March 27th, 2007 by Ramon Thomas

Thanks to Sieraaj Ahmed for remind me. Happy birthday wish to Mariah Carey from all your South African fans. We love you - and we wish you a super duper day! May all your dreams and wishes come true…

For all the fans make sure you have Mariah playing on repeat in your car, your PC, your mp3 player, hifi or whatever you use to listen to music. And wherever you can call a radio station and request Mariah.

March 14th, 2007 by Ramon Thomas

Nelson also recently recorded a song called “What a Difference a Day Makes” to benefit radio personality Don Imus’ Cattle Ranch For Kids With Cancer and co-wrote “Right to Dream” for the film “Tennessee” with Mariah Carey. “She’s a sweetheart,” Nelson says, “and she can really, really sing. It was no more left field than working with Julio Iglesias.”

Read the full article here: Billboard

March 5th, 2007 by Ramon Thomas

The Irish boyband Westlife are currently in South Africa on a promotional tour for their new album, Face to Face. An hour ago, I phoned in to talkshow “3 Talk” on SABC 3 and got the honor of talking to Westlife. I tried really hard to squeeze Mariah into the question (even though the telephone staff hinted to me not to focus the question only on Mariah but I did it anyway). Me: “I just want to let them [WestLife] know that they have amazing voices. I’ve been a really big fan from 2000, especially the “My Love” song. My question is with the song that they’ve sung with Mariah Carey, “Against All Odds,” what have they picked up and learned from her? I know she’s a huge mega star and they did say she’s basically the biggest star they collaborated with. And what other advice do they have for upcoming singers?”

Noleen, host: “Alright Evasen, thank you very much, what have you learned from Mariah Carey?”

Shane: “How professional she is.”

Mark: “Yeah, she’s very professional, I think you know she’s kind of blasted with so many rumors of her being quite stroppy and bitchy or whatever, you know all we can speak of is our personal experience with her that she was very nice, very professional, very hard-working. She worked till 6 o’ clock in the morning with us in the studio, you know, she sat there with us and made up harmony, she’s a real artist if you know what I mean, she’s not just somebody that people make her voice sound amazing by computer and stuff. She’s really involved.”

Noleen: “Yes she is, I mean her voice is incredible.”

Shane: “Incredible, yeah incredible.”

Mark: “And we learned that no matter how big you get, it’s an important quality to remain friendly and down to earth in your nature ’cause she is.”

Kian and Nicky basically agreed. Listen to an audio here…

source: http://www.mariahjournal.com/news.shtml

February 21st, 2007 by Ramon Thomas

Mariah Carey is currently jet setting around the world, having just wrapped up “The Emancipation Of Mimi” tour, promoting her new role as the face of Pinko in London, and filming the independent movie “Tennessee” in New Mexico. This superstar sure knows how to multi-task!

In between jaunts, Mariah found the time to catch up with MTV News International and was enthusiastic to talk about collaborating with rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony on their highly anticipated comeback album “Strength & Loyalty”.

Mariah Carey revealed that she will feature on their single “Lil L.O.V.E”, and explained, “it’s a favourite song of mine, I love working with them, and Bow Wow is also on that record, and it’s a nice song and I think it really kind of gives you the back in the day Bone vibe, but also a very new take on who they are as artists.”

“I have always loved blending my voice with theirs, and a lot of times people are like, I will make up a part, and people will think they made up the part, but I am so influenced by their style, that it kind of merges together.”

She went on to add, “It’s funny because so many rap artists today are influenced by Bone and they may not even realize it”.

(MTV International - Mariah Connection)

source: http://www.mcarchives.com/news/spec.asp?id=6280

February 19th, 2007 by Ramon Thomas

Mariah Carey always wears high heels - even when swimming.The singer, known for her diva demands, says she can’t wear flat shoes but can do anything in heels.

She told Britain’s The Times newspaper: “I guess I’m a heel girl. I can run in them. I could swim in them if necessary.

“I can’t wear flat shoes - they give me blisters. My babysitter used to laugh at me because when I was 12 I would always tiptoe. I couldn’t walk flat.”

