NOVEMBER 19, 2003 4:19PM

Instead of flying off to New York City last Tuesday, international pop diva Mariah Carey hied off to Amanpulo in Palawan.

Mariah, who held a one-night show at the Fort open field in Taguig, will stay in the exclusive resort until Sunday, according to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) assistant general manager Angel Atutubo.

Mariah canceled her Singapore Airline flight to New York City on Nov. 17, but her 35-man entourage left Manila at 1 p.m. on that day via China Airlines, Atutubo told Inquirer Entertainment yesterday.

She flew to Palawan onboard a private plane, and was accompanied only by her manager and two bodyguards, Atutubo added.

Amanpulo is on the private island of Pamalican, 200 km east of Palawan.

Guests from Manila are flown in to the island by a chartered plane, which lands directly on Pamalican.

The exclusive resort supposedly charges each guest between 600 dollars and 1,000 dollars per night.

"Owners of the place practice strict security," said Jofelle Tesorio, Inquirer correspondent in Palawan.

"They will not welcome visitors who go to the island through private yachts. Guests have to be flown in by their own plane."

Only guests are allowed to roam around the resort, Tesorio said. Hired entertainers are restricted to their rooms, she added.

Hollywood personalities who had visited the resort are ramp model Naiomi Campbell and award-winning actors Robert de Niro and Tom Cruise.

Mariah performed in Manila for the first time last Sunday as part of her "Charmbracelet Tour 2003." Manila was the last leg of her six-city tour.

The singer will reportedly pass through another international airport when she returns to the United States on Sunday to avoid a repeat of an incident at the Naia Centennial Terminal when she arrived last Saturday.

The singer's body guards sent airport general manager Edgardo Manda and other airport officials out of the NAIA's presidential lounge while the singer retouched her make-up.

"Our intention was just to give her VIP treatment," Manda said in an earlier interview with the airport press.

"It's part of our Filipino hospitality to make sure everything is okay and (ensure that celebrities) are welcome here in Manila."

Manda said that he instructed airport personnel not to give VIP treatment to Mariah and her entourage, which included back-up dancers, singers and band members, when they left NAIA last Monday.

They joined the queue at the departure counter and personally checked in their baggage, Manda said.

Another American singer, Mandy Moore, arrived in Manila on Monday to perform Thursday, at 8 p.m., at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Source: Inquirer News Service

VIP treatment for Mandy; none for Mariah and Co.

American singer Mariah Carey and her party will not be given the VIP treatment at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for her return flight to the United States after an unpleasant incident Saturday night involving her bodyguards, a top airport official said yesterday.

Another singer, Mandy Moore, who arrived in the country Monday night, will be accorded VIP treatment at NAIA upon her departure, should she request it.

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Edgardo Manda said he instructed airport personnel to give Carey and the rest of her party "normal security" at NAIA when they return to the US.

"Just consider them normal, regular passengers. No extraordinary VIP treatment, but provide security. If they do request for VIP treatment, they have to pass through the normal channels… and we will provide security only," he said.

The MIAA’s airport police will provide security to Carey and her group.

Manda and his chief security, Gen. Angel Atutubo, were sent out of the NAIA Centennial Terminal presidential lounge by Carey’s bodyguards while the famous singer was retouching her make-up at the lounge.

Sources said concert organizers paid for the use of the presidential lounge so Manda, though angry, was not able to do anything.

"I would say that we were quite indignant about the way we were treated by (Carey’s) security. Our intention was just to give her (VIP treatment), the way we are doing to Mandy Moore," he said.

Manda explained that VIP treatment means that a celebrity like Moore and her party do not have to fall in line and can simply stay inside the dignitaries’ lounge of NAIA Terminal 1 while airport personnel process their documents.

"It’s part of our Filipino hospitality, making sure everything is okay, and they are welcome here in Manila, so the first impression will be good," he said. "No less than the airport officials are doing it for the country."

