Opening Act: Busta Rhymes

01. It's Like That
02. Heartbreaker
03. Dreamlover
04. My All
05. Shake It Off
06. Vision of Love
07. Fly Like a Bird
08. I'll Be There
---"B" Stage:
09. Fantasy
10. Don't Forget About Us
11. Always Be My Baby
---End "B" Stage
12. Honey
13. I Wish You Knew (Snippet)
14. Love Takes Time (Snippet)
15. Can't Let Go (Snippet)
16. Thank God I Found You/Make It Last (Snippet)
17. One Sweet Day (Snippet)
18. Hero
---Encore:
19. We Belong Together
20. Butterfly Reprise

From MTS Centre: Mariah a must-see for fun-loving crowd

The voice, the hits . . . the body.

When it comes to Mariah Carey’s best assets, local R&B fans got an earful—and eyeful—at the MTS Centre Tuesday night as America’s most diva-licious export descended on downtown Winnipeg.

Nearly two hours after her dramatic ascent through the upper level of the main stage, curvy Carey had packed over 15 hit songs, five costume changes, and a sneaky strut to the secondary stage into her MTS Centre performance. Add half-a-dozen dancers, a trio of background vocalists, and a handful of musicians to the mix, and this Adventures of Mimi tour stop was as busy as the singer’s glittery get-ups.

Dressed like a Victoria’s Secret super-villain, Mariah opened up her set with “It’s Like That” from 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi. Within the first four songs, the 36-year-old had delivered hits of three distinct flavours: the hip-hop “It’s Like That,” pop-y “Heartbreaker” and “Dreamlover,” and the dreamy ballad “My All.”

After praising the home of Winnie the Pooh in her first chat with the crowd, Carey flowed effortlessly—and sometimes breathlessly—between songs, sharing stories with the crowd of 10,000 or casually applying lip gloss by the glow of a mini-flashlight.

Alternating sexy, leg-baring mini-clothes (skirts, shorts, does it really matter?) with colourful, belly-baring gowns, Mariah’s got the diva thing down pat. Headlining a Carey-quality concert can’t be easy, but it helps when you’ve got high notes, high heels, and hot spotlights on your side.

--

Mariah’s mile-high vocals and girly gowns contrasted nicely with Busta Rhymes’ deep bass, back-to-basics opening act. Sampling a decade of studio albums, the New York native opened the show with 45-minutes of catchy beats and call-and-answer interaction with the crowd.

Promoting his newest release The Big Bang, Busta hit the stage in black and white Big Bang gear alongside loyal (and matching) rapper sidekick Spliff Star. The surprisingly chatty duo kept it clean for the young crowd, delivering fun, PG performances of big hits “I Love My Chick,” “Touch It,” and the Pussy Cat Dolls’ “Don’t Cha.”


From The Winnipeg Sun: Marvellous Mimi

Mariah throws one helluva of girls' night

Even sans the lime-garnished Cosmos, Mariah Carey knows how to put on a helluva girls' night.

The main ingredient? Herself, of course. Because everyone knows tabloid queens (hate 'em if you will) make the best -- if not, most interesting -- party hosts. Especially when they have a past as gossip-worthy as R&B diva Carey, whose wardrobe malfunctions, marital decisions and hospitalization for "exhaustion" have made her the curvaceous butt of many headlines.

But the diva gave her 10,000 mostly-female fans little opportunity to whisper snidely about Mimi's less-than-perfect past at the MTS Centre last night, thanks to a little something called The Voice.

FASHIONABLY LATE

Gliding from a hole in the stage a fashionable 20 minutes late, Carey opened with It's Like That off her much-lauded triple Grammy-winner The Emancipation of Mimi.

Not that it mattered what she was singing. The honey-skinned hottie exposed less Voice and more of herself in her first track, where she sexily sauntered around in a sparkly black bikini top, boy shorts and cape. Finally, she's found a good use for glitter.

Carey kept the tempo up for the next track, 1999's Heartbreaker, but kept down her stage pace, strutting her stilettos down a flight of stairs while a group of backup dancers did the sweaty work.

Music Box smash Dreamlover called for more octaves, and Carey -- and her three backup singers -- delivered.

But even so, The Voice was often overruled by the excessive stage show. At times, Mimi was a mere speck on the multi-level platform with black and gold decor, surrounded by three large screens.

