From Wikipedia:
In a career spanning over two decades, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
In 2012, Carey was ranked second on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Women in Music". Aside from her commercial accomplishments, Carey has won five Grammy Awards, 17 World Music Awards, 11 American Music Awards, and 31 Billboard Music Awards. Referred to as the "songbird supreme" by the Guinness World Records, she is famed for her five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style [the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like "Vision of Love"] and signature use of the whistle register. In November 2011, it was reported that Carey's net worth was valued at more than $500 million.
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Even though Carey has only appeared on Idol once (that I know of), her name is constantly dropped on the show, either by Randy Jackson ("I recorded that track with the great Mariah Carey!") or from deluded contestants who believe they're the next Carey incarnation:
Sean Daly of St. Petersburg Times wrote, "Depending on how you feel about public humiliation, the best/worst parts of American Idol are the audition shows, which normally break down into three distinct parts:(1) The Talented Kids.(2) The Weird Kids.(3) The Mariahs."
Daly further commented, "The Mariahs are the hardest ones to watch, mainly because most of them think they're reeeaaally good. The poor, disillusioned hopefuls plant themselves in front of judges then proceed to stretch, break and mutilate every note of a song, often Mariah's Hero, a tune that has ruined more throats than smoker's cough."
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Mariah Angela Carey was born in Huntington, New York, on March 27, 1970. Her father, Alfred Roy, was of African American and Venezuelan (mixed-race) descent, while her mother, Patricia (née Hickey), is of white Irish descent. The last name Carey was the product of a name-change by her Venezuelan grandfather after emigrating to New York. . .
After the pair's elopement, Patricia's family disowned her, due to marrying a man of color. Carey later explained that growing up, she felt a notion of neglect from her maternal family, a mark that affected her greatly: "So later I was like, 'Well, where does this leave me? Am I a bad person?' You know. It's still not that common to be a multi-racial person, but I'm happy with the combination of things that I am." When Carey was three years old, her parents divorced due to the increasingly strenuous nature of their marriage. As the years passed, Carey would grow apart from her father, and would later stop seeing him altogether.
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Carey was married to record producer (and svengali) Tommy Mottola from 1993-1997. She met actor/comedian Nick Cannon in 2008. They married almost immediately.
On April 30, 2011, the couple's third wedding anniversary, Carey gave birth to fraternal twins via C-section.
In an interview, Carey stated that her pregnancy was very difficult, she suffered from high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, and gestational diabetes before giving birth to the twins, she also said: "I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to walk properly again, It was a huge strain. I would sit and then someone would have to help me up. I couldn't go even to the loo by myself. It was just like, 'What are we doing? Are we going to the hospital?' No, I'm gonna stick it out, I'm gonna keep taking this medicine to keep these babies in... I made it to 35 weeks and then the doctor said it wasn't safe anymore".
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Judging Experience:
None. However, she can throw a ball just like Obama.
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American Idol Appearances:
She was guest mentor for the appropriately titled "Mariah Carey Week" in 2008. Carey also performed live on the results show.
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((((JONNY))))
See you tonight!! XOXO
Thanks! Definitely need the annual AI thread diversion for a couple of months.
At the risk of being called a racist, I’m already disliking this Nicki person...
Thanks for hosting again.
Looking forward to the commentary on the new judges.
My initial contribution : Nicki Minaj. - proof that aliens are here.....
It’s going to be interesting to see what the “new” Idol is like.
HI JONNY!!!!!!! Woo hoo, here we go AGAIN.
Hey guys! I’m probably going to be doing a lot more lurking then posting this season. But I wanted to pop in and say hi!
Hi Jonny, can’t always be here when Idol is one, but will be checking in after the shows!