This kind of VIP treatment will not be accorded to Carey and her group, according to Manda, who said "they will have to pass through all channels. They will have to fall in line. No extraordinary treatment."

Eleven of those who arrived as part of Carey’s party left Nov. 17 for Hong Kong without any VIP treatment. They had to fall in line and pass through all the procedures, including body inspection. This group included David Miller, one of Carey’s bodyguards who sent Manda and Atutubo out of the NAIA’s presidential lounge.

Sources said Carey was in Amanpulo, Palawan to avoid any more controversy and might even pass through another international airport when she returns to the US.

Moore, on the other hand, arrived at the NAIA Terminal 1 Monday night to do a one-night concert at the Araneta Coliseum. She was met by Manda, who gave her flowers, as well as other MIAA officials, journalists, airport employees and fans.

Manda said Moore’s party requested for VIP treatment upon their arrival but have not requested it for their departure.

"I would say compared to Mariah and Mandy, (Mandy’s) has better security coverage here. We have a very cordial working relationship with the organizers of this group, better than the group of Mariah," he said.

Moore, a Penshoppe signature model, is in town to promote AIDS Awareness alongside the United Nations. She will also be participating in MTV Philippines’ music summit and promoting her latest album, "Mandy Moore Coverage" under Sony Music.

Source: The Philippine Star

No new album in 2004?

On the night Mariah landed in the Philippines for the first time, Filipino fans followed her into Makati City Hotel, where they got a chance to talk to her people while in the lobby.

One of those people was Lionel Cole, Mariah's pianist and co-writer of several Charmbracelet album cuts (including "Through The Rain"). While talking, fans were able to ask him about plans to release a new Mariah album next year.

According Lionel, they are already gathering new material and are planning some concepts but it might be impossible to release next year due to Mariah's future commitments after her world tour ends. He rather added that it is more possible that the new album will be released in 2005.

Mr. Cole also commented on how Charmbracelet is doing on the chart and sales wise."It's doing well! Slowly but surely", he said.

Source: Philippine Mariah Carey Fan Club

Mariah is diva as diva gets

Yes, Mariah Carey is the diva. "Mariah is a girl that every man wants to do, every girl wants to be and every transvestite wants to look like," joked my concert seatmate Mike Sandoval, who, along with more than 20,000 urbanites, braved The Fort open field to watch La Prima Mariah.

Whether they were star-struck fans or sick pleasure-seekers, the crowd filled the field from here to eternity. I didn't actually expect to see the whole of Manila to be there. From society mavens to basketball stars to glitz-biz denizens, they were all there to witness the charms of Miss Honey herself.

While waiting for Mariah's arrival, the male voices of the Akafellas made sure the audience had their fill of aural delight. Kudos to them for the fab feat. They were one front act that the audience actually enjoyed. For a while, I wanted to listen to them for the whole night. And then she arrived.

From her car, she walked with a caboodle of bodyguards, walking along the grass field of The Fort. Of course, pandemonium ensued. Good thing the organizers had complete control of the situation. Everybody was forced back to their seats. This was not the case during another concert sometime ago where the whole crowd moved towards the stage! Well, I overheard from the MTV folk (hats off too you, Francis Lumen!) that for this concert alone, 80 bouncers, 200 ushers and 350 Philippine National Police officers were dispatched all over The Fort. There were so much armed men that one of Mariah's back-up vocalists, Tikka, said, "I've never seen this much armed men in my life!"

She came out in seven outfits and sang a total of 15 songs. She started with a barely there bling-bling dress that was just enough to cover her privates and ended with a bang in a feathered Roberto Cavalli ensemble. In the middle of her performance, she would ask the audience and her band members -- "So, do you like the ensemble?" while shaking her b-o-o-t-y. As if anyone in his right frame of mind would dare say no.

