The day has finally come; 2016's rollercoaster ride has ended, and a new year is ahead of us. Folks all around the world have been lamenting that 2016 wasn't a great year for them, so it makes sense that the it would close on a bit of a sour note. The millions of folks watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve this year got this in spades, as legendary pop diva Mariah Carey gave a dreadful live performance that had all of the country cringing. Lip synch fails occurred, poorly executed choreo was attempted, and Mariah spent the entirety of one song silent. It was quite the experience.
Obviously, this epic fail quickly broke the internet, and those whose inhibitions took to Twitter and Facebook to discuss what they had just seen. Not one to be silent during controversy, Mariah Carey tweeted out a response to her performance, and it was pretty hilarious. Check it out.
Not going to lie, this response made me love the insane performance even more. Mariah certainly knows that she didn't exactly deliver, but she's glad to have all of the free publicity and attention. That's what I call finding the silver lining.
Mariah Carey's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve performance is definitely one for the record books, albeit not in a good way. While the singer started well enough well her rendition of "Auld Lang Syne", things quickly turned to madness as the music from her 1991 classic "Emotions" began playing. From the very start, Mariah had trouble- almost unable to sing a single note. Instead, Carey did a bit of improv during the runtime of the song- speaking to the audience regarding various excuses for her lack of vocals. She claimed the monitors weren't working, her earpiece was off, or that they didn't do a sound check for the number.
Things didn't get better when her third song, "We Belong Together" began. Because it was quickly revealed that Mariah wasn't planning on actually singing the number, as a backing track played with the leading vocals. Clearly shaken up and embarrassed, Mariah Carey struggled to even lip synch, only adding to the cringe-worthy nature of the performance as a whole.
As a reminder, check out the full video below.
Yikes.
While Mariah Carey has remained staunch in her position that an audio issue caused the debacle, there are conflicting reports from the producers of the event. Producer Robert Goldstein responded in an email, claiming that no issue or glitch had occurred from a technical standpoint. He said the following (via NYT):
Every monitor and in-ear device worked perfectly. I can't comment beyond that and don't know what her nontechnical issue may have been.
Looks like we likely won't get an official explanation for the performance. Although, come on, it was such an iconic and unexpected moment that I'm not sure I need one. Mariah Carey is the gift that keeps on giving, and she's sure to have plenty of diva and shady moments in the future. And that's got me feeling emotions.
Of course, no Mariah Carey live TV conversation could be had without discussing that time she showed up on Total Request Live and took off her shirt. For the full stripping video, click to the next page.
