SITTING PRETTY
(17/7/90)

Mariah goes from being a bad waitress with a bad attitude to the top of the tree. 
SHE is a media dream - big hair, infinite legs, sensual mouth and a mighty five-octave 
range. 
Mariah Carey is what your grandad might have called a "sight for sore eyes".  An old 
hand at this seduction business surely. 
"What sex life?" she giggles when it's mentioned.  "I've never had a 
proper boyfriend.  No, never!  My heart has never been broken, and I've 
never broken anyone elses, not to my knowledge.  There's been no one 
special in my life, not yet.  I have always been so focused on my music, 
my singing and songwriting, that there hasn't been time to really think 
about all that.  Honestly!!" 
This from a woman who pens torch songs of unrequited love.  "it's 
fantasy, though," Mariah admits.  "What I write is all from my 
imagination.  Fact is, I haven't had time to experience all that, but 
that doesn't mean to say that I don't write from the heart, because I 
do.  I put myself in other woman's shoes.  I can feel their joy and pain 
when I think about it.  It's all the same, we're all women.  That's my 
job and pain, too. 
Mariah is definitely a woman's woman.  She was raised single-handed by 
her mother Patricia Carey, a former star of the New York City Opera, who 
divorced when Mariah was three. 
By the age of four, Mariah says she had already decided to be a 
professional singer. 
"My mother says I was singing on the way out, but I was probably doing 
it in the womb, too!" Mariah says with a laugh.  "She's not a bit 
surprised at my success - she says she always knew I'd be a star." 
It wasn't always easy, of course.  Mariah had to support herself by 
working as a waitress - "I was always getting sacked for "having 
attitude" - but inevitably she scored a record deal and her debut single 
"Vision Of Love", went straight to number one in the US. 
It's all been done before, of course.  Young singer becomes overnight 
sensation - it's the standard pop star tale.  What makes Mariah Carey 
quite exceptional is her voice.  She has been compared by many critics 
to Whitney Houston, but Mariah begs to differ.  And it is not only 
because Mariah originates all her material herself, while Whitney merely 
interprets other writers. 
"There is", Mariah says, "not much merit in winning awards on the back 
of other people's songs. 
"I don't mind being compared to Whitney, there are people miles worse to 
be compared to. 
But if you really listen, there's a difference." 


********************************************************


MARIAH CAREY - THE TV HITS INTERVIEW 
(1991)

The past few years have been exciting times for Mariah Carey.  She'd always 
dreamed of becoming a great singer, and her big break came only after a 
chance encounter with a record company executive in 1988.  Of course the 
sucess wouldn't have happened if she didn't have THAT voice, and that only 
came after years of training from her voice coach mother.  But since her 
first single, Vision of Love, it's been hit after hit and award after award 
- and now, gossip..... 

It's been reported recently that you were a rebellious kid - is this true? 
***Not really.  And I didn't get into a lot of trouble at school. 
I wasn't a great student, but I didn't mess up my life.  Al lot of people 
rebel, but since I could do whatever I wanted, I just chose to do the right 
thing. 

So, you didn't get up to ANY mischief at school? 
***I wouldn't say mischief, but I didn't put as much importance on the 
schoolwork as a lot of people felt that I should.  I just wanted to have fun! 
(laughs) 

What kind of life did you dream you'd have? 
***I simply imagined myself being where I am now.  They say that if you 
picture yourself doing something, it becomes possible.  If you really believe 
you can do something, then you can. 

Why were you so mad about music? 
***Well, my mother was a singer - an opera singer - so I knew that it 
was possible for someone to sing as a career.  That was a great influence on 
me, and I knew I could sing because I started singing and loving the radio 
when I was four years old.  They had to DRAG me away from the radio! 
Whatever came on, I would sing and imitate.  When I would be watching TV with 
my mom, I wouldn't watch the show, but when the commercials came on I would 
sing them aloud! 

Did you ever get up in front of your class at school and sing for them? 
***As a kid, I always kept my music private.  I didn't really talk about 
it to my friends, except my really close ones.  Only they new I wanted to be 
a singer.  I actually sang in a school play in sixth grade, but after that, I 
didn't get involved with it. 