A funny thing happened onstage when, as she was introducing her band members through a song, she all of a sudden said (again, half-singing), "There's some sort of bug onstage and it's scaring me," which drove the audience in stitches. The humble Pinoy ipis (cockroach ) stole the show. Maybe he was a big fan of Mariah as well.

Some people were disappointed that she didn't sing "Bringing on the Heartache," which is the latest single in her album. But most people were more than pleased with her repertoire. She sang one hit after another, showering the audience with a nonstop sprinkling of charmbracelet gooosebumps.

Her last song, "Hero," brought the house down. A friend was asking if some parts were lip-synched, but I'm not an expert on those things, so I really wouldn't know.

At the after-show party at Shangri-La's newest spot Red (the former Cheval Blanc), guests waited for her. The whole Shangri-La lobby was filled with fans who got hold of where she was staying. Security was extra strict though, so nobody could go near the spoiled songbird.

Two hours after, Globe VIPs and contest winners were ushered upstairs to the presidential suite where a meet-and-greet was to take place. Again, she made everyone wait. A member of the production staff said that she had to take a bath after the concert and had to redo her makeup.

When she arrived, everyone fell silent. She was actually big in person. Big, as in Ruffa-big. Larger than life if you want to call it that. After an hour, she was downstairs at Red for her after-concert party.

The first thing she told me when she got to the party venue was, "Too bright, too bright!" Apparently, Miss Mariah was very particular about her lighting. I panicked and told the Red staff to dim the lights. All of a sudden, the venue became dark. Thumping R&B music played on the background. Indeed, what Mariah wants, Mariah gets.

Source: Yaparazzi

Mariah Carey: A Thing and Sound of Beauty

Being a great fan of hers, I was there when Mariah Carey, celebrated New York triller, performed at The Fort Global City open field auditorium in Makati late Monday night.

Charmbracelet is her latest album, and this promotional trip around the world is dubbed, Charmbracelet Tour 2003. She was in China before here, and then Singapore after here.

The 33-year old multi-platinum singer is very good at her job, using her seven-octave voice for vocal fireworks. Her modus operandi as described by Knight Ridder: Start slow and seductive, then explode into glass-shattering histrionics. In a fixed hand-on-hip position, five-inch heels will do that to you. She doesn't have much to say, lyrically or between the songs. At times she resembled a beautiful mannequin, set to a permanent flashy smile.

"I never used to perform. That was management's choice, but I understood it. I wasn't raised in the 'Mickey Mouse Club.' I started out as a background singer; I wasn't the one out front with all that pizazz. I was standing there flat-footed. It took me a long time to feel confident."

Her best performance was My Saving Grace, introduced as "the story of my life set to music." While the gospel lyrics were more universal than personal, it was easy to read Carey's well-publicized traumas into the line, "I've loved a lot/learned a lot/been burned a lot."

Melisma, a tactic of Carey emulation. Don't hold back from trilling eight notes where one would be enough. "In the popular music sense, it's a series or group of notes surrounding the original pitch, usually maintained by one syllable, that's used in a decorative fashion," said Celeste Delgado, professor of vocal jazz and commercial music at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music.

"A lot of people think that melismatic singing, as Mariah Carey's, originated a few years ago. In actuality, it started back in Europe in the days of classical music. There are numerous improvised cadences at the ends of compositions that were very melismatic and have been through many generations of musicians."

Throughout her career, which began in 1990 with four straight No. 1 hits, Carey has sung the kind of heartbreak that great soul singers can turn into classics. Carey has experienced dream-like success and painful reality. At the turn of the millennium, the best-selling female singer of the '90s put her career on the line as never before with a new movie, a new record and a new contract estimated at $100 million.

Unfortunately, her personal anguish. a strange appearance on MTV's "TRL" and her subsequent hospitalization for an emotional and physical breakdown made all the news. This coincided with the disastrous releases of her film "Glitter" and the titular album. She took a nearly $30 million buyout to part with Virgin Records. She married Sony Music CEO Tommy Mottola in 1993 and divorced him in 1997.

