Mariah Carey: Official Topic

[LuisMa]

Despite 5 strong debuts higher than Mariah on the UK Singles Chart, #Beautiful stays put at number 24 yet again.

 

 

[Si J'etais Quelqu'un]

i'd suggest u to listen to "Charbracelet" albm LAST ...coz i think that was her weakest albm. it still had a few great ballads though. Mariah wasnt at her best on Divas live 1998. she was in the middle of her "Around the world" tour & her vocal chords were sore

 

Charmbracelet is totally naff. I get so sick of seeing reviews for the album at the time calling it a "back to basics" album. If that were true I'd like it a lot more than I do. It's like 10 overlong, overcooked slow jams delivered with overdubbed whisper vocals and the occasional hollow, dry chesty ad-lib and then a few more tuneless midtempos marred by rent-a-rappers.

 

Also, this never ceases to destroy me. The second verse is painful. If anyone was ever curious to hear how Vision of Love would sound if performed within the confines of a single octave.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQxwnFTtZbg

Edited June 9, 2013 at 08:07 PM by Si J'etais Quelqu'un

[Yangedd]

I wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with her vocals, but then again I'm not a huge fan that would know she was in the middle of a tour

[Nikosn17]

Lmao at that performance of VOL. She did the best she could with what she got that night.

[LuisMa]

As Mariah and Selena Gomez are both releasing their anticipated albums on July 23rd, Billboard has a poll on which one we are excited about the most. Mariah is currently winning by more than 2000 votes.

 

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/1566285/mariah-carey-vs-selena-gomez-which-july-23-album-are-you-most

[Bell]

Voted. 54.95% for Mimi. Edited June 12, 2013 at 05:51 PM by Bell

[LuisMa]

Mariah inches closer to adding another Top 10 single to her amazing chart career, as she moves up 17-15 on the Billboard Hot 100!

 

 

[Bell]

As Mariah and Selena Gomez are both releasing their anticipated albums on July 23rd, Billboard has a poll on which one we are excited about the most. Mariah is currently winning by more than 2000 votes.

 

http://www.billboard...um-are-you-most

Seems like we can vote more than once. I just did it for the second time. Mariah now has 55.17% of the votes.

[Si J'etais Quelqu'un]

Leave it to Mariah to steal the spotlight every time.

 

http://www.vibe.com/sites/vibe.com/files/styles/main_image/public/article_images/vibe-vixen-Mariah-Carey-The-Butler-600x354.jpg

 

Just weeks before the highly-anticipated August 16 release of Lee Daniels’s The Butler, which is based on the life of legendary White House service worker Eugene Allen, who served eight presidents from 1952 to 1986 and stars Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, co-star Mariah Carey is surprisingly the center of attention.

 

A photo from the movie of Carey as the character Hattie Pearl, whom many presume is a field slave picking cotton, has sparked lively discussion,especially on theGrio, since it was leaked yesterday.

 

Initially several Grio readers commented that Carey’s character, if she exists during the slavery era, would have been a “house” slave due to her skin color and mixed race heritage. Other readers like Kimberly Whitehead challenged the prevailing notion that all “mulattos” were house slaves.

 

The house vs. field debate

 

“Due to contrary belief,” Whitehead wrote, “ALL MULATTOES DIDN’T WORK IN THE HOUSE [sic]. . .they worked in the field too . . .” Since depictions of fairer-skinned slaves on screen and in books have almost exclusively tagged them as house slaves only, comments like Whitehead’s enlightened many.

 

“Yes, most light skinned slaves were in the house but not all and some were out in the fields to “watch” the others,” co-signed Grio reader Dionne Dobbins of Cheverly, Maryland. “Plus, there were only so many positions in the house,” she adds.

 

According to pioneering women’s history scholar Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, female slaves were not usually exclusively house slaves.

 

“On the largest plantations, especially the more pretentious ones, a woman was more likely to be sent from the house to help out in the fields than the reverse,” wrote Fox-Genovese in her classic Within the Plantation Household: Black and White Women of the Old South.

 

Also many female slaves, regardless of color, often grew up around the house, helping older female slaves in the house as well as serving as playmates to the master’s little girls. So, at different points, they could have easily have worked in both the house and in the fields. It was mostly dependent upon need. Also, it is important to note that a large number of house slaves were not mulatto.

 

Proving this point, Ardra Hutchinson posted that “No, before my great aunt died she was Carey’s complexion. She told of having to eat out of the pig trough just to get enough to eat and work in the field. And the darker complexions worked in the kitchen because they could cook.”

 

A surprisingly positive reaction to the role

 

Interesting, overall, is the positive response to the presumption that Mariah Carey’s character plays a field slave.

 

“I love the idea!” posted Kim Clark of Riverdale, Georgia. “I’m proud she is growing as an Actress! [sic]”

 

Viola Davis did not receive universal praise for playing a maid in The Help, which was set in Jim Crow-era Mississippi, so one would presume Mariah Carey playing a “field slave” would have generated some backlash. Perhaps this is because the audience sees Carey’s willingness to play such a role as an admission of her status as a black woman, especially since some feel she did not readily identify herself with black culture in the past.