Is that because you were too shy? 
***No, it's because when I was 14 years old, I was already working with 
people who were 30.  I felt I was on my way to becoming a professional.  I 
was working till 3 or 4 in the morning, and then I'd get up at 7 to go to 
school. I was ALWAYS late! 

Did you make any other sacrifices for your love of music? 
***If you consider not doing certain things with your friends a sacrifice, 
then, sure, many times.  It wasn't like I did it every day, but every spare 
private time I had would be spent at the radio, or with my records, or singing, 
trying to write songs, whatever. 

Do you see your father these days? 
***I haven't seen him in a long time.  We really don't have much in 
common. I respect him and he's done a lot with himself, but he was never into 
me being a singer or anything like that.  My mom raised me.  She was my best 
friend, growing up, so she's been my real family. 

So was yours an all-girl household? 
***I actually have a brother who's 10 years older than me, who lived with 
us on and off.  He's a fitness trainer now, nothing to do with music. 

What do you get excited about? 
***To have a melody come into my head, and a week later it's a finished 
song, and a month later it's a record, and then it's on the radio - that's an 
incredible thing.  It's like...WOW!! 

Tell us how you come up with a hit. 
***The music comes to me first...especially when I'm trying to go to 
sleep!  Even if i don't want something to come to my head, it comes and I have 
no choice, so I get up and record it.  I don't know where it comes from, I 
just start humming something. 

So you don't get much sleep?! 
***(laughs) Yes, I have trouble falling asleep because so much is always 
going on in my mind! 

And I bet you're too busy being a Pop Star to meet guys! 
***There isn't much time at all, no.  You really have to devote everything 
to this career.  I enjoy it more than going to a smelly, smokey bar and sitting 
there. 

Does that mean you haven't got a boyfriend at the moment? 
***Well, I'm not saying I'm not doing anything.  But, no, I'm not out 
looking to meet guys or anything like that.  I can't deal with having to go on 
dates every week and going to bars, stuff like that.  I've never really been 
into any of that. 

How do you answer those critics who compare you to Whitney Houston? 
***Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.  I think with the first 
album that was much more of a consideration, but I think that the second 
album shows a lot more diversity.  I really don't get those comparisons between 
us anymore. 

When you were a waitress, waiting to be discovered, did you ever think it 
wasn't going to happen? 
***It wasn't that long ago.  And I did sacrifice a lot of things then: I 
never asked people for money - I totally supported myself - and I worked 
really, really hard.  I was really fortunate to meet the right people at the 
right time and to get myself together. 

Is your's a bit of a fairytale? 
***Definitely!   Fate was right there, that night.  I almost didn't go to 
that party where I handed over my tape, which really was the beginning of my 
career.  I definitely feel blessed. 

Are you still as ambitious now as you were back then? 
***You bet!  I want to be the best I can be. 


********************************************************


STAR PROFILE:MARIAH CAREY 
(1994)

 There's no doubt that 1994 will be remembered   
 as the year Mariah Carey became a bona fide   
 superstar. Her No. 1 "Music Box" CD is now   
 five-times platinum in Australia, and, unless   
 something totally unexpected happens, will   
 be the year's biggest-selling album - by a mile!   
 Not bad going for the vocally gifted 24-year-old   
 New York native who first came to attention   
 with her No. 9 hit, "Vision Of Love", back in   
 July, 1990.  

 So what's left for Mariah to do? Well, even   
 though she's managed to notch up a staggering   
 eight No.1 singles in the US (out of 12 releases!),   
 she's yet to nab the top spot in Australia,   
 although her April No.3 smash, "Without You"  
 came close. Then, of course, there's the challenge   
 of starting a family with hubby (and Sony boss)  
 Tommy Mottola.  

 "Not for a very long time," she laughs. "I want to   
 do that the right way. I wouldn't want to be one   
 of those people that gives my child to a nanny   
 to raise. I still feel like a kid myself, and I want to   
 be completely ready and conscious of everything   
 I'm doing. It'll probably be when I'm in my late   
 20s or during my early 30s."  

