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Review by Mary Kay Nichols
August 30, 2003—Mariah Carey at the Bob Car Performing Arts Center: Orlando, Florida
With so much standing on the turnout of Mariah Carey’s first worldwide jaunt in three years, an evening with Billboard’s-darling of the 90s proves both intimate and charming, indeed…

Exuding both a surprising (and intoxicating) sense of self-confidence as well as deprecation that many say she lacked in her earlier years of touring, Miss M knocks one out of the proverbial chanteuse’s “ballpark” at Saturday’s concert in Orlando, Florida at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center. Singing, smiling, squeezing every inch of her enviably taut, tanned figure into haute couture and hot pants alike, and showcasing poignant, pensive songwriting talents (often overlooked by mainstream critics), were her M.O. for moving the packed crowd to its feet many times throughout the 1 hour and 40 minute show.

Ushering in a new take on an old (heavily-clichéd) dance-sing-dance routine, Mariah & Company transformed a theatre in the middle of bustling Orlando into a small, off-Broadway cabaret-style-meets-Moulin Rouge world. Burnished lighting, hilarious circus-themed Eminem banter (in the aptly-titled “Marionette Show” facet of Carey’s thinly-veiled, yet telling “Clown” number), and dramatic feathered Roberto Cavalli-gowns created, if you can believe, entertainment that was energetic, still appropriate.

Yet, the eclectic sets, silly “Mariahisms,” and props aside, the concert centered on more…

What MC’s enthusiastic, sometimes dogmatically loyal fans (re: “lambs”) will attest her longevity to—as well as relevance in an ever-fickle music market—has little to do with her “ensemble” changes, the much-maligned Glitter fiasco, or scathing, scintillating, or salacious rumors. Instead, they’ll chime in unison, it lies in her songs and most notably, her instrument. Her vibrato. Her “runs.” Her timbre. Mariah Carey has remained a fixture in popular music, because, succinctly put, the girl can sing. No, make that s-ang.

While some nay-sayers have recently questioned the purportedly-waning power of the original vocal acrobat’s range, where Carey’s Charmbracelet album re-secured her niche in music’s vocal pantheon of greats, the “Intimate Evening” tour ascends her to the stratosphere of the few who can scoop you up in a song you’ve hummed a thousand times before, or lure you into one you may have not heard once. Oh, and lest you forget, this is all live.

No purring aloud here, one could sub-title her concerts: “She comes. She s-angs. She conquers.”

Singing in a gorgeous, multi-layered tenor of control that so many have eschewed—or abandoned altogether—in today’s MTV culture, Mariah Carey led a set filled with familiar favorites, motivational ballads, and jazzy, gospel, and hip-hop influenced jems from the early 90s throughout today without seeming dated, pretentious, or fatigued.

What’s more, mid-way through the concert, Carey unabashedly shuns her “diva” epithets to—gasp!—dollop credit (praise, even!) to her crew, and introduces her impressive band and varied back-up singers. Where The Enquirer would post a story of the inability of those employed by the star to make eye contact, Mariah not only knows the names of her posse, she playfully joshes during the intermission of songs. Making this scene even more interesting is Mariah Carey’s jazz influences, as shown in her sunny repartee and sing-song chit-chat with those onstage alongside her. A standout few minutes of improv (as well as a rare showcasing of her lower , Aretha-esque register) prove all detractors wrong: Mariah Carey, the aloof, frigid “protégé” of Tommy Motolla, can stand on her own, sing on her own, and most impressively, communicate personality and relate to her audience…on her own. No wonder they call her “honey!”

Great energy can bring anyone to their feet, as a concert by the lip-syncing crowd of Britney Spears or even Madonna illustrates—but rare silence in a crowd of thousands to hear every last peak and valley a song may yield, or in Mariah’s case, a voice may lend, is the real testament to talent and showmanship.

Sitting, watching, soaking up the lyrics to songs of yearning (a soulful, simmering “My All”), loss (“Bringin’ on the Heartbreak”—a breathtaking, bombastic take on the Def Leppard original), first loves (a paired-down, emotive rendition of “I’ll Be There” with the uber-talented Trey Lorenz), and inner strength and perseverance (“Through the Rain,” “My Saving Grace”), one couldn’t help but being swept in the moment.

“The moment” of Mariah Carey, contrary to popular belief, has less to do with a laundry-list of high-maintenance demands and 25 handlers tending to your every wanton desire, and more to do with, just that—the moment.

If one evening with Mariah Carey teaches us anything, it is that there is no excuse for not seizing your dream, “making it happen,” finding your inner “hero,” and so forth. However, where many, especially MC’s peers, find themselves losing ground (Celine), or grip (Whitney) by belting out hollow interpretations of Diane Warren penned-power ballads, Mariah Carey doesn’t falter. When she stands erect in front of a cleared staged at a solitary microphone for her final encore of the night to sing “Hero,” you get it, and “the moment” becomes reality: She has lived it, she has written it, and now, you are lucky enough to sit before her and listen as she croons all about it. “The highs and the lows. The ins and the outs. The ups and the downs. The dramas and the whatever’s” to quote the woman herself.

For such a survivor, one who climbed back up out of what many said would be her own ashy demise, gracious Mariah can definitely “make it through the rain,” trite as it may sound, and so can we—and listening to her unparalleled voice s-ang all about it is nothing short of astonishing…and inspiring.