The two-hour show was interrupted by Carey's seven costume changes ranging from her signature silver-halter top and mini-sarong to a sweet dress with flower print, a gown with a low back, a light-colored dress with feathers.

She opened her performance with Heartbreaker, her 1999 No. 1 hit. She nailed every high note with impressive squeaks and moans showcasing her stratospheric vocal pyrotechnics. "It is about my life and my faith. Two years ago, I was touring and promoting and sleeping one hour a night, if that. I was going through troubles with Sony. It was more than any human could possibly endure.

"I just went to therapy and did things that were healing. I think a lot of celebrities go through stuff like that and their 'people' keep it quiet. But I'm comfortable enough to say, 'Yeah, I'm human.'"

Carey admitted she's had a lot of emotional baggage to sift through. "Now I just rest during the day. I sit with my little humidifier, pampering and babying my voice."

Source: Malaya National Newspaper

Mariah, Mandy and Mom

I have always been a music buff. Even my dreams seem to have their own soundtrack! My mom loved music too. She was a die-hard Elvis Presley fan. I remember her telling me that she was so disappointed when Elvis did not respond to the fan mail she had sent him during her high school days. But when she became a celebrity herself, she realized why it wasn't humanly possible to answer each and every letter from the fans.

So it's no surprise why my daughter Bianchi and my sister Clara turned out to be music fanatics too. Their vocabulary seems to be limited to only letters, and that's M.T.V.

I know my mom was as delighted as I was when Bianchi and Clara watched Mariah Carey's awesome concert at the Fort last Sunday. They were even able to hobnob with the superstar diva at the exclusive party organized by the incomparable Tim Yap. But if my mom were around, she would not have allowed them to stay that late for the party. It was almost dawn when they got home, but the dreamy and dazed look on their faces erased whatever worries I had earlier.

When I asked them if they were able to have their pictures taken with Mariah, both said: "Who needs pictures? That night will forever be vivid in our memory!"

Bianchi and Clara still have a "Mariah hangover," but here comes another dream-come-true in the works. Both will be watching Mandy Moore's concert Thursday night -- thanks to Arnold Vegafria.

Source: Inquirer News Service

Section at the Mariah concert at The Fort

Comments stated here are based on observations I gathered from people who watched the Mariah Carey concert at The Fort: The reason she decided to come over was because two places in China canceled and somehow said slots had to be filled up to make her world tour viable! This “distinction” sort of fell on us!

If we're treated like second-class citizens in our own country, that's because we allow it! Mariah demanded first-class accommodation, such as expensive wines and a particular type of gum in the stretch limousine and hotel suite that shed stayed in, she treated Ninoy Aquino International Airport officials shabbily!

The general opinion is that Mariah gave a lackluster performance although she managed to fill up the venue! It was very clear that the Philippine leg of her world tour was just a rush, that even Mariah did not feel like impressing us with her showcase!

The only noteworthy thing she did was when she sung from her lowest to highest vocal range without any change in her facial expression or body language. Many have the opinion that Regine Velasquez is 200 percent better than Mariah in an average show!

Source: Daily Tribune

News Tidbits

-- "WiseGirls," Mariah's movie co-starring Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino, will be released on DVD in Germany on November 24, 2003. You can pre-order the DVD, which has a different cover than the American release, at amazon.de.

-- NokFun has a Mariah-themed screen saver and wallpaper, along with ringtones for "Through The Rain" and "Boy (I Need You)," among others.

-- The March 2003 edition of Latina Magazine with Mariah on the cover was featured in a recent hair product infomercial. The hosts of the show discussed Mariah's naturally curly hair and how to achieve her hair looks.

-- Log onto bet.com for a video clip and a recap of Mariah's Top 25 video countdown! Mariah chose her favorite hip-hop and R&B music videos and even included several of her own.

Source: ColdNDistant | Daniel | Honey B. Fly