Watch: Bet Honours Mariah Carey, While Kelly Rowland And Patti LaBelle Pay Musical Tribute

The Black Entertainment Television ( BET) Honours are designed to promote and celebrate the achievements of African Americans across a number of fields. The show, in its fifth year, attracted the presence of not only musical royalty, like Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, but also that of the political kind, with none other than Michelle Obama making an appearance!

This year's musical honoraries included the Diva with the 5 Octave range, Mariah Carey. Not only did she receive an award for her contribution to music, but the lucky lady received two musical performances: one from Destiny's Child member, Kelly Rowland, and the other from musical legend Patti Labelle.

[ NOTE: The show was filmed last month but only screened this week .]

Has Pregnancy Strengthened Mariah Carey's Voice?

There has been much- well some- buzz about the return of Mariah Carey, after the singer made a startling revelation in an interview that her pipes had become stronger because of her pregnancy. [Watch the interview below]

Top Five Criminally Ignored Diva Albums of 2010:

This list has been a long time coming- yes I'm aware its practically 2012- but it's only now that I've found the time to finish this post. So FINALLY I present to you a list of my 5 most unappreciated Diva albums of 2010!

Honourable mention: 

Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas II You: Mariah Carey just scraped into the list with the December release of her second Christmas album Merry II Christmas. This album heralded, for me, the true return of "The Voice", the same voice that the Emancipation album promised but only kind of delivered.

Glorious voice, a return of the vibrato, stunning live instrumentation, the birth of new Christmas classics in the form of When Christmas Comes and Christmas Time is in the Air, and to top it all off a duet with Mariah's opera singing mother, Patricia Carey meant that this album deserved an honourable mention on the list! Please God, let the next Mariah Carey secular album use this one as a reference point vocally.

Listen to Mariah Carey's ENTIRE 5 octave range, Note by note. Haters doubt it no more!

Now there is no other way to sum up this video other than EPIC! I have wondered, since practically forever, why no one has ever created a video displaying all of Mariah Carey's 5 octave range, note by note. So intrigued was I, that I even contemplating doing it myself, but was just too darn lazy. It seems such a mammoth task was no bother for heroic Youtuber MCLAMB4LIFE1, who created just such a video.

Duelling Divas: "Over the Rainbow" Which Diva sang it best?

It's hard to believe that Over the Rainbow, the song that came to be the signature tune for the classic musical that was the Wizard of Oz, was almost omitted from the film after the chief executive at MGM and the film producer felt that it "slowed down the picture". Luckily the song was reinstated and went on to win the hearts of audiences from the moment it was released, eventually being voted the song of the 20th Century.

Judy Garland, at the age of 16, was the original vocalist of Over the Rainbow. Her sweet, rounded, thick contralto voice, with its perfect phrasing and strict adherence to the melody gave the world a master class in effective singing, belying her youthful years. Until this day her rendition has never been matched for its purity or ability to communicate the innocent, almost naive, sentiments of desire and hope the lyrics speak on.

Countdown: Top 5 Contemporary Contraltos

Note: "Alto" should read "Contralto"

The operatic contralto range usually spans from an F3 to a G5 but amazingly our lovely pop Divas can do better than that, with many of them demonstrating the ability to reach at least 4 notes below the lowest requirement.

Apart from the ability to reach an F3, contralto voices have other characteristics usually associated with them- though they are not always present- such as a smoky timbre, a lower access point to the chest register and a heavier weight to the voice. So celebrate this rare vocal type, below is a list of my 5 favourite contralto range capable Divas.

Note: Of course, in reality, comparing a pop singer to an opera singer is like comparing an apple to an orange so any opera aficionados don't bite my head off please...I need it for living.

[Duelling Divas] Mariah Carey Vs Celine Dion - "Open Arms"

At a recent show in Las Vegas, Canadian vocalist Celine Dion gave a classy, subdued and restrained performance of Journey's classic rock anthem Open Arms. Mariah Carey, who had worked with both the band's bassist and drummer before that point in her career, also covered the song in her own inimitable style on her 1995 album, Daydream.

Annie Lennox Sings Mariah Carey's Praises.

