i would like to preface this entire post with: i have & always will be a die-hard lamb, and mariah will always be (for me) the golden standard of vocals, songwriting, and an incomparable catalogue of work. i’ve travelled all over to see mariah, have met her, and will forever be grateful to be here at the same time as her. that being said, let’s get into it: christmas tour 2024, i attended the final show in brooklyn

this was easily one of the most disappointing experiences i have ever had seeing her live

it is absolutely no secret (and anyone who argues this whether a true lamb or casual listener) that mariah has increased the amount of lip syncing in recent years more so then she ever had before. especially after her first christmas show in nyc 2022 being extremely difficult for her (and equally as painful to watch as she struggled the entire show). that being said, when she came back for the second show days later: that was the mariah i’ve wanted to see for so long. you can tell she came back on that stage knowing she didn’t deliver, and had that fire to remind us who she is. one of my favorite times seeing her was that night

as recently as 2019, mariah was on the caution tour and was giving us some of the most incredible vocal moments we’ve seen in a long time, and you can see she was visibly enjoying herself and the confidence of being onstage. the typical lipped moments were there, but the flow between live vs. not was much better then usual (her engineers should be fired for allowing the blatant start/stop studio vocals to be so notably different)/entire songs being not live was much less then the last few years

99% of this show was completely lipped, with a few ad-libs throughout being fully live, otherwise she was lip syncing the entire show, and with zero effort to make it look otherwise

we all know she is not a dancer, and i never would expect her to be all over the place. her thing has always been the same: bopping around, walking back and forth, a little shimmy/leg work, and the occasional sprint across the stage when she’s really feeling it. i have no issues with a park and bark, as her voice is what we’re there for

none of that was present. she truly walked back and forth the entire show (walked is a generous term), did her typical “look down at the monitor every minute to prepare to lip sync” face, and could not have looked more disconnected from what she was doing. it was truly sad and almost hard to watch as it very much reminded me of so many greats who were slapped onstage and told to sing when they wanted to be anywhere else but there

her energy was non-existent, her efforts to conceal lipping or give the illusion she was actually singing was zero - and more then anything: she seems very okay with it

i’ve seen her countless times, and the mariah of just a few years ago couldn’t be further away from the mariah of the present

and before anyone tries to jump down my throat about it:

• i am well aware she experience tremendous loss this year between her mother, sister, and her split with tanaka
• i am well aware she has been sick & cancelled 2 shows. this show should have also been cancelled
• please do not pull the “she’s saving her voice for the studio”, “she gets nervous”, “she fell 11 years ago and is scared to move”, etc
• “it’s still her voice” no shit, but concerts cause hundreds/thousands of dollars to attend & if she’s not going to sing live it should cost no more then purchasing an album

if mariah (or any performer) is not able to deliver a show: do not put a show on. i would rather have to experience the disappointment of a cancelled show (or no show at all) then pay good ($$$) money to see what she has been giving us for the last few years

i understand this is also not only on mariah. her team needs to be completely gutted & rebuilt with people who will remind her who the fuck she is, and push her to deliver something worth paying money for

instead she has her pals who (likely) hype her up, tell her how she’s killing it, and wouldn’t dare to say otherwise because they get a taste of the mariah carey lifestyle. i get it, mariah is one of the most powerful and influential artists of all time who is still around. i wouldn’t want to be the one; but someone has to

the public clowns her because she allows herself to be clowned time and time again and it’s infuriating

BET awards big energy performance being a prime example … come on. who signed off on this ?? love that she (literally) got her flowers - but that was a wreck

again, i love mariah. i know she is not 19 anymore, i have zero expectations that she opens her mouth and it sounds like 1995. she’s older, she’s grown, she’s changed, and that is fine! i just wish she knew that. i wish she knew that we truly don’t care about hearing emotions in the original key, or expect we belong together to sound like the studio. i would 1000% rather have completely new arrangements, in a caution-esque key she can sing, and hear what she does with that

look at something like caution (title track), love takes time, anytime you need a friend, portrait

she performed these all with a mix of live and prerecorded vocals and it sounded great. aynaf obviously had studio vocals for the climax but she was smart in having the big moment lipped and then she came in on the modulation back down to a key she can pull off. things like this, even if not 100% live, show her artistry and talent

her being onstage for 1.5 hours, disappearing every 15 minutes to change and be escorted on off and around stage and immediately leave the second all i want for christmas is you is over: shows that she doesn’t care anymore, at least not right now

i would love nothing more then for mariah to enjoy her life and really remember who she is. she is 1000% that bitch and always will be. if she gives us one last big finale “comeback” album i would be happy. otherwise, the endless wait of new music coming “soon”, random weird releases that she doesn’t promote or do anything with (sorry, we didn’t need a 15 minute portrait remix), concepts that she starts and never finishes (mc30 being abandoned past what - rainbow? don’t even remember)

but at this point, i’m questioning if i’ll attend another show of hers. i’d love to see the butterfly returns in vegas again, but it’s not worth the expense of flying across the country to see. and yes i know - who cares. it makes no impact on her life and frees up a seat for someone else

and most of all: it’s such a slap in the face to the fans. mariah doesn’t owe us anything, and we’re not entitled to anything from her. but when you’re paying minimum $200 to see her and she delivers that: it’s disrespectful. it’s disrespectful to think it’s passable, and disrespectful to those who have devoted so much to the reason she is what she is today

i had to get this out there because it’s been on my mind a lot and while i had a great time at the show (as did everyone else there rihanna): i’m not ignoring that what we all experienced was disappointing and a shell of what once was

i hope that mariah gets back to where we were a few years ago and if she chooses to continue performing long term, that she makes the effort to actually show up, be present, and be the mariah carey we know she can be

and otherwise; go and enjoy life with your kids, sit back and be proud of building a career and legacy that could never be matched, but will always be the standard for all