Mariah, 37, also revealed she hopes scientists will have invented a cream to cure old age by the time she needs plastic surgery.

She added: “I hope when I get to the stage when I might need to contemplate cosmetic surgery there will be a cream.

“We’re still not sure what’s in Botox. I’m lucky - because of my ethnicity, I think that I’ll be able to live with the lines. But I think ageing at all is just horrible.”

February 12th, 2007 by Ramon Thomas

Do you know who has had the most number one songs on the Billboard Hot 100? Sure, the Beatles. Do you know who is second on that list and could match them this year? Mariah Carey, who has been on fire since she first broke out in the 1990s, just turned up the heat by striking a pose before the lens of famed photographers Markus Klinko and Indrani for our cover. In 20Q Carey welcomes you into her bedroom. “It was cool. She scheduled me for late at night, and we didn’t get on the phone until 10 o’clock,” interviewer Jason Buhrmester says. “She went up to her penthouse, shut the door and climbed into bed with a glass of warm milk and Frangelico. We talked for hours. It reminded me of being in high school and staying on the phone with a girl all night. I think the interview has a very intimate feel.”Mariah Carey

Our sexy cover girl with the big voice reveals all about that tiff with Eminem, acting goofy on MTV, her wardrobe malfunction and why, at heart, she’s really a prude by Jason Buhrmester

Q1
Playboy: On the song “Get Your Number” from your album The Emancipation of Mimi, you sing about picking up a guy at a club and taking him home. Is that something you would ever do?

Carey: No. Here’s the problem with me — well, one of them. [laughs] I can be flirtatious when I don’t mean to be. Let’s say we are at a club, me and some friends, and we’re hanging out with guys. If I’m sitting there and a song I like comes on, because I’m a singer, I start moving. It’s just what I do. I don’t realize I’m sitting there doing a video in somebody’s face. I end up being very flirtatious, and people take it the wrong way. I’m very much a prude. But I don’t want to disappoint people, so maybe we shouldn’t discuss that.

Q2
Playboy: But on the song “Say Somethin’” you sing, “I’m over here looking at you/You’re over there watching me too/Both painting pictures of how we’ll kiss and f***.” That doesn’t sound prudish to us.

Carey: I didn’t say that! There’s an f and a few squiggly little letters. [laughs] And that was the producer Pharrell’s idea. He just wanted to shock everybody. I was like, “All right, Pharrell, if this will make you happy.” That was one of those little sexy moments.

Q3
Playboy: Last year you clashed with Eminem after he claimed the two of you had been romantically involved. Then he reportedly sent you a letter of apology. What did it say?

Carey: Something is clearly askew with him, and I’m not quite sure what it is. I just heard something else he recently said about me. I’m curious as to why he’s so obsessed with me. I never got an apology letter, by the way; I don’t know what they’re talking about. Then again, I wasn’t exactly searching my mailbox for it.

Q4
Playboy: Your mother is Irish American and your father was African American and Venezuelan. When did you realize being biracial made you different?

Carey: When I was in kindergarten. Our assignment was to draw our family. The two kindergarten teachers were really young. I don’t think they meant any harm, but they were looking over my shoulder and giggling because I drew my family the way I saw them. My mom was peach, my brother and sister and I were in the middle somewhere, and my father was brown. They said to me, “You made a mistake, Mariah.” I said, “No, that’s my father. That’s what he looks like.” They didn’t believe me. It was as though I’d taken a green crayon and made him green. All of a sudden they stopped laughing because I was confused and upset. Their laughter kind of trickled off, and they walked away and started whispering. They never looked at me the same way again.

Q5
Playboy: On “I Wish You Knew” you sing about having an inferiority complex. What makes you shy?
Carey: I think I have an all-around inferiority complex from growing up biracial and feeling as if I didn’t fit in. I didn’t feel pretty as a little girl. The entertainment business is an extension of high school, so I’m still my own little class clown. Maybe I overcompensate by having a big personality. I’m usually pretty boisterous now.