Carey's first spoken words were about Winnie the Pooh. Turns out she hadn't heard of the beloved Disney's bear's Winnipeg origins until yesterday (Like, who in Hollywood has?) and would be honoured if anyone passed on any Pooh memorabilia they had on hand.

At press time, the word "Mimi" was glowing across centre stage in flashy, illuminated letters, and Carey had nabbed a chic pair of shades backstage for current club pumper, Shake It Off. According to a setlist, she was still expected to run through her hefty catalogue of No. 1 monster hits, including Fantasy, Always Be My Baby and Honey as well as Mimi ballad We Belong Together and several costume changes.

DANCEABLE HIP-HOP

Earlier, rapper Busta Rhymes courted Carey's fans with a 40-minute set of danceable hip-hop appropriately aimed at his headliner's female following. A cover of the Pussycat Dolls' Don't Cha, a censored version of radio rotator I Love My B**** off this year's The Big Bang and endless praising of the 'Peg's "sexy ladies" got Rhymes and sidekick Spliff Star in the girly good books, while past hits Break Ya Neck, Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See and plenty of (OK, too much) between-tune gibber jabber filled out the set.

Sun Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5


From Winnipeg Free Press: Carey shows off strong vocals, dance skills and plenty of skin

SUPERSTAR Mariah Carey showed off two of her biggest assets at the MTS Centre last night: her powerful vocals and her dancing skills.

The 36-year-old diva's first local appearance was a full-on spectacle of glitter and glamour as Carey dazzled a crowd of 10,000 fans -- covering a surprisingly wide demographic, male and female, young and old --on her comeback Adventures of Mimi Tour.

After suffering a very public breakdown following the flop of her debut movie Glitter, the most successful female artist of the 1990s roared back to the top of the pop world with last year's Emancipation of Mimi, the top-selling album of 2006 with over six-million units sold so far.

The crazy Carey days of 2001 -- when she famously pranced around MTV handing out popsicles dressed only in a T-shirt and posted bizarre messages on her website -- are over and these days the surgically enhanced diva with the fake tan is back prancing around stages all over the world dressed in other skimpy outfits.

She addressed the ebbs and flows of her 16-year career during an opening video featuring a roller coaster with a voice-over about life's ups and downs before Carey took the stage to the club-thumping sounds of the first track from the new album, It's Like That, dressed only in a sparkling black bra and panty combo, high heels and a cape. She was surrounded by four dancers with flashlights who whirled around her on the top of a two-tiered stage flanked by two winding staircases which led down to the main-tier where her four-piece band played.

Carey seemed comfortable in the lingerie -- she obviously wasn't hanging outside yesterday -- and remained nearly naked for the hit Heartbreaker off 1999's Rainbow. The disco-esque number was the first of many times Carey would show off her multi-octave range and vocal hysterics; she has an amazing voice, but sometimes the high-pitched squeal she belts out is simply annoying. Think of the sound a cat makes when its tail is stepped on and you have a good idea of the shrieks Carey is fond of making. She kept up the vocal gymnastics on Dreamlover, but through binoculars in the press box Carey's own backing vocals being played through the P.A. made it appear she was lip-synching at times.

She turned the microphone on to slow things down for the sultry R&B of 1997's My All before a giant Kiss-inspired lighted Mimi sign dropped from the rafters for the funky slow-burner Shake it Off with Carey prowling across the stage while her dance crew twisted around her.

Then she was gone to change and D.J. Clue kept the crowd interested with some old dance floor standards before the star returned dressed in a skin-tight diamond-studded full-length canary yellow gown with a sliver of fabric connecting the bodice to the bottom, still revealing the sides of her trim stomach and back, to deliver her 1990 breakthrough single Vision of Love, another ballad which showcased her outstanding range.

Because the show started almost half-an-hour late press time came in the middle of the Jackson 5 tear-jerker I'll Be There with Trey Lorenz. She had been following the setlist of her most recent shows, so fans could still expect three songs on a B-stage in the middle of the arena floor, a medley of old hits and at least two more costume changes.

Rapper Busta Rhymes started the night with a 45-minute set of commercially friendly hip-hop which included plenty of crowd interaction and a censored version of his hit I Love My B--h.

Rhymes, joined by fellow rapper Spliff Star and a DJ both wearing identical black and white shirts decorated with the name of his latest album, spoke almost as much as he rapped, spewing out gibberish about the hot girls in the crowd and other sexual innuendoes which got the audience screaming and shouting along.

