PRESS & FANS REVIEWS: MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

Recenze fanoušků i tisku na silvestrovský koncert v Madison Square Garden.

A Pop Star in Her Own Time Zone - By Jon Caramanica – New York Times

The holiday happens when Mariah Carey says it happens, which is why, on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, the New Year's Eve countdown was maybe a minute after the fact. And more important, why Ms. Carey began the show suspended above the crowd in a red sled, drenched in red tulle, singing, "All I Want for Christmas Is You."

What, you're going to complain? Ms. Carey could have delivered that song in the middle of August and still pulled it off. Twenty years after her debut album, she remains a ferocious, inventive singer, right even when she's wrong. And surprisingly, she has become a versatile one, too, as famous for the epic-scale ballads she first made her name with as for her slick entree into crossover hip-hop soul.

"Some people like my slow songs, and some people like my fast songs, and it gets so confusing," she said after "Touch My Body," early in her set. "What should I do?"

The answer was slow it down — maybe a little too soon — with the delicately strained "H.A.T.E.U.," from her new album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" (Island). Throbbing and deliberate as a heartbeat, it was Ms. Carey at her isolated best, and a reminder that she's a complete anomaly in modern pop: an R&B singer who doesn't have to dance to prove her point. Apart from a few sashays during "Shake It Off," she barely broke form here, even when the tempos crept up to sweat level. (She made savvy use of her quicker older material, like "Make It Happen" and "Fantasy [remix]," which the band played during costume-change interludes until she rejoined them.)

So many of Ms. Carey's early hits were sturdy, bombastic and slow, and even though she has successfully sped up (and lightened up) in the last decade, it often feels as if she missed the sheer scale of her old material. Here, her band was on an elevated platform far behind her, and she was only sometimes surrounded by dancers. For large swaths of the night, she stood alone, and still.

Balladry is all but dead in popular music — Susan Boyle notwithstanding — but Ms. Carey has learned how to game the system with songs that appear to have multiple tempos all at once, languorous vocals set against steady beats. In this grand setting it was clearer than ever that tracks like "We Belong Together" and "Angels Cry (remix)" are merely slow records masquerading as fast.

There wasn't quite enough time to explore such nuances, though: this was only half a concert, in spirit and in length. It was casual, with bursts of dancer disarray, and Ms. Carey talking to the crowd about the instructions she was receiving through her earpiece. After the countdown, dozens of friends and crew members came out onstage to dance even while Ms. Carey sang, making her into a disco diva delivering from the middle of the floor.

That lasted for a distractingly long spell, until Ms. Carey closed the night, a bit abruptly, with a sinus-clearing, room-shattering version of her 1993 hit "Hero," one of her most titanic ballads.

It hushed the crowd, but when Ms. Carey finished, she was back to giggles, picking up the banter with her husband, Nick Cannon, that she'd been having on and off since the countdown. They should be filmed, always, their blend of cute and beleaguered consistently entertaining.

A few minutes after midnight, when the crowd had been doused with confetti, she told Mr. Cannon that she wanted more. "Some more confetti?" he asked incredulously. "I'm going to see if I can work that out." She made a comment about her dress, to which Mr. Cannon replied: "You look hot in that. Madison Square Garden, tell her how sexy she looks!"

At the end of the night, Mr. Cannon tried to lead his wife offstage through a door at the back, but she resisted, saying she wanted to walk off the side, through the cluster of friends who had been standing there since the countdown. She play-pushed him aside and marched off. Mr. Cannon gave a knowing look to the crowd, pointed at his wife, grinned madly and ran after her.


Mariah Carey Trades Show for Celebration on NYE in New York - By Caryn Ganz – Rolling Stone

Mariah Carey emerged on New Year's Eve at New York's Madison Square Garden in the most fantastically fairy-tale like manner possible: suspended above the audience in a red sleigh, singing her remixed version of "All I Want For Christmas Is You." It was a moment of blissful spectacle befitting the special night and Carey's fascination with perpetual childhood. "Eternally 12!" she exclaimed several songs later, spotting a sign in the crowd announcing her motto (she'll turn 40 years old in March). A few seconds later she showed off another of her signature personality traits. "I need some lipstick real quick and my hair fluffed," she proclaimed, adding, "They say I'm a diva so, might as well act like one."

A crew of male dancers joined Carey for "Shake It Off" and "Touch My Body," after which she addressed the crowd — which included Precious star Gabourey Sidibe — for the first of what would become many times. Noting the title of the next song "might be off-putting, I don't mean it to you," she launched into "H.A.T.E.U." from her most recent album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and then vanished for a costume change while her dancers grooved to "Make It Happen" (she returned in time to belt the closing verse).