 Until then, guess we'll just have to keep   
 enjoying her music! 


********************************************************



CAREY ON COMPLAINING
(1995)
 . 
 It's becoming a trend for singers to use their music to send personal messages, reports 
 Nui Te Koha and the guru of Australian rock, Molly Meldrum. 

 IT HAS the potential to be known as the Year The Superstars
 Complained.  
 Madonna considers herself a trendsetter, so it's only fitting 
 she kicked off the party with a 12-track disclaimer called 
 Bedtime Stories which essentially says that her exposed 
 breasts and cliched bisexual S&M fantasies are here to stay. 
 "I'm not sorry / it's human nature,"La Ciccone huffs 
 and puffs, "I'm not sorry/I'm not your bitch, don't  
 hang your sh-- on me." 
 Then, Michael Jackson took his cue, though his agony was 
 due largely to a totally different set of (alleged), er,  
 Bedtime Stories. After a torturous year of claims, counter 
 claims and a photo shoot he'd rather forget (the police  
 investigation ones) Jacko poured his heart and soul into
 HIStory project. 
 "With such confusion, don't it make you wanna 
 scream . . . stop pressurin' me," he hissed. 
 Now, the latest Mariah Carey album, out last month, makes
 the same plea for understanding.   
 This, of course from an artist whose last record, Music Box
 sold 20 million copies, the one   
 before it, 5 million, the one before that, 8 million, and the one before that, 12 million.  
 Looking In, the closing track on Carey's Daydream album, says the heady world of   
 vocal iconism is not all it's cracked up to be.  
 "You look at me and see the girl/who lives inside the golden world/but don't believe   
 that's all there to see/you'll never know the real me . . . don't say she takes it all   
 for granted/I'm wellaware of all I have/don't think that I am disenchanted/please   
 understand . . ." 
 Carey is not too convincing at distancing herself from the character in the song. "It   
 is a very personal song," she smiles uneasily, "but it is more about a mood.   
 We all go through different moods, you can't always feel happy - it's showing a   
 different side.  
 "When you are in the public eye, people seem to think they know all about you -   
 they form a perception which often bears little relation to the person," she says.  
 The perception problem with Carey may also relate to her literal rags-to-riches story  
 . "Someone said I never paid my dues," she angrily told People magazine in the   
 US last year. "I feel my whole life was struggling, because we were poor. We   
 were alone, we had nothing; no security. I've been paying dues all my life."  
 Mariah Carey was born 26 years ago. Her father was a black aeronautical   
 engineer from Venezuela; her mother, an aspiring opera singer, was from an   
 American-Irish background. Carey recalls a transient life, moving from   
 one New York suburb to another. And there were the problems of   
 coming from a mixed-race family.  
 "We had our dogs poisoned, our cars set on fire," she told People. "It put   
 a strain on their (her parents) relationship that never quit."  
 However, at an early age, tiny Mariah Carey knew she had a gift. While her  
 mother rehearsed for Verdi's Rigoletto, Mariah sang the part - on cue, in   
 perfect pitch - in Italian. She was only three. 
 Carey graduated from high school in 1987, packed her bags and moved to Manhattan.  
 There, she worked as a waitress, coat checker and part-time backing singer for   
 an aspring soul vocalist, Brenda K. Starr.   
 But Carey had her own ambitions. She met Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola   
 at a record company party, slipped him a demo tape, and assumed that would be   
 the end of it. Mottola listened to it as he drove home, flipped when he heard the track   
 Vision Of Love, and drove back to the party to find Care. She'd left.  
 A week later, Mottola tracked her down, and in 1989, Carey released her self-titled   
 debut album, the first of a string of albums that would make her a bona-fide superstar.  
 From the somewhat naive and simplistic arrangements of Mariah Carey to the bass   
 and club thump of Emotions to the slick and slow Walter Afanasieff sound of Music Box, 
 Carey's work has shown a definite progression. Having said that, Carey still feels she is 
 unfairly dumped on by critics.
 "I used to have this perception that critics were obligated to be unbiased when reviewing   
 someone's work. I though that was the sort of thing a critic did, but I was wrong," she   
 says. 
 "If someone reviewing your work is not into your type of music,I don't think they should   
 be reviewing," she says. "It's like having a vegetarian going to review a hamburger joint.  
 It doesn't work." 
 With Daydream, Carey again strives to keep the sound contemporary, working with   
 producers of the moment Dave Hall  (Madonna, TLC and Carey's Music Box   
 album) and Sean Puffy Combs (Michael Jackson) to help shape new styles.  
 Typically, themes of romance dominate, but Daydream has a gospel feel that Carey hasn't 
 explored on other albums. The new single, a duet with Boyz II Men title One Sweet Day,   
 is an obvious example. 
 "I had the idea with Walter (Afanasieff) for this song, 'I know you're shinig down on   
 me from heaven.' The whole idea of when you lose people that are close to you, it   
 changes your life and changes your perspective.  
 "I didn't want to finish the song because  I wanted Boyz II Men . . .I though the 
 chorus was crying out for what they do, their vocals are incredible, especially   
 on a big song like this. 
 "When they came into the studio I played them the idea for the song and when they   
 finished, they looked at each other, a bit stunned, and told me that Nat had wrote   
 a song for his road manager who had passed away. It had basically the same   
 lyrics and fitted over the same chord changes.  
 "It was really, really weird. We finished writing the song right there and then . . ".  
 Carey's eyes burn with sadness and hope she talks of in the song, and perhaps, of   
 the misunderstood notions of Looking In. 
 "They can never take my heart from me / they'll never know the real me . . ."  
 "I don't think fame has changed me," Carey says. "I guess it changes your state of being,  
 because you can't just take a walk down the street.  
 "You have to be careful . . . you can't talk too loudly in restaurants, because you are afraid   
 people are listening and they'll ring up the tabloids and say, 'she was talking about   
 this . . .' I just have to be a cautious person," she says.  