 

“Folks need to stop ignoring the fact that she is black,” posted Tamara Inthelab Graham in reference to Carey. “On every plantation there were mixed children. ON EVERY one.”

 

It’s surprisingly that a simple photo from The Butler, with no confirmation as to what role Carey actually plays, would generate this kind of response and positive conversation. As Badili Ifadoyin Jones-Goodhope of Miami posted in support of Kimberly Whitehead’s comment, “It’s time to break all the color stereotypes about who worked where because of their skin color.”

 

“There was a lot more complexity about our history than people want to acknowledge,” added commenter Dionne Dobbs.

 

The Django effect

 

And certainly the debate surrounding Quentin Tarantino’s blockbuster film Django Unchained, which was set during slavery, demonstrated that.

While Tarantino has been called out for not presenting a realistic view of slavery by some critics, there is no denying Django’s impact on the public’s consciousness. A year ago, would readers have been as open to the idea of Carey even playing a slave if Django had not performed so well at the box office? Still, at this point, we cannot be certain what Carey’s role is. So far, a breakdown of Carey’s role is not widely available.

 

Still, it is interesting to note that Kerry Washington, who has brown skin, played a house slave in Django.

 

As a matter of fact, the other house slaves were also much darker than Mariah Carey’s complexion in Django. The actress Nichole Galicia who played Sheba, the slave mistress of Leonardo DiCaprio’s villainous plantation owner Calvin Candie, was also a darker hue. And so is a young slave girl that Django encounters during a plantation scene.

 

So, whether intended or not, even Tarantino subtly challenged our notions of what slaves, especially women, looked like.

 

To be clear, The Butler, which is set in the 20th century, is not about slavery. But definitely the discussion it’s already generating suggests that more films and more dialogue on this subject is warranted. Perhaps this exchange will encourage Daniels, who has a flair for crafting provocative films, to explore this topic more. It just might be time for someone else to attempt an epic exploration of the mulatto slave that the 1993 Alex Haley-based TV series Queen, starring Halle Berry, attempted.

 

Maybe, just maybe, the time has come to add complexity to how we view the biracial female slave archetype.

Edited June 13, 2013 at 07:10 PM by Si J'etais Quelqu'un

[Bell]

Thanks a lot for sharing the article! Now I definitely want to see this movie.

[LuisMa]

I really want to see it!

 

Mariah is also moving on this week's Billboard social chart because of all the articles concering her new endeavors:

 

Elsewhere, Mariah Carey rises 46-38 (a 38% lift in overall points) courtesy of a teasing message posted to her Facebook and Twitter accounts on June 5: "The New Era Begins. . . 7/23." The post was an announcement of the release date of her 13th studio album on July 23, coincidentally the same release day as Selena Gomez's "Stars Dance." Carey's announcement pushes a 39% boost in weekly fan acquisition, which equates to 275,000 new fans across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

 

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1566939/selena-gomez-and-mariah-carey-jump-up-social-50-chart

[LuisMa]

Mariah has confessed she is a huge fan of "Game Of Thrones":

 

http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/ll-never-guess-mariah-carey-favorite-tv-show-161300346.html

 

The article is really cute, as she talks about watching TV with their children, and Nick's plans for Father's Day.

[Si J'etais Quelqu'un]

I love that she loves Homeland. I don't think people should have their character judged based just on the music/movies/shows they like, but I do wish people heard more about this kind of thing. They picture her as this girly diva with no depth or interest in anything that doesn't look like a Care Bears episode, but it would surprise people to know the range of her interests.

[Yangedd]

I saw an article in Hello magazine featuring Mariah. They were saying that he looked stunning in a dress she wore to some event. I'm sorry I can't scan it for you guys, but I just stumbled across it while browsing the magazines in the Doctor's waiting room. She looked great though guys

[Si J'etais Quelqu'un]

I saw an article in Hello magazine featuring Mariah. They were saying that he looked stunning in a dress she wore to some event. I'm sorry I can't scan it for you guys, but I just stumbled across it while browsing the magazines in the Doctor's waiting room. She looked great though guys

 

I think she did some wedding recently where she sang Endless Love and Beautiful. It's nice to see a UK media source praising her. I haven't seen any photos yet, though I'd like to! If anyone finds some, share here.

[Yangedd]

I think she did some wedding recently where she sang Endless Love and Beautiful. It's nice to see a UK media source praising her. I haven't seen any photos yet, though I'd like to! If anyone finds some, share here.

 

Endless Love

 

If I come across any more articles in Hello magazine I will scan them for you OK?

[rakesh]

Mariah inches closer to adding another Top 10 single to her amazing chart career, as she moves up 17-15 on the Billboard Hot 100!