Carey is known more for her vocal prowess and huge personality than her stage shows, and the concert — the first date on her Angels Advocate Tour, her first since 2006's The Adventures of Mimi trek — delivered far more on the big notes and bizarre monologues than impressive choreography and set design. She requested a drink before "Subtle Invitation" ("I need some champagne, I don't care what Debbie Allen says"), complained about her mic pack ("If this thing falls off my dress one more time I'm going to beat you"), and mused on the passage of time ("I never thought I'd live to see 2010 because I'm eternally 12").

Images of Ol' Dirty Bastard rapping his intro to "Fantasy" filled the video screens at two minutes to midnight, and Carey began the song, then suddenly stopped to count down to the new year as blasts of confetti, streamers and balloons filled the air. When the air had cleared, Carey soldiered on with "Obsessed" and "Migrate" as her crew milled around the stage, dancing with each other and partying in 2010 (at one point, they broke into a spontaneous Electric Slide). Carey's husband Nick Cannon rocked from side to side behind a set of turntables, encouraging the crowd and Mariah to finish strong. "You look sexy in that!" he shouted to the singer before "Emotions" after she admitted she preferred a different dress.

The flood of unrehearsed comments didn't phase the crowd, who had come to see Carey in all her off-the-cuff diva glory. From her stream-of-consciousness voicemails on her Website to her legendary Cribs appearance, Carey has given her fans something few pop artists are willing to reveal: honesty. She managed to put all the distractions behind her for a glorious final song, 1993's "Hero." Then she took Cannon's arm, yelled her thanks to the sold-out arena ("I love you so much!") and ambled offstage.


FAN REVIEWS

Danny: "After the opening acts, which lasted far too long in my opinion, Mariah came out in a sleigh! At first I was like where the hell is she, and I look up toward the ceiling and there she is! I was like OMG! Then she did the usual setlist (Shake It Off, Touch My Body, etc.) and so I thought it was going to be the same as Vegas, but then I hear some scary music start playing and it lasts for like a minute. And I'm like what is this?! And then I hear the beginning part and I'm like I know this, I know this! So I grabbed my camera and tried to record and it was Love Hangover! I was like dayum! Then it was weird, she did We Belong Together and I was like Oh no, the show is ending already? But then she came out and did the Fantasy dance mix and then immediately as it ended, she started the countdown to New Year at like 15 seconds. Then there was some pyro and a ton of balloons and confetti falling on us. She couldn't remember the words to Auld Lang Syne. Then she did Obsessed and Migrate and More Than Just Friends which was random. But then she asked the audience if they wanted to hear an old school song. And everyone of course did. And I was like, oh lawd her idea of old school is gonna be Always Be My Baby or something. And then Emotions came on and I started to cry. She sang the hell out of it! I was so impressed!"

Vinny: She sang the f*** out of Emotions like it was the '90s! I was floored! And she killed Subtle Invitation so well you think she lipped it but she didn't! More Than Just Friends wasn't really on the setlist. Nick spun the record from the DJ booth and she was adlibbing. Same with Migrate. After Obsessed it was a party on the stage and it was my favorite part. Angels Cry and H.A.T.E.U. weren't completely mimed, but they were heavy on the backing track. It was a GREAT show!"

Nicole: "I was surprised as hell when she opened up with All I Want For Christmas Is You. I have been waiting forever to hear her perform a Christmas song and it was amazing! Cute how she was hanging above us in the beginning. Shake It Off and Touch My Body were great as always. Then she left and came bak to finish up Make It Happen 'cause it started with the instrumental. I cried during Angels Cry it was beautifully done. Subtle Invitation is my jam! I'm so glad she's giving Charmbracelet some light. Loved the cute lounge chair just like the Vegas show. Some folks didn't know this song I was like, Get with it y'all need to buy Charmbracelet ASAP! I almost pissed in my pants when I heard Love Hangover. Once again most fools sitting around our area didn't know it and were looking lost but we were bumping! OMG I'm still in shock! The Fantasy Remix came on later and everyone went wild. We were all rapping with O.D.B. lol. Then everyone started counting down and I was like it's already time lol. She sang Auld Lang Syne then balloons, confetti, etc. It was great! It was like a big party on stage. Everyone dancing, drinking champagne. At one point they were doing what lookd like the electric slide LOL. I was suprised that she did More Than Just Friends. I was hoping for Up Out My Face but it kept the party going. Then by the time Emotions came around she seemed a little tipsy and nailed that song. By that time she seemed super relaxed, comfortable and having a blast. The end with Hero came way too soon I was like, That's it? I didn't realize that she did damn near 20 songs Haha. I thought she would change outfits more like usual but she didn't. And I was surprised we didn't get the usual Butterfly reprise closing that I'm used to. Overall she was amazing and thoroughly entertaining. I had a blast!"

Ashante: "The show was amazing! When she came down in a red sleigh the crowd was on their feet! Every song was perfect. Towards the end when she was singing More Than Just Friends her ear piece broke but everything else was amazing. When the whole stadium counted down it was a great start to 2010!"