Q6
Playboy: How old were you when you started singing?
Carey: I was four. My mom used to sing with the New York City Opera. She made her debut at Lincoln Center and had gone to Juilliard. I think by the time I came around she wasn’t singing professionally, but she still practiced here and there. She tells the story of when she was doing the opera Rigoletto, and at one point I corrected her because she’d made a mistake. That’s when she realized I had a good ear.

Q7
Playboy: At what point did you know you wanted to make singing your career?
Carey: From the point I knew one could have a career, I knew it was what I wanted to do. I wanted to be either a singer or a genie. [laughs] When I realized that being a genie wasn’t an actual option, I went with singing.

Q8
Playboy: How did you start your career in music?
Carey: When I was little I auditioned for Annie. I wanted to be in Annie because it was the big show on Broadway. I was too tall, but I’m kind of thinking I was too ethnic as well. [laughs] I auditioned with a black wig. Even the wig color wasn’t right which is weird because my nana on my father’s side had a penchant for red wigs. I probably could have borrowed one of hers, but nobody thought of it.

Q9
Playboy: If American Idol had existed when you were young, would you have auditioned?
Carey: Remember Star Search? That was around, and I didn’t audition for it. I didn’t think it was for me. I know everybody thinks I’m the poster child for American Idol, but I was really shy when I first came out as a performer. My mother wasn’t a stage mom. She was more of a hippie.

Q10
Playboy: Randy Jackson from American Idol has worked as your director for several years. Did you ever imagine he’d be a star?

Carey: Randy Jackson — well, now we have to call him Randy Jackson of American Idol — had worked with me since my first record. I’ve known him for so long, and now he’s a huge star. It’s just weird to me. We’ll get mobbed walking down the street. You know how the band is introduced at a show? My little joke used to be that he was Michael Jackson’s brother, and the crowd would believe me and go crazy.

Q11
Playboy: You have a lot of wardrobe changes during your show. Have you ever had a malfunction?
Carey: Oh please, there have been so many. [laughs] On this tour there was a really bad malfunction when my top popped open. It was this little top with a hook and eye on the front. It was a nightmare. The top was so tight that night because we girls have moments when the top might be tighter, but I caught it, and that’s how you know a pro. I had to continue singing as well. So the microphone was in one hand, and with the other hand I scooped the upper region together and kept singing the words, “Stop the track! Stop the track! Stop it!” They did not understand. I had to go back and come out in a fabulous dress and tell the crowd, “Guys, I’m sorry, but we would have had a major malfunction, and I’m not going to be the one responsible for that happening.”

Q12
Playboy: What would we have heard on the demo that got you signed?
Carey: I think it sounded really good, actually, I always wanted to work. I would record and write all night and then go to school. I was on my own. I was in high school, and I would drive into the city and try to drive home and always get lost. I’d wind up in the Bronx or somewhere in Queens, not knowing where I was going at all. I don’t have any sense of direction.

Q13
Playboy: You were a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr when she gave your demo to Tommy Mottola from Sony Music Entertainment. How did that happen?

Carey: I was pretty broke. I was working for Brenda, but that was an on-again, off-again thing. In the winter when I didn’t have a coat, she and her mom brought me a winter coat and some food. They felt bad for me. I was this girl who would sing and write songs. At one point Brenda asked me if I wanted her to record some of the songs from my demo, but I said, “No, I’m going to be recording these songs.” I always believed I was going to do this. There was never a lack of faith or determination or belief in myself. When Tommy Mottola first saw me, he was like, “Who’s that?” Brenda told him I was a backup singer and her friend and gave him my tape. I’ll never forget that moment. It was one of the destined-to-be moments, like from an after-school special.

Q14
Playboy: Mottola signed you to Sony, and you two later married but then divorced after four years, which led to struggles with your record label. What was going on?