 

 

 

im still not happy with the way they r promoting this single. "#Beautiful" is such a beautiful song; i couldnt stop listening to it. but that video of hers!!!! what in the world was that?? completely spoiled it for me!!! the video opened fine but then it got blaaahhhh!!! it had what, like, 2 scenes for three & a half mins shown over & over again... the barn scene seemed to be shown in all 360 degrees possible!! i think, it sorta sealed the deal for the song's potential. a lota non Mariah fans stopped caring for the song after they saw the video. i dont think her label bothered to spend decent money on her video coz the video director is a pretty decent video maker. if this is what they r doing to her very first single i wonder what they r going to do to the rest of her singles (if they r going to release any)

[rakesh]

I wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with her vocals, but then again I'm not a huge fan that would know she was in the middle of a tour

 

 

i just wanted to let u know about it, coz i didnt want u to go like "mehh!! she sounds ok but she doesnt sound all that like they say she is". Mariah wasnt at her best during "1998 Divas live". Mariah sounded best during "Daydream" era in 1996. her "Mariah Carey - Live at Madison Square Garden 1996" dvd still remains the best. u can find it on youtube.

[Si J'etais Quelqu'un]

im still not happy with the way they r promoting this single. "#Beautiful" is such a beautiful song; i couldnt stop listening to it. but that video of hers!!!! what in the world was that?? completely spoiled it for me!!! the video opened fine but then it got blaaahhhh!!! it had what, like, 2 scenes for three & a half mins shown over & over again... the barn scene seemed to be shown in all 360 degrees possible!! i think, it sorta sealed the deal for the song's potential. a lota non Mariah fans stopped caring for the song after they saw the video. i dont think her label bothered to spend decent money on her video coz the video director is a pretty decent video maker. if this is what they r doing to her very first single i wonder what they r going to do to the rest of her singles (if they r going to release any)

 

Yeah, the video is kind of awkward after two minutes of Mariah lifting up her dress (which in little girls is supposedly a sign of anger or anxiety which we'll just leave alone here). It could have had a nice simple sorta-storyline about a man and woman going back to the place where they fell in love when they were young, maybe a little swimming, a bit of a tireswing (this song BEGS for an ABMB-esque video), running through fields, etc. It didn't have to be a complicated concept, just something visually impactful. In my own experience, there were songs I didn't pay much attention to until a single shot in the video just pushed them over the edge.

[Irate_Ninja]

Im ready for the Second single, and the album title

[Yangedd]

 

I know I have a partner that loves me, and I love him to bits too, but today I'm listening to "Thank God I Found You" and remembering Enda Aherne. It's my choice. I loved Enda. He was my major first crush and though he wasn't gay and we couldn't be togather, this song and Mariah got me through the darkest time in my life. Sorry for being so soppy and soft

[Si J'etais Quelqu'un]

Well I'm sure Mariah would be glad to know she helped you out so much.

 

Jermaine Dupri seems to have confirmed the title, The Art of Letting Go.

 

I don't care for this as an album title. I could handle 'Letting Go' but The Art of Letting Go... it's like, "Yes, we do have that title, follow me to the self-help books section and I'll pull you out a copy."

[Yangedd]

Well I'm sure Mariah would be glad to know she helped you out so much.

 

Jermaine Dupri seems to have confirmed the title, The Art of Letting Go.

 

I don't care for this as an album title. I could handle 'Letting Go' but The Art of Letting Go... it's like, "Yes, we do have that title, follow me to the self-help books section and I'll pull you out a copy."

 

She did

[Ray]

She recorded another video with Miguel in Capri.

 

Guess it might be for a remix video of #Beautiful?

[rakesh]

She recorded another video with Miguel in Capri.

 

Guess it might be for a remix video of #Beautiful?

 

 

whatever they r planning, i hope they do it right this time with the video. one thing i can expect her to be wearing is a swimsuit.

[Si J'etais Quelqu'un]

This reporter claims Beautiful is not a hit. I chewed her up and spat her out.

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/mariah-carey-to-release-new-album-without-a-hit-single

[LukeD]

While I think #Beautiful is a decent track (much better than her latest lead singles), I find the album title to be extremely cheesy. I bet Mariah is about to feed her lambs (since I highly doubt anyone outside her hardcore fan base with purchase the album) with her casual ''break-up'' songs, most of which could be written by 15 year olds. Thing is that both Mariah and her fans think her music is profound, diverse and even innovative, but that's not the case. While I give her credit for being creative, I can't ignore the fact that her discography is extremely limited and repeatitive in terms of lyrical content. Seems like she can't see beyond small ''self-empowrement'' concepts (most of which ARE related to love & breaking-up anyway) and... breaking-up! In my opinion, her artistic ambition ended with ''Butterfly'' back in 1997. It's all about her number 1 syndrome & the corny childish/sexy attitude ever since. I used to be a big fan, but I'm not anymore, I'm really disappointed.

[comingback]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1qHBJuhU2A

 

classic! I remember watching it on MTV.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAnDg7mkFTw

 

WOW!

[Bell]

I tought about the new album title and it actually makes sense for me. I've read somewhere that it will be a kind of a sequel to 'Memoirs...'. So 'The Art of Letting Go' makes sense because you have your memories (Part І) but they are your past, and you have to learn to let the past go (Part ІІ) so you can live right here, right now.

[Bell]

Possible cover art?