Annie Lennox Looks on as Mariah Carey Sings in Washington

Who would have thought cool-as-a-cucumber, former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox would be a fan of  the cleavage flaunting, Hello Kitty-loving, woman-child that is Mariah Carey? Not me for starters!

Merry Christmas Everyone: Silent Night Diva sing off

Merry Christamas y'all! To celebrate both the Holiday season and the excuse it gives me to listen to Christmas music without looking like a total nutter here is a collection of some of my Favourite Diva's singing the classic carol ,Silent Night.

The styles Range from country- Faith Hills and Taylor Swift- to gospel- Mariah Carey and Aretha Franklin- to pop- Beyonce and Britney Spears-and finally the traditional interpretation-  Celine Dion and Annie Lennox.

So get those song words printed and prepare for some Christmas carolling after the jump! 

Watch Mariah Carey's video for "Old Lang Syne": Laughs a plenty!

Mariah Carey in the video for Auld lang syne: seen the image, basically seen the video

Boy oh boy has the recession hit Mariah Carey hard if her current video is anything to go by. The video for Auld Lang Syne, from the Merry christmas ii you album, has got to be the cheapest video I have EVER seen from any singer, let alone an A-lister.

The video just has Mariah dancing- am i allowed to call it that?- in front of a green screen that has fireworks projected on to it while she mimes BADLY to the song. I think Mariah might have actually filmed this herself, maybe in her shed under the influence of all those pregnancy hormones, and released it online before anyone could stop her because the production values are next to nil. I especially love 2.45 when she twirls majestically onto the screen. Delightful.

Perhaps Mariah has just decided to inforce some austerity measures on her spending habits, she has got a baby on the way after all. Besides why should she still  spend huge amounts of money on her videos when it's not converting into sales for her.

Loving Mariah even more after this video. What do you think?

Mariah Carey ABC Christmas Special 2010: Watch and Read the review (lip-synced or not)

Mariah Carey and the stage set up for her ABC Christmas Special

Mariah Carey and her mother
embrace after a rousing duet of
Come All ye Faithful

Set List:
1)Oh Santa
2)O Little Town Of Bethlehem / Little Drummer Boy Medley
3)Oh holy night.
4)Here Comes Santa Claus/ Housetop Celebration
5)Charlie Brown Christmas
6)When Christmas Comes:
7)O Joy to the World
8)Christmas time is in the air again:
9)O Come All Ye Faithful/Hallelujah Chorus

Mariah Carey's Christmas Special extravaganza aired on the ABC Network yesterday- much to my excitement- and contained material from both Merry Christmas ii you and Merry Christmas.

The show was clearly a high budget affair, with a stage that was decorated beautifully with trees, lights and plenty of glitter. The production also featured a live band, a strings section, a choir and occasional dancers, as well guest appearances from Randy Jackson and her mother, Patricia Carey.

DOWNLOAD HERE: Memoires of An Imperfect Angel's Jump Smokers Remix Album

Remember Mariah Carey's last studio album Memoires Of an Imperfect Angel? Well if you do, you may not know that the album had two accompanying remix versions of it recorded that were cocked for release. However since the album barely managed to register a heart beat before it died an untimely death (NB: review), the remixed recordings were scrapped before a release date was set.

1_Memoires of an Imperfect Angel RnB Remix album:

An Rn B inspired take on the album was to feature different guest artists, such as Mary J Blige and R Kelly, duetting with Mariah on each song. Two of the remixes, Up out of my face featuring Nicki Minaj and the Angels Cry duet with Neo, managed to sneak out of the album before it was locked away but their failure at the charts pretty much guaranteed none of the other songs were to be released.

Not wanting to deprive the world, Mariah has said of the songs that she is looking into avenues of how to make these, eventually, available to the fans. She's even considering giving them away for free, which I think is highly unlikely. Anyone else smell a remix compilation album with all her other biggest remixed hits from yesteryear...oh wait!


2 Memoires of an Imperfect Angel Dance Remix album:

Cd cover for Auld Lang syne Remix

The second album had the Memoires tracks remixed by, dance DJs of the moment,  the Jump Smokers. Lucky for us this album has been released for free here. Particular stand outs of that album include More than just Firends,Betch gon know and H.a.t.e U.