Carey: Well, let’s face it, as the professional relationship turned into a personal one, it all became a complete and total mess. When we met I didn’t know he was married. I didn’t know he had kids. I didn’t know the folklore about him. People would tell me stuff and then be like, “Oops! You didn’t know that?” It was weird. Once I became a celebrity, Tommy decided we were going to live in the boondocks. In a way it protected me, but then it got to be too much protection. I guess because I grew up in a pretty dysfunctional environment I allowed myself to deal with things most people wouldn’t. My tolerance level for dysfunction was really high. I refer to the home we shared as Sing Sing because all I did was sing, sing, sing. It really wasn’t a stone groove, as I would say. [laughs] I think I would have still been in the relationship because that’s the way I am as far as loyalty. I would have remained in that relationship had it been one inch less confining. Even though I was miserable in my personal life, I lived vicariously through the girl on TV wearing Pumas and jean shorts and a flannel.

Q15
Playboy: Where is your wedding ring now?
Carey: It somehow miraculously became earrings. Then I lost them. I lost them in Amsterdam, no less.

Q16
Playboy: In 2001 it was reported that you had suffered an emotional breakdown. What really happened?
Carey: What happened was that people made a big deal of when my old publicist pulled the microphone out of my hand because I was venting about Howard Stern. [laughs] No one knew it, actually. Howard Stern had said a lot of mean stuff about me that morning, as he does about everybody every morning, and I think it really got to me. I handle him pretty well, but that particular day it was about how I looked fat. Calm down. So I gained five pounds. It’s not the end of the freakin’ world. Maybe what he was talking about was relevant; maybe it was time to lose a few pounds. But I was exhausted, and I did collapse later. Then everybody blew it out of proportion.

Q17
Playboy: A big deal was made of the messages you recorded for your website and an appearance on TRL during which you handed our Popsicles and performed a brief striptease.

Carey: I thought it was strange that the legitimate press talked about TRL and things geared toward 14-year-old kids. Come on — I’ve been on MTV, having food fights and doing stupid stuff for I don’t even know how long. That’s what it’s about. It’s not about taking oneself seriously. It’s not a Barbara Walters moment. It’s not Larry King or Charlie Rose. It was amazing to me how things got blown out of proportion because there was nothing else to talk about. And then my movie Glitter was such a bomb, but no one ever pointed out that it came out around September 11, 2001.

Q18
Playboy: When was the last time you watched Glitter?
Carey: I try not to. I try to avoid it. Actually, I don’t mind it. There are moments that make me laugh, and I don’t care. I was fortunate to do Wisegirls right after that, with Mira Sorvino. A lot of people didn’t see it, but it received a standing ovation at Sundance and did very well critically. It was an amazing experience for me because I got to play a character role. I did a lot of ad-libbing and worked with an Academy Award-winning actress.

Q19
Playboy: You bought Marilyn Monroe’s childhood piano for more than $600,000. What made you want it?
Carey: I had to fight for it. It was pretty cool. I’d never done any type of bidding on anything before. My world-famous decorator was on the phone, asking me how high I wanted to go, and I kept telling him, “I have to have this piano!” That piano is a symbolic thing. In Marilyn’s autobiography there is a chapter called “How I Rescued a White Piano.” It was the only thing she had from her childhood. I know it was expensive, but it was important to me. It’s in my will that if anything should happen to me, the piano goes to a museum, which is where I think it should have gone in the first place.

Q20
Playboy: This year you’ll have your star added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. If you could rearrange the stars, whose would you like yours to be next to?

Carey: You mean I can’t move them all around? Come on! I’m going to request a reshuffling, then we can talk about it.

Source: Playboy | Scans & Text: Mariah Journal

January 12th, 2007 by Ramon Thomas

PAUL McCartney and Mariah Carey - or some combination thereof - might appear on this season’s “American Idol,” which premières Tuesday.The superstars’ names are the ones most prominently mentioned to grace the “Idol” stage at some point - and “Idol” executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz isn’t squelching the talk.

“Nothing’s locked,” she told the Associated Press about McCartney. “We’ve had discussions with him over the years.

“It’s always a matter of making it work.”

“Idol” judge Randy Jackson is a friend of Carey - and he says he and Mariah have “tossed it around a bit” about her appearing on the show.