Attendance: 10,000

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

By Natalie:
Mariah rocked Winnipeg city on Tuesday September 19th. Wardrobe change, dancers, songs, high notes, what more could you ask for!!! This was my third concert ever, and she was worth every penny I paid (quite a few) Her DJ kept the crowd going with awesome beats, Busta was awesome and over all no matter what our paper gave her in reviews, she was a 10 out of 5 for me!! Anytime Mariah decides to come back to the 'Peg, we will be waiting for her. She is a true icon and an awesome entertainer. I loved how she interacted with the crowd, "me and Mariah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

By Justin:
Basically it was AMAZING!! The first time Mariah has ever been to anywhere west of Toronto. And she almost sold out, around 10,000 people were in attendance. She blew the house down, everyone was amazed by her vocals. Everyone stood for the full 2 and a half hour concert (including Busta's set).

01. It's Like That -- This beginning has to be the best start for a concert. She came from underneath the stage (I think), and everyone went nuts.

02. Heartbreaker -- Good vocals, it seemed like she changed them up a bit from what I heard of the audio of the other tour stops.

~~ During a brief break Mariah talked about how fascinated she is that Winni The Poo comes from Winnipeg. She said Winni was very important to her when she was little. She said if anyone has Winni The Poo memorandum with them to send them to her.

03. Dreamlover -- Nice version, love how she changed it up in the end.

04. My All -- Amazingly beautiful, her vocals were right on spot (except a brief crack in the middle, but I forgive her lol). The dance mix got everyone up and dancing.

05. Shake It Off -- MIMI sign came down from the ceiling. Everyone went crazy. This song was big in Winnipeg, heard it everywhere.

~~ DJ Mix -- I like this part of the concert, the DJ really got everyone in the mood.

06. Vision of Love -- Uh what can I say...she performed this truly amazingly. The vocals at the end were phenomenal; she must have improvised at the end for at least 45 seconds to a minute. She hit high, she hit low and just kept going.

07. Fly Like a Bird -- OK this song was amazing on the Grammies but it is much better in person.

08. I'll Be There -- This song was amazing too (I guess I am using amazing way too much, but it is true), at the end when Mariah sings "Just call my name" Trey sang "Mariah!". LOL everyone laughed.

~~ Trey section ~~ I think he sang three short songs, and did a tribute to Luther Vandross.

09. Fantasy -- Crowed went crazy during this part. Everyone rushed towards B stage. Security had to hold back a lot of people. Camera's were going off like crazy. At the end the video showed we miss you ODB (or something of that nature).

10. Don't Forget About Us -- the disco ball started and as Mariah stated it was a very majestically moment. This song blew the audience away, although I didn't hear it in Winnipeg that much. Her vocals is what everyone appreciates up here.

`` Mariah did this whole thing with lip gloss during this part and threw it in the audience.

11. Always Be My Baby -- Great song, everyone was singing along with it.

12. Honey -- Everyone was dancing to this song. I enjoyed this performance much, even though Honey is one of my least favs.

~~ DJ Mix

13. I Wish You Knew (Snippet) -- Cool intro to the snippet section. The end part of this song is truly live, the beginning is not.

(OK everyone is saying Can't Let Go before Love Takes Time but i thought it was the other way around)

14. Love Takes Time (Snippet) -- Mariah sang love takes time (she said because everyone is asking her to sing it) she cut it really short and then said "See no one knows this one. The crowed started cheering like crazy.

15. Can't Let Go (Snippet) -- She then said "I don't know if this one was played in Winnipeg" and then started Can't Let Go. I was the only one in my section screaming for this song.

16. Thank God I Found You/Make It Last (Snippet) -- Good remix, but not popular in Winnipeg.

17. One Sweet Day (Snippet) -- This was the saddest section in the concert. Mariah stopped the snippets briefly to look at a sign that someone was holding up. The sign was passed to the front of the stage and read "In memory of --------, you'll always be in our hearts" and there was a picture of a girl. They then went into One Sweet Day chorus only. After that Mariah took a sip of water and seemed to be sad she said "that’s why I write these songs, but sometimes they are hard to get through".

18. Hero -- everyone went crazy when she said Hero. She did a good job.

19. We Belong Together -- Mariah ended the concert with this one. She did a good job, her voice was amazing.

20. Butterfly Reprise -- End