Pop diva lives up to image
By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 4, 2003
TAMPA - Mariah Carey may not be at the top of the charts these days, but you'd better believe she's still pop's reigning diva as she proved Wednesday to a nearly sold-out crowd at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.
Carey, 33, was the best-selling female pop artist of the 1990s. Now she gets more press for her well-publicized nervous breakdown two years ago that followed a harrowing list of travails: the megaflop of her movie Glitter, the humiliation of having her record label Virgin spend $28-million to end her contract.
Carey's recent material from last year's Charmbracelet is about triumph after tragedy. (Initially the tour was booked in arenas, but after dismal ticket sales, Carey began to play smaller venues.)
Nearly 2,500 fans Wednesday got to see Carey in fine form. Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio presented the singer with a key to the city during the show. Fans didn't seem to mind that Carey went onstage 40 minutes late. Why would they? The singer's entrance was spectacular: With lights dimmed, the band began and Carey surprised the crowd by strutting in through one of the venue's side doors, singing Heartbreaker in a flood of spotlights and bodyguards.
Carey's ensemble would have made Siegfried and Roy drool: a flashy fuchsia mini dress doused in sequins and heels that showcased her famous gams. But it's Carey's voice that made fans squeal. How many octaves does she command? Five? Six? Carey's voice trilled in the famous vocal acrobatics that have inspired too many American Idol contestants.
Flanked by a troupe of dancers and four backing singers, Carey moved across the stage in feline grace, shimmying a bit, letting the professionals handle glitzier moves. The singer fares best when she's singing her spirited, hip-hop-flavored tunes. Carey sang Clown - a dig at ex-paramour Eminem? - in a circus atmosphere echoing "The Eminem Show," his last tour. The R&B jam Honey sounded fine, pumped by squishy old school synths and Carey's magnificent singing, and Carey sang with the video version of rapper Busta Rhymes on the duo's steamy I Know What You Want. Another highlight: Carey and singer Trey Lorenz dueting on her soulful rendition of I'll Be There by the Jackson 5.
The ballads may be what fans clamor for, but they're bland. Carey's slow songs, like the tepid Through the Rain, are muddled by juvenile lyrics and formulaic arrangements. Here a wind chime, there a tastefully plucked acoustic guitar, now comes the bombastic drums and voila! The big crescendo. Carey even dropped to her knees, her hands out, "testifying" at the close of Can't Take That Away From Me.
Still, Carey charmed, gabbing with the audience while stage hands "primped" her after one vigorous number. "They call you a diva," Carey wisecracked, grinning, "you might as well act like one."
- To contact Gina Vivinetto, e-mail gina@sptimes.com
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