No one would take this kind of talk seriously if reclusive rocker Prince hadn’t materialized unannounced on last season’s finale - shocking a Hollywood audience and viewers with an electrifying performance. Now, it seems like the show can attract the biggest music superstar. And who wouldn’t want to appear on TV’s biggest show?

“The fact we can get Prince is a real tribute to the show . . . [now] who knows who we can get?” said Frot-Coutaz. Sales is at the bottom of it. CD sales are seriously down again this year and TV is the way now to move records. Leona Lewis, the winner of “Idol” judge Simon Cowell’s British show, “The X Factor,” is also rumored to be making an appearance on “Idol” this season.

Her version of the “Idol” theme “A Moment Like This,” topped the British charts late last year.

January 9th, 2007 by Ramon Thomas

Just before Christmas I flew out of Heathrow to NYC’s JFK airport to begin my yearly adventure with my Xmas cousin Mariah Carey. Once settled in MC’s Manhattan apartment, 15 of us (including MC’s bestest mates Maryann, Rachel, Trey Lorenz, and brothers Shawn and Mikey), took off in a convoy of black Maybachs to the sound of carols as we made our way to a private airfield where a Christmas-themed jet awaited us.

We toasted the start of our adventure with DP champagne as we headed to Aspen, Colorado. On our decent into Aspen the snow fell wildly and we could see reindeer and wild horses running about beneath us - it looked so cool. Our first night was spent exploring Mimi’s lodge in the mountains where we were staying: A marvellous six-bedroom house.

Many 4am-moments saw us swigging the Pinot in MC’s jacuzzi with the night sky twinkling above us as Evil G, MC’s brother Shawn, played the best hip-hop sets on his iPod. MC encouraged us all to slip into our bikinis - with the boys in their trunks - and jump in and out of the house hottub and snow.

Our housekeeper Maggie woke us daily with the aroma of breakfast cooking and boy could she rustle up a fingerlickin’ brekky. On our second night in Aspen MC had a surprise planned. She had 50 kids from a special care home driven from Denver to Aspen where she arrived with Santa on a sleigh pulled by nine real reindeer. The kids had the time of their lives as MC and Santa gave them gifts of cameras and CD players.

The following night our really cute 18-year-old driver Cody told me that Method Man and Redman were performing that very night. Yes. Really. This really rich, white, city had a hip-hop scene. It had to be seen to be believed so I told MC and we excitedly went to Bellyup, where the troublesome duo were in the flesh. The club show was ultra fun but not a touch on a real gully London street vibe.

Twenty of us spent Xmas day opening gifts, screaming, eating and lazing about in our Xmas T-shirts. Amongst my gifts were a Gucci candle, Juicy couture socks and bracelet, a Ralph Lauren cashmere scarf, a sexy little black dress, a shower scrubber with ’nuff accessories, a sequin clutch handbag, Elton John fireside aroma rocks, lots of silly board games, and some very pip jewellry.

I gave MC some cute undies (just the type she likes), a solid silver yo-yo (engraved with “MC you make my world go round, JD”) which she showed off doing tricks with, a very sexy slinky dress by London designer Kesh who made it extra low at the front and back with a big bow at the booty and a diamond hanging slinkily down MC’s back (which she paraded in), a blinging gold and grey Rolling Stones lips T-shirt from Topshop and the one she really loved - a black hoodie graffiti tagged by London-based graff artist Batlow who blazed the piece up with pink and violet diamonte. Heavy. (I can’t talk about her other gifts as they’re a little naughty.)

On our last night we attended a party for Aspen Peak magazine, where MC was the guest of honour. She wore the Rolling Stones lips T-shirt and looked ultra fly with her limited edition not-in-the-stores-yet Louis Vuitton boots. Once MC had worked the red carpet the party could really begin as she held court in the DJ booth with DJ Suss who was flown out from NYC specially. Suss threw down crazy beats but as you can imagine the Aspen crowd weren’t familiar with all the ones we were going crazy to. (In fact they requested stuff like Harry Connick Junior. Sheesh.)