********************************************************


Interview THE TODAY SHOW
(1996)

Richard Wilkins: The biggest Selling Female of the 90's is Mariah Carey. 

(Clip from Fantasy Video is played) 

Richard Wilkins: Mariah it's lovely to meet you.. 

Mariah: Nice to meet you 

Richard Wilkins: Your even more beautiful in person 

Mariah: Thank you 

Richard Wilkins: Congratulations on all your success, how does it feel to be the biggest selling female

artist of the 90's? 

Mariah: Umm, it feels great, I mean I don't really think about it that much because it's hard to
comprehend 
that, but umm it's incredible because so much has happened over a relatively short period of time for
me 
and ya know, it's nice, it's great to know that I've reached a lot of people ya know, I guess that's what 
I set out to do so 

Richard Wilkins: I'm sure a lot of people don't realize that you co-write,produce, directoring of videos, 
your doing publicity and photos and all that sort.. 

Mariah: Right 

Richard Wilkins: What part of that do you enjoy the most? 

Mariah: Umm, well definately I love writing because it's just something that comes from, it's really a 
great gift to be able to create something from nothing and umm ya know every time I write a song I 
feel very fortunate and greatful that I have the ability to do that and I really think it's a great gift and I 
love being able to sing like before we started the interview thought I was going to hahahaha break out 
into a song because I just sit here and sing, I can't help it but I um so I guess that's the main thing, 
that's what got me into this singing and writing. 

(Clip of Vision of Love Video is played) 

(Music from clip continues through interview) 

Richard Wilkins: Your first album was an instant success, did it take you by surprise? 

Mariah: I guess it did take me by surprise in a way in terms of the charts success and the record 
sales because I didn't know what ya know constituted a gold record or a platinum record, I just thought 
about well I hear my song on the radio I wanna hear my song on the radio I wanna ya know be out 
there and have people listening to my stuff so 

Richard Wilkins: What sort of pressure did you feel after that first album to ya know come up 
with another one? 

