

Carey has also developed her own special lingo or Mariahisms like “love ya much” and “hey, lamb!” which she readily offered the Malaysian crowd.

While for the most part the concert went on smoothly, at other times the videos that were played between set changes created brief but obvious lulls in the show.

The song I Know What You Want is a case in point. As dancers performed intricate dance movements while the song’s video was played, Carey came out briefly, uttered a few lines as she walked across the stage, then quickly left.

A disappointment perhaps was Carey’s Fantasy number with its “been there done that” steps, which were not only old but showed moments where both her dance routine and singing were out of sync with the music.

But as the best selling female artiste of all time and as the only artiste to have a No.1 hit in every year of the 90s, Carey more than made up for it with her encore performance of the all-time crowd favourite and semi anthem-like melody Hero.

“In appreciation to all of you fans here in Malaysia, I say thank you for supporting me through my whole career. I want you to know that I really appreciate you and thank you from the bottom of my heart,” said Carey.

While what Carey projected on stage may have seemed fluffy and girlish or even childish at times, none of it seem calculated or rehearsed.

In her 14-year career, Carey’s appearance and style may have changed, but one thing is certain – her music continues to inspire.

Source: The Star Online

Mariah reigns supreme

"Typically, I'd change my costumes like eight times, but there're some rules here and I would have to follow them..." said American pop diva Mariah Carey during her concert at Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, on Friday.

The crowd screamed disapprovingly. It was quite a bummer to know that your favourite singer, known as much for her sexy, glamorous outfits as for powerful vocals, had to bow to a dress code at her maiden concert here.

Clad in a pink tank top and tight blue pants throughout the show — billed An Intimate Evening With Mariah Carey Charmbracelet World Tour 2004 — Mariah later said: "Sorry for being so boring but this is the only thing I have that's appropriate." More deafening screams ensued. After all, her previous shows in other countries — which were part of this tour — saw Mariah in colourful outfits with theatrical themes. Sexy and revealing they may be, but they made for a visual feast. And yes, they made the beautiful and talented songstress happy while on stage.

But that's not to say that our regulations dampened her spirits. Throughout the 90-minute show, Mariah showed her appreciation for her Malaysian fans by giving her all — with her clothes firmly in place, of course.

It seemed that Mariah, who had to undergo therapy for an emotional breakdown not too long ago, was out to prove that she still reigns supreme in the international arena 14 years after she made it big with her Grammy Award-winning eponymous album.

And if the Friday night concert was any indication, Mariah still has it. Every do, re and mi of her wide vocal range was intact. That's right, the biggest-selling female artiste of the '90s displayed her mind-blowing octave-jumping ability and trademark "glass-shattering" voice that never faltered during the show.

Most of the songs were taken from her earlier albums (Emotions, Music Box, Daydream) where her vocals soared powerfully and majestically, not the later albums (Butterfly, Rainbow) in which she showed a more whispery side.

The crowd responded enthusiastically, singing along to the familiar tunes which included My All, Without You, Always Be My Baby, Make It Happen, Dreamlover and Fantasy (Ol' Dirty Bastard Remix version).

Obviously, there were clear visions of Mariah's love for performing throughout the show, organised by Galaxy Production and presented by TMNet.

She opened her show with the remix version of Heartbreaker while being driven around the stadium in a buggy with her two big, burly bodyguards (jogging) by her side. Waving to her screaming fans in the stadium like a beauty queen on a parade, she coaxed the seated audience to jump onto the field to join her in a 1.4km run. By the time she completed the lap, hundreds of fans were already with her (luckily she made her way to the stage without major interruptions).

Mariah later said that she had waited a long time to see her Malaysian fans and thanked them for their support throughout her career.

A retrospective journey of sorts, the show was thoroughly enjoyable, fun and exciting with 15 hit songs from her past albums — Honey, Through the Rain, Can't Take That Away From Me (Mariah's Theme). She also gave her fans a glimpse of her troubled past in the haunting ballad My Saving Grace.

Featuring video footages of media coverage on Carey's much-publicised breakdown projected onto two giant screens at both sides of the stage, it was perhaps the most emotional moment during the show.

She also performed the first single which catapulted her to stardom, Vision of Love, which was a pleasant surprise since it was known that she seldom performed this vocally-challenging number in past concerts.

