Mariah Carey suffered what can only be described as a train wreck live on television as 2016 came to a close. The diva was the headline act of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, but her performance ended up turning into one technical failure after another that meant the star spent more time pacing up and down the stage and talking to the crowd than actually singing.
As Carey took the stage in the final pre-midnight act in the annual Times Square show, the problems were evident from the start, with the classic “Auld Lang Syne.” Carey looked flustered and at one point removed her ear piece. All in all though, she soldiered through.
The real trouble began when she was supposed to start singing her 1991 hit “Emotions.” Right as the music started she sent out a cry for help: “We can’t hear.” The pop diva stood still for a second, with her hand on her hip, seemingly thinking someone was going to do something about the situation. But no one came to assist as she stood by in front of the more than 1 million people who had gathered in Times Square to watch the ball drop. “We didn’t have a [sound] check for this song so we’ll just say it went to No. 1, and that’s what it is,” she said. Carey tried to sing a bit but then gave up again and decided to “let the audience sing.” Carey’s commentary continued, with highlights including “I’m trying to be a good sport here” and “I want a holiday too, can I not have one?” When it was over she said: “That was … amazing.”
And then things got even worse when her third song came on and she essentially admitted it was going to be a lip-sync affair: “This is the album version so I’m just going to … sing along with it. Well not sing, but just have a moment.” At first she seemed to try to mouth the words to the track, but then just gave up and let the recording play. “It just doesn’t get any better,” she said as she left the stage.
Shortly after the performance, Carey sent out a tweet recognizing what a mess the whole thing was while also maintaining a sense of humor: “Shit happens. Have a happy and healthy new year everybody! Here’s to making more headlines in 2017.”
Twitter obviously had a field day with the whole thing.