(Music from One Sweet Day starts) 

Mariah: Ah.. Well I started writing for my second album immediately after I put out my first single from 
the first album, so umm I really didn't have a break and it wasn't like Oh I have to follow up the success 
because it was just as the first single was taking off who knew what was going to happen to it anyway, 
so I didn't take a break because I just constantly ya know write and it was kind of a pattern that I e 
stablished and I to continue to do it. 

(Clip of One Sweet Day Video is played) 

Richard Wilkins: One Sweet Day is of course one of the stand out tracks from the album and a huge 
hit in Australia.. 

Mariah: Ah hah 

Richard Wilkins: A special performance with the Boyz and also a very special song for you, can you 
give us a little background to that song? 

Mariah: Well I wrote the initial idea for One Sweet Day with Walter Afanasieff who I've been working 
with for a long time and um when I did it and I had the chorus umm I stopped and said I really wanna 
do this with Boyz II Men because ya know obviously I'm a big fan of theirs and I just thought that the 
work was crying out for them, ya know the vocals that they do, and umm so I put it away and I said 
who knows if this could ever happen but I wanna like I just don't wanna finish this song because I want 
it to be our song if we ever do it together,(Music from One Sweet Day finishes)... so months and 
months went by and umm we contacted them and we went through all the channels and this and that.. 
we finally got together...I sang them the song and nate had written umm a song that was basically 
identical to my song and the theme and melodically he could actually sing it over my song 

Richard Wilkins: Wow 

Mariah: and it was really bizarre, it was like..it was like fate, so we put the two songs together and 
come up with One Sweet Day 

Richard Wilkins: When are you going to come and tour Australia? 

Mariah: I don't know hopefully soon I really want to come and do some shows there so ya know my 
management has to work out , if any one has any problems just call Hoffman Entertainment, 
Randy Hoffman and ask him 

Richard Wilkins: Well well, people will do that what's his phone number? 

Mariah: Call 1-800 Hoffman 

Richard Wilkins:1-800 Tour Carey, yeah 

Mariah: Hahahaha 

Richard Wilkins: Hey um thank you very much we would love to see you in Australia of course 

Mariah: Thank you 

Richard Wilkins: You've got an enormous amount of fans there 

Mariah: Thank you 

Richard Wilkins: and your a lovely lady 

Mariah: Thanks 

Richard Wilkins: Thank you very much 

Mariah: Thanks, nice to meet you 

(Clip from ABMB starts playing) 
  

Richard Wilkins: Today we present part II of our exclusive interview with the biggest selling female 
artist of the 90's, sometimes referred to as the Cinderella of the music world because of her incredible 
rise to fame and success thanks to the president of her record company, Tommy Mottola, who now 
doubles as her husband. 

But it hasn't all been easy for Mariah Carey. She was sued by her father, devastated when her sister 
was diagnosed as HIV positive, and she's had a bit of a caning from some of the critics. Today 
Mariah talks about her marriage, her music and her amazing success. 

(Video Clip of HERO to start off interview) 

Richard Wilkins: When did you first realize that music was going to be your life? 

 Mariah: Umm, I just, it's something I've always wanted to do. My mom's a singer and vocal 
coach and I've always known I wanted to be a singer. Since I knew there was such a thing as what 
you do for a living, I knew I wanted to be a singer. I love singing, I used to take the radio, steal the 
radio from the kitchen and listen to it under the covers and sing all night. That's when I was beginning 
my insomniac days back when I was like four and never, hasn't gone away so...but umm, she just i 
nspired me. She didn't try to persuade me to do it, but umm ,she was a professional singer with the 
New York City Opera when I was a little girl so I guess it wasn't such a far fetched thing as it would 
be for some people...you know, to dream of doing it. 

 Richard Wilkins: Your biggest fan is, I guess your husband. How difficult is it mixing business with
marriage? 

(Fantasy starts playing in background) 
Mariah: You know you have to, you have to try and just make separations in certain areas and that's 
the only way it can work out, and do things that aren't related to the music business and umm, you
know, 
try and enjoy a life separate from this, but it's also good because we have something in common, you 
know obviously, so umm it's not really a problem, it just, it's like anybody else who has a career. 