Her duet with R&B singer Trey Lorenz in I'll Be There was also one of the highlights of the night. Trey, first featured in Mariah's 1992 MTV Unplugged album, later belted out a solo performance of his song Friend of Mine.

Before wishing her fans goodnight, Mariah belted out her much-loved ballad Hero. She was immediately joined by the audience in a chorus which reverberated in the stadium and triggered an incredible warm feeling.

Well, if there's anything that Mariah achieved that night, it was a permanent place in the hearts of thousands of her fans.

Source: New Straits Times

Designer Ong gave his all for Mariah

Mariah Carey may not have worn the three outfits specially-made by Michael Ong for her recent concert in Kuala Lumpur but it was well worth the designer's effort.

Ong had five hours to work on the dresses. He says: "I've never done anything like this (in just a few hours!) but for a superstar like Mariah, I did." It's every designer's dream to dress a diva, he notes, before cheekily breaking into one of her hit songs "I give My All ..." Ong received a call at midnight, a day before the concert, from a member of Mariah's management team who said that she needed several outfits made in keeping with the country's strict dress code on performing artistes.

The next morning, her stylist Nikki Siegenberg met him at his boutique in KL Plaza, Kuala Lumpur bringing with her several of Mariah's favourite dresses, a hot pink Victoria's Secret padded bra and her measurements (36-30-38) to assist Ong in making the dresses.

Most of Mariah's favourite outfits that Siegenberg brought as samples were mainly stretchable long dresses in olive green and red, but one was a short, spaghetti-strap cocktail number made of silk chiffon in peach detailed with iridescent sequins.

Except for a stretchable dress in olive green which had the name Susanna Monaco, none of the sample dresses had labels on them, even though it is a known fact that the American singer often wears Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Roberto Cavalli and Giorgio Armani.

"Siegenberg selected the materials from my shop herself which included silk lycra in black, fuchsia and royal blue to be made into simple, long tank dresses.

"She also requested the dresses be accented on the bodice with gold glomesh for the fuschia number and silver glomesh sprinkled with Swarovski crystals for the black and royal-blue dresses," Ong explains.

According to him, the silver glomesh with Swarovski crystals imported from Austria costs about RM4,000 for less than a metre. Each dress costs approximately RM10,000 each and Ong gave them to her for free.

"I must admit that I was stressed-out that day as I, together with my team of eight seamstresses, only had several hours to complete the outfits. I was a nervous wreck.

"The dresses were for Mariah, a superstar, and I had to make sure that everything was extra, extra perfect," says Ong, adding that thankfully Siegenberg was not fussy about the style and design.

After the dresses were completed at about 5pm on the day of the concert, an assistant from Mariah's team came to collect them at Ong's boutique.

She, however, did not wear any of the outfits at the concert, opting for a pink baby T-shirt and tight blue jeans throughout her 90-minute show instead.

Ong, who was in the audience at the one-night sell-out concert at Stadium Merdeka, was obviously disappointed.

"Every time she went backstage after several songs, my heart raced and I kept my hopes high that she would come out onstage in one of my outfits. I was waiting and waiting but she never did wear any of my creations.

"I hope she likes them. She did take them with her and my wish now is that she would make use of them. Who knows, we might one day see Mariah in the papers or magazines in one of the dresses?" Ong, 32, began his career 10 years ago without any formal education or training in fashion design.

Known for his extravagant creations that are either ultra-glamorous or downright unusual, the self-made designer has an impressive list of clientele that includes celebrities like Siti Hurhaliza, Ning Baizura and Ziana Zain, socialites as well as trendy women from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

Although some feel his creations are rehashed versions of ideas from couturiers of the past, sometimes even present, Ong does not lack in originality.

One will notice in his designs his strong signature which lies in the ornate beading, and his quirky whims and fancies like slits and slashes to display a glimpse of leg, breast and torso.

In addition, he sometimes injects traditional Malaysian motifs into his works.

Source: New Straits Times

Mariah mentioned in new Lion commercial

Click here to download the video of the new Lion commercial. Lion is a very popular chocolate crisp and caramel bar in Europe. In the commercial, Anouk, a well known artist in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium and in The Netherlands, is in a recording studio to record her new single.

While she is singing, one of the guys who is in charge of the sound, pretends to talk to Mariah on his cell phone. He says, "Mariah, baby, how are you? You're my favourite you know that... yeah sure."

Source: Heroes Of Mariah