In related news, to prove how much she loves these guys, Mariah has just revealed she has commissioned the Jump Smokers to create a remix - WITH NEW VOCALS- of All I want for Christmas and OH Santa (from Merry Christmas ii you).  


LISTEN HERE


Tweets by Mariah and the Jumpsmokers Revealing the news:

MariahCarey Coming VERY soon! : "Oh santa all I want for Christmas is you" Jump smoker's re mix!!! #stone festive!!!! Merry Christmas again!!!

JumpSmokers in the lab working on our huuuuuugggeee TOP SECRET project...ya'll should be hearing it very soon...just in time for the Holidays!!!

JumpSmokers Mariah Carey just let our "secret" out via her Twitter: she has us doing a remix mash-up of "Oh Santa! / All I Want For Christmas Is You" - she even gave us NEW vocals!!!!!!!!!!! Ummmmmm...somebody please pinch us!!! lol

Review and Compeition: Mariah Careys "When Christmas Comes"

Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and B scott in the video for Up out my face.

Review of When Christmas comes:
When Christmas Comes is the new single from Mariah Carey's seasonal offering, Merry Christmas ii You. The song is a mid-tempo, retro affair, that has been refreshingly composed entirely with live instrumentation. All these things, and of course The Voice, make When Christmas comes a rarity in contemporary seasonal songs in that its clearly been created  not to cash in on the holiday season, but to celebrate it.


Competition :
To promote its release, the awesomeness that is B Scott-  who you may remember from the video for Up out my Face earlier this year- has teamed up with Mariah and launched a competition to see which fan can create the best video for the single. The ultimate winner will  receive the unbelievable Prize of being featuring in the actual Mariah Carey video!

Below  B scott gives you guys some inspiration with is an example of a tribute video he created himself. So sit back and watch B Scott do his thing visually while listening to Mariah Carey do hers vocally.

'When Christmas Comes' L+L (Lambs+Love Muffins) Competition Guidelines

• Watch and comment on the B. Scott 'When Christmas Comes' video via Youtube.
• Create your own 'When Christmas Comes' video.
• Subscribe to the official B. Scott Youtube channel: youtube.com/lovebscott
• Post your 'WCC' video as a response to the B. Scott 'When Christmas Comes' video on Youtube.
• Follow Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) / B. Scott (@lovebscott) and tweet them the following: "Please watch my #WCC video! I hope I win! (insert your video link)"
• If selected as a winner, your video will be featured in the official Mariah Carey 'WCC' video, plus you'll receive an 'Extra Festive' signed prize from Mariah Carey and B. Scott.
• Remember that this is your opportunity to express yourself in your own unique way. Your videos can be as simple as holiday snaps shots, animation, home holiday footage, anything that represents how you feel in your heart 'When Christmas Comes'.

More B Scott here

Watch the video for Mariah Carey & Patricia Carey - Oh Come All Ye Faithful / Hallelujah Chorus

Mariah Carey and her mother Patricia
Carey perform "Oh Come all ye Faithful"

The video for one of my favourite cuts from Mariah Careys' Merry Christmas ii You album, "Oh come All ye Faithful" has just been released. The video features both Carey and her mother, Patricia, singing the medley in a Christmassy studio environment.

Did Jessica Simpson rip off Mariah's "All I want for Christmas"?

Did Jessica Rip off Mariah?

Jessica Simpson has just released her first single from her new Christmas album "Happy Christmas" called "My only wish" and boy oh boy does it sound like Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas". It has the same lyrical content, the same melody and the same overall sound as Mariah's hit, with the only real change being the middle eight.

Should Mariah Carey be worried about Rihanna stealing her Crown?

Mariah Carey has had the most number one singles on the American Billboard charts of any solo act, but with Rihanna scoring her tenth Number one with the Britney Spears featured S and M , should Carey be worried about the young upstart stealing her crown in the near future? Perhaps more worrying for Carey is that it took her till the age of 25 to score her 9th Number 1 with Fantasy where as the Barbadian singer had already scored the equivalent at the tender age of 22.