Richard Wilkins: I'd love you to tell me the story of how he signed you. 

 Mariah: It's a great story..it's an incredible thing, umm I was a backup singer for a girl named Brenda 
K Starr, right when I got out of high school, and she was very very supportive of me and I had this 
demo tape with all these songs on it and she brought me to a party. I did some shows with her and 
some things with her, and she brought to me a party for WPD records, which is no longer in existence, 
and umm, she brought me there to meet Jerry Greenmen, and you know I had never been around 
industry people or anything like that before so it's "like oh man", you know, and umm, Tommy was
there 
with Jerry and a few other people and she went to hand Jerry my tape and Tommy grabbed it and 
I had no idea who he was, and then she said "Don't you know that's Mariah, urr, Mariah that's 
Tommy Mottola don't you know, bla bla bla," and I'm like "I don't know", you know, I had no idea. 

 So I left, and he left and umm, I went home and I wrote it off because I figured after she told me who 
he was he's probably throwing the tape out of the limo as he drives by, you know, and umm, but he 
didn't. He listened to it and he called me that, it was like Friday and he called me that Monday through 
her management company and she called me up, "They wanna give you a deal", you know freaking 
out, so I went up to the office with my mom and worked everyting out. 

(Part of Fantasy Video is played) 

Richard Wilkins: With all your incredible success there is a downside to that, you've had family 
problems like everybody else in the world 

 Mariah: mmhmmm 

 Richard Wilkins: But you've got the glare of the spotlight on you. 

 Mariah: Right 

 Richard Wilkins: How difficult has it been sorting stuff out with the world watching on? 

 Mariah: Its, its just as difficult as it would be for anybody else with a family that isn't perfect, as 
most families aren't perfect, and umm, but it's even, it's a lot harder because you're doing it in front 
of the world, so it is what it is, I can't change anything, I can only try to, you know, do what I can 
do make things better and you know, deal with the life that I have and be grateful for the good 
things that I have in my life. 

(More of the Fantasy Video) 

(Back to Wilkins in studio) 

Richard Wilkins: That's Mariah Carey 


********************************************************

********************************************************



STAR'S NEW SPARKLE
(1997)
  