Then Seal and his missus supermodel Heidi Klum joined us and we all hung out, danced and chatted for a bit - they were so sweet. At midnight we sped off to the Caribou Club before being whisked straight to Rifle (private) airfield at 2am for our flight back to NYC. MC has given me a lifetime of memories and adventures that I won’t believe took place when I look back at 80 years of age. My holiday adventure didn’t end there, eight hours later we jumped on another jet en route to South Africa for Oprah Winfrey’s New Year’s Eve party. Readers, can you bear to miss your “Juice” next week?

(The Voice)

January 3rd, 2007 by Ramon Thomas

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls officially opened its doors to the first 152 girls to start their high school careers with the hope of emerging as the future women leaders of South Africa.

It is the first school of its kind in South Africa, with the focus on structuring its curriculum towards shaping the young promising girls into power-houses in their future careers and endeavours.

The Academy boasts a 28-building campus that has every imaginable amenity to ensure that every educational need of the girls is taken care of. It includes state-of-the-art classroom, computer and science laboratories as well as a theatre, a boarding house and a hair salon, among many others.

The boarding house is home away from home for the girls. Ms Winfrey personally saw to all the details of what the hostel would be like to make it special for the girls. This home environment is especially important as the girls will go home every 3 months.

The Academy will be under the leadership of Ms Joan Countryman, who is the Interim Head of the Academy for the next year or so. Ms Countryman has extensive experience and expertise in the education field, having also served on several university boards within the United States. She undertakes to oversee the hiring of staff, developing policies, building programs and procedures, amongst other things.

The official opening saw the girls rubbing shoulders with local and international dignitaries and celebrities who came to witness and share Oprah’s 6-year dream come to fruition.

Former state president Nelson Mandela was the guest of honour, with Gauteng Education MEC Angie Motshekga and the country’s education minister Naledi Pandor giving heart-felt speeches at the ceremony.

Motshekga expressed how honoured Gauteng was to be the host of this great school and congratulated Oprah for the success of building a school that is set to equip and support the girl child.

Addressing the criticism that came in light of the announcement of this project Naledi Pandor said:” …this is a wonderful gift to South Africa and to the children of our country. We are indeed proud to be part of the chosen few who benefit in this way from the philanthropy for which Oprah has become extremely famous.”

Andrew Young, American civil rights activist and the former mayor of Atlanta was also present, saying that when one looks at any part of the world where women are in leadership, things flourish and he sees that the school will turn out future leaders of South Africa.

Wangari Maathai from Kenya, first female African Nobel Peace price winner of 2004 said of the Academy: “I am sure it will transform the lives of the girls who walk through these gates, so we are really privileged to be here as part of history of opening this new chapter in investing in the education of women and especially in leadership.

Kenny “Babyface” Edmond, who was among the many celebrity faces at the opening, jokingly said that he would think about being the music teacher at the school. Also making an appearance was Tina Turner, Tyler Perry, Kimberly Elise, Chris Tucker, Mariah Carey and many other celebrities.

The school so far has 16 teachers in its employ, all of whom are South African. The number will grow as each year 75 more students are enrolled in the Grade 7 class. There will eventually be 450 students from Grade 7 to Grade 12 in the school.

The curriculum will include English, Zulu and South Sotho languages, as well as arts and culture, life orientation and leadership, maths, natural sciences and technology, social, economic and management sciences.

With classes set to start on the 15th of January, the girls are going through orientation to help them fit in to the life of the school and to ready them for the academic demands ahead of them.

After high school, Oprah has also promised to personally see that the girls have the opportunity to attend any university in the world that they might want to attend.

Oprah’s involvement in the everyday running of the school will continue to be very close, and she is in the process of building her own house on the premises to ensure close contact with the girls and school.

Most of the teachers will also be residents of the school, living in the senior dormitories. The girls will also have two house mothers living with them in each dormitory.

The Academy’s COO, John Samuel, addressed the criticism that only black girls were admitted into the school, saying that other races were admitted to the school, and that the demographic of the school was representative of that of the country.

The Academy does not have a mission statement as yet, as Oprah wants the girls to participate in its development.

The Academy is however, not the only school project Oprah Winfrey has for South Africa. Later in the month, a school for both boys and girls is set to open its doors in Kwazulu-Natal. As many as 1000 children will have the opportunity to part the student body of the school.

Sunday Times Online

March 19th, 2003 by Ramon Thomas

You will never guess what - I SAW MARIAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I subscribe to the “Mariah Live” mailling list and got a chance to be in her new music video “Bringin’ on the heartbreak” ! The video is shot as part of a rock concert, so we got to be fans in the crowd at her concert for the video! And it was free. I was so anxious with anticipation - the thought of just getting to see in person was overwhelming me. I couldn’t believe that I was going to get this chance.

So a friend of mine and I got there at 5:30pm and we waited outside for 2 hours before we went inside, then waited again till eventually she came out. She was stunning. She just had to wave and the crowd went mad. I’ll never forget that feeling when I got my first glimpse of her. The crowd went wild and the screams were deafening. It was so exciting - I was jumping up and down It was like I was the only one in the uditorium and no one was watching me going crazy :)  I couldn’t take my eyes off her. We were like 12 rows from the front, then there was a section for the cameras and then the stage. I was so excited that I was a mere 15 meters from Mariah! Then she was being interviewed by different tv channels and then came on stage and said she’s gonna change for the video shoot and will be back. We waited so long while the crew setup the lighting and cameras. There is such a lot of work involved in making the video.

Carmen Elektra was also there and she walked around and shook some peoples hands before the shoot started. Mariah eventually emerged again at about 11pm. Then the fun started. It was awesome. She chatted to the audience before starting and it was so nice and personal. Then they rolled cameras and played back the song and she started performing. It was so exciting and so much fun. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Randy Jackson (ajudge from American Idol) was there and he was playing the guitar! Dave Navarro was also there playing the guitar. Trey Lorenz was there singing backup vocals.They had about 5 takes (performed the song about 5 times), then she took a break and they shot some more footage until about 1:30am. She then said they are going to regroup and move the cameras around a bit and she went backstage. So we waited and waited again. A lot of people left and we just stayed right there waiting for more. We started falling asleep on thechairs. There was no way I was leaving until it was over
Eventually at like 3am she came back and things started happening again. As it had emptied out alot, Serina and I went down to the stage area (which was originally reserved for the paid fans). We stood rightat the stage and got to see her really close up. She performed the song again about 3 or 4 times. And we were right there at the stage reaching out to her and screaming. I was about 2 meters from her! I could see the make-up on her face, and the fine golden hairs on her thighs!!! Yes, she wore a dress that was reallyshort in front and long at the back. And humongous stiletto heels.

Then they said they got enough footage so she came over and spoke to us standing around the stage. She started signing autographs, and all I had was aprintout of the email, so I held it out and she took it and signed it!!!!!!!!!! I didn’t even think of taking a poster or cd cover as I never thought I’d get a chance to get an autograph. Anyway, I got her autograph. And because she was standing right there and talking to us, I asked if I could shake her hand and then she turned to look at me and then MARIAH SHOOK MY HAND!!! Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh can you believe it??? It was so cool. After all this time of wishing to just go to her concert or see her in the distance, I get to touch her! Isn’t it awesome? I can’t believe it. I’ve been waiting so long to see her - and then I get more than I even wished for. My dream came true.

I’m so happy. Yeah!!!!

I’m so glad we waited - it was well worth the wait. I only got home at 5am. So when I see the video of “Bringin’ in the heartbreak” I can say I was there - part of the crowd I can’t wait to see the video.

Anyway, I just HAD to tell you guys. I am so so thrilled.

Oh, her management company handed out their business cards to us while we stood in line. They are TORCH ENTERTAINMENT MANAGEMENT GROUP. Could she have
different management companies in NY and LA? I can find out though - and let you know. I have attached acopy of the card - please let me know if you were able to read it.

Do you ever look at mariahcarey.com? Under the fan section you can ask Mariah a question - perhaps she will answer. I just sent a question yesterday and hope that she’ll respond.

Take care. Let me know that you’ve received this email. And please keep in touch!!! Okay?

Luv, Lynette