Do you think Mariah Carey needs to be worried about Rihanna?
Comment here and let the world know.

Mariah Carey's Number 1s:

1. "Vision Of Love" 1990
2. "Love Takes Time" 1991
3. "Someday " 1991
4. "I Don't Wanna Cry" 1991
5. "Emotions" 1992
6. "I'll Be There" 1993
7. "Hero" 1993
8. "Dream Lover" 1995
9. "Fantasy" 1995
10. "One Sweet Day" 1996
11. "Always Be My Baby" 1996
12. "Honey" 1997
13. "My All" 1998
14. "Heart breaker" 1999
15. "Thank God I Found You"2000
16. "We Belong Together" 2005
17. "Don't Forget About Us" 2005
18. "Touch My Body" 2008

Rihanna's Number 1s:

1. "SoS" 2006
2. "Umbrella" 2007
3. "Take A Bow" 2008
4. "Disturbia" 2008
5. "Live Your Life" 2008
6. "Rude Boy" 2010
7. "Love The Way You Lie"2010
8. "What's My Name" 2010
9. "Only Girl (in the world)" 2010
10. "S and M" 2011

Why Mariah Carey is Better Than Madonna.

MARIAH CAREY VS MADONNA

Slightly misleading post title because I'm not sure I believe that. To make up my mind once and for all I am going to pit the two Divas against each other in a number of bouts with the overall winner being decided by who wins the most categories.It's handbags at dawn! DING DING: bout one!

Mariah Carey on Ellen 2010 talking about her Baby and "Merry Christmas ii u"

Mariah Carey - "Merry Christmas II You" review.

Mariah Careys' Merry Christmas ii you

Mariah Carey's second Christmas album Merry Christmas II You has been released, but can it match the  runaway success of her first, Merry Christmas to you. Being a bit of an old Scrooge, it doesn't look good for the album even before its had a listen but this collection, minus Oh Santa and Auld Lang Syne (which is a terrible 90's club throwback), sound so evocative of the Christmas of yesteryear -think Bing Crosby and Dean Martin- that they even melted  my cold heart.
   
The Stand-out song has to be  "Come All Ye Faithful-Hallelujah" which is a duet between Mariah Carey and her opera-singer mother, Patricia Carey.To hear Patricia's thick, steadfast, soprano being danced around by Mariah's nimble melisma  is a wonder to the ears and the meeting of the classical style of singing with its contemporary counterpart is a Christmas present come early.

Mariah's voice is in fine form, and in similar strength and texture to the late 90's. The most noticeable improvements will be apparent to any fan in  the quality and amount of vocal runs Mariah Conducts, and the use of  a solid vibrato on many of the belted notes (something which has been sorely missing since her Emancipation).The vocal quality is so improved from her last album, Memoires of an Imperfect Geisha,  that one has to wonder if any studio trickery has gone into the vocals on the album. I suppose we shall know soon enough when it comes to the live renditions of the songs during the promotion period.


Whatever the case, this is a solid Christmas album that, although may not be able to reproduce another classic single like All I want for Christmas,  is certainly a more enjoyable and classy listen as a whole than her previous effort.


Download: Come All Ye Faithful-Hallelujah, The First Noel-Born is the King Interlude,  Christmas Time is in Air Again
Avoid: Auld Lang Syne
Summary: The voice has returned, a Christmas miracle perhaps? Must have Christmas album.

4/5

Merry Christmas II You  vocal range : Bb2- Bb6 (4 octaves)

 

Low Register: Bb2, C#3, E3, F3, F#3
Upper Chest Register: Bb4, B4, C5, C#5, D5, Eb5, E5, F5, F#5, G5,G#5  
Head Voice Register: G5, C#5, A5, Bb5, B5, C6, C#6, D6 ,E6  
Whistle Register: Eb6, E6, F6, F#6, G6, G#6,Bb6  
Sustained Notes (Seconds): 9, 13,14
source:calvin999999999

Madonna has outsold Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Madonna and Whitney Houston

Top-selling downloads for the following acts since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital data: Madonna, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. Madonna (two) and Carey (four) are the only artists of the quintet with songs that have each shifted more than a million downloads: