We so hope Mariah Carey isn’t Facebook creeping us right now. Because if she is, it’s only a matter of time before her Jack Russells come for us. You see yesterday we made a faux-pas. A slight inaccuracy. A slip of the tongue. We posted a video of Ariana Grande performing her new single, ‘Dangerous Woman’, acapella and entitled it ‘The Voice’. But we kind of thought, well sadly Whitney is no longer with us and you hear from multiple sources that Mariah’s glory days are behind her. So, you know, Ariana seemed a suitable contender for the crown and this video proved it. But then last night we went to Cardiff and saw Mariah as part of her Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour and gurl, we could not retract that FB status fast enough.

Loverboy has been a fan of Mariah since 1992, after hearing ‘I’ll Be There.’ We know, getting hooked by a cover. It’s like saying your favourite album is a Greatest Hits. Ugh. But then we locked on to ‘Anytime You Need A Friend’. Ever the outsider at school, hearing someone sing they would be there for us, mattered more than anything. Then there was The Voice. The dance remixes of ‘Anytime You Need A Friend’ or ‘So Cold’ were other-worldly. Add to that the family life we always wanted. Hanging out with her Mom and her girlfriends on her farm in upstate New York along with her horses and jumping in the lake with her dog. We were virtually BFFs.

Bizarrely it took up till The Adventures of Mimi Tour for us to see her live but if we’re honest, the pilgrimage to Vegas last year for #1s to Infinity was #TheOne. Working her way through all her 18 US #1s brought us to tears. Hearing songs from her early years like ‘Love Takes Time’, ‘I Don’t Want To Cry’ was all too much.

But we are here to discuss last night’s show, the fifth of her her first European tour in thirteen years lest we forget. But before we even get to Miss Carey, we need to discuss the DJ. Opening with JLo’s ‘Love Don’t Cost A Thing’? Really? We can only presume he’s no longer part of the entourage.

Then fashionably late, obviously dahling, Mariah entered on a chaise longue, carried by six dancers dressed in Slick It Up no less. Sadly a blue sequined hoodie, not a bubblegum pink candy sling which we actually think would have been more apt for Mariah. Maybe next time.

But opening with the Morales Remix of ‘Fantasy’ and moving on to ‘Emotions’, one thing was evident, Ariana won’t be wearing that crown anytime soon. It’s been said many times but tonight Mariah truly was on fire.

We won’t spoil the setlist for you but we will say it provided a nice counterpart to her Vegas show with some of her hits that narrowly missed the top spot, including two songs she’s yet to perform live. There were dance remixes, ballads, mid tempo bops – the works. Even Trey Lorenz, Mariah’s famous ‘I’ll Be There’ duet partner, got his own solo with a cover of MJ’s ‘Rock With You’ and a full on dance routine.

 

Whenever Mariah Carey takes to the stage you can be sure of one thing. The audience will feel that fantasy and unleash their inner drag queen before lip syncing for their life. Their hand will reach for their ear and they’ll begin to think there truly can be miracles when you believe. That, yes, even THEY can hit that infamous whistle note.

There were a couple things we missed from Vegas. Firstly the guy who jumped the stage to hand Mariah his note about ‘leading the righteous life’ before security escorted him off swiftly. And then there were the props. It seems she left the jetski, the 50s-style chevvy and other accoutrements back in Caesar’s Palace. But when you have The Voice, that’s all they are. Props.

We left the show feeling elated and exalted. We had felt The Spirit. So apologies Mariah, we’ll never doubt you again. Wait, you are reading this, right?