Eighty million records sold - and counting. Mariah Carey's star is shining so brightly she admits it
almost blinds her. 
From her newly bought apartment in Manhattan's fashionable Upper East Side, the gorgeous
27-year-old singer grapples with how it feels to be a phenomenon. "It's incredible," Carey
acknowledges. "I don't really think about it because the enormity of what that means is something other
than the reality of who I am. 
"It doesn't feel like that." Carey is indisputably the biggest selling female artist of the decade - and
more. 
Her albums shoot to number one and turn platinum at lightning speed. She is the only female artist to
have had three albums sell more than eight million copies each. She has had more charts toppers then
any other solo female artist in the rock era. 
Carey also married one of the most powerful men in the music industry, Sony president Tommy
Mottola. 
But if the last decade has seen Carey arrive, this year she's well and truly grown up. 
Early this year she formed her own record label, Crave, in a joint venture with Sony. 
The in June she split from Tommy. 
On her latest album, Butterfly, she's teamed up with rappers with names like Bones Thugs in Harmony.
Any on her sassy videos, she is showing a lot more of her shapely body. 
"Well that's who I've always been," Carey says, speaking like a woman suddenly set free. 
"It's just that (before) everybody felt that was a little bit threatening for me - and for the public. 
"Everybody's just always had me covered up." 
For "Everybody", read the record which has cossetted her ever since Mottola discovered her as a
teenager. 
How the tables have turned. Nowadays, Carey calls the shots in a game that she says has been
controlled by others for too long. She talks of "my decisions", "my music", "my image". 
"I sued to feel a little bit insecure and cautious," Carey says. "I'd edit myself and really listen to what
other people said - and they said: 'If you wear this you may not succeed; if you do this style of music it
might not work' - even though my gut would always be to go with what I liked. 
"Now I'm doing what I want musically and image-wise and I'm responsible." 
Carey even talks about "trying to fit in some fun," perhaps a holiday with friends, as though it is a
long-forgotten feeling. 
She is careful not to name her estranged husband as one of those who cramped her style. The much
older Mottola was said to be so obsessed about losing his young wife that he had her tailed earlier this
year. 
"I care about Tommy as a person and I always will," Carey says. "He represents a large portion of my
life. I've known him since I was really a kid, a teenage girl, and we've been through a lot together." 
Any men in her life post-Mottola? "No, unfortunately," she laments, explaining she is lying in bed with a
cold after a hectic day rehearsing in wintry New York. 
"I'm just sitting here alone about to take a bath and waiting for my dogs (terriers Jack, a Jack Russell,
and Ginger, a Yorkshire) to get home from doggy day care." 
For all her success and its lavish accompaniments - including her $500,000 wedding four years ago
attended by such heavweights as Babra Streisand and Bruce Springsteen - Carey attests she remains
unchanged by fame. 
"I still feel like the same person from before this all started," she says. 
"Because of the way I grew up I felt the rug could be pulled from under me at any time. I'm never really
at ease with the fact that everything is going to be OK." 
Carey's parents - her father, Alfred, a black aeronautical engineer and her Irish-American mother,
Patricia, a vocal coach and opera singer - divorced when she was three. 
She has an older sister who became involved in prostitution and drugs and is HIV positive, and a brother
with cerebral palsy. 
Carey says she was saved from falling by the wayside because of her mother's constant reassurances.
Patricia spotted Carey's talent and five-octive voice when her daughter was barely out of nappies. 
"I always had this great hope for success," says Carey. "My mom always told me to believe in myself
and to visualise myself doing what I wanted to be doing and that it could happen if I did that. I prayed
and I hoped and I focused from a very, very early age." 
At 17 Carey headed for New York to seek the fame she craved. With one set of clothes and her
mother's borrowed shoes, Carey lived in a tiny loft in a friend's apartment, waitressing and hawking
demo tapes to the recording industry. 
"I would walk to my little job and my feet would be in the ice and snow because of the holes in my
shoes," Carey says. 
"But I knew that this was going to happen for me. I knew that that was part of what I had to go through. I
didn't feel sorry for myself." 
Her life changed forever when she met Mottola at a New York party and gave him a demo tape. He
listened to it in his car on the way home and spent a week tracking her down. 
Ever since, Carey has endured taunts that her success is due to her relationship with Mottola. 
She points out she almost skipped that fateful music industry party because, days earlier, Warner Bros
had drawn up a contract for her - she just hadn't signed it. 
All the Sony meeting did was give her more leverage when she eventually did sign with them. 
Australians can thank Carey's new-found boldness for her tour here early next year. 
She said she desperately wanted to head Down Under after her last Japan tour but "nobody booked it". 
"Now the decisions I'm making are up to me and I really wanted to come here," she says defiantly. 


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Honey Down Under! 
1998 - TV Hits

When Mariah Carey jetted down under recently she had a blast, or so she told 
TV HITS! 

ON HER PRE-CONCERT RITUALS: 
"I drink honey and tea and sleep a lot.  And I can't do concerts two nights 
in a row." 

ON CRITICISMS OF HER MUSIC: 
"All I can do is do what I do and the people who enjoy it, enjoy it.  I 
mean, I enjoy making music, not to give a cliched answer, but it's true.  So 
I can't please everybody!  Some people hate me whatever I do, if I went 
completely left to please those people, the people who don't hate me, will 
start to hate me! So, what are you gonna do?" 

ON HER FAKE BUTTERFLY TATOO: 
"Actually I have a scar because I had a mole taken away a long time ago, so 
when I put out the album, I put a butterfly tattoo over it like in the 
"Breakdown" video.  People are gonna say it's corny, but I haven't got 
around to putting a real one on it ... but I might do it!" 

ON HER SECRET CRUSH: 
"I used to be in love with Jon Bon Jovi when I was in high school!" 

ON THE ANTI-MARIAH WEB SITES ON THE INTERNET: 
"I don't have a computer and I don't surf the net, so I really wouldn't know 
about my love, hate or indifferent sites!  I guess technology is amazing, we 
can reach people all over the world, but it can also be kind or irritating 
because people can say something and you can't even ... oh whatever.  I'm 
not a computer fan, I never was." 

ON RUMOURS OF HER DATING PUFF DADDY: 
"Nothing's up with Puff!  You have to stop with this!  I'll tell you what 
happened ... one night last year I went out to a club, and no-one had seen 
me out in six years, and they were like, 'What the hell is she doing out? 
Shouldn't she be home hibernating or something?'  So I was out and Puffy 
happened to be there and we were talking.  The next day it was on the radio, 
in the papers that we were having this affair.  It's not true!" 

HER ADVICE TO ASPIRINIG SINGERS: 
"First of all be 100 per cent positive that this is what you want to do 
because it requires a lot of work and focus.  If you have success, obviously 
there's a lot of fun things, but a lot of drawbacks too, so you've got to be 
sure you want to do it and just don't give up.  Believe in yourself and work 
hard!" 

ON RUMOURS OF MAKING A MOVIE: 
"There are plans for me to do a movie, we are doing a project right now 
called All That Glitters ... so I already have one song recorded for the 
soundtrack, we're using this soul music from the '70s.  It's going to be 
contemporary as well and hopefully I will collaborate with other feature 
artists on the soundtrack as well!" 


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MARIAH SINGS HER OWN SONG
(1998)

Mariah Carey, as Australian concert-goers will soon discover, has been 
working rather arduously at shedding her earlier goody-goody image in 
favour of a more contemporary and sexy persona. 
In fact, the gorgeous songbird appears to have taken a flight of fantasy - 
a la the Butterfly after which her latest album is named - in the 
post-marriage period of her career. 
Of course, one would never accuse Ms Carey, 27, of having tried too hard to 
hide the smouldering beauty she was given by a blind, Irish-American mother 
and a black Venezuelan father. 
But as she's more than ready to admit, a fair swag of the populace 
considered her "the Nineties' version of Mary Poppins". 
The wholesome image may or may not have been the result of career direction 
moves fashioned by the inner sanctum headed by her former husband Tommy 
Mottola (who also happens to be president and CEO of Sony Music 
Entertainment). 
In the aftermath of these somewhat radical changes, Mariah appears to have 
uncovered a new persona, fresh way of maximising the impact of her undoubted 
talents. 
As well they might. 
With the Butterfly album, Mariah's partially moved beyond the fluffy, 
frilly hits that-fit-any-format for a more adventurous, hip-hop-driven 
style, recruiting the earthier and funkier talents of such revered 
hip-hoppers as Sean "Puffy" Combs, the Track Masters, Miss Misdemeanor 
Elliot and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. 
Change is tripping through the air. 
Considering that her previous efforts (in particular her last album 
Daydream) have accounted for about a billion dollars in Sony sales since 
her 1990 debut, you'd reckon there would have been a few worried bean 
counters at New York corporate headquarters when Butterfly was let loose 
recently. 
But they needn't have worried.  The first two singles, Butterfly and Honey, 
have been extremely well-received and the forthcoming Breakdown may well 
eclipse both of them. 
Most important, the artist herself seems satisfied. 
"I feel really close to this album," Mariah said recently. 
"I've come into my own as an artist, and at this point, I feel free enough 
to express what I'm really feeling, without using a smoke screen. 
"This may sound strange, but I listen to the album every night before I go 
to sleep - it calms me. 
"Not because it's boring, but because I feel good about it - because there 
are so many things that are real on it. 
"It's definately an evolution for me." 
Just how far that evolution has take her will be unveiled in the opeing 
night of her first-ever Oz tour, which kicks off at the Entertainment 
Centre on January 31. 
The show is almost sold out, a surprise in itself in that gold tickets are 
prices at $151.90 and silvers at $81.90. 
Mariah says the recent changes in her life were conducted without bitterness. 
"I love Tommy (Mottola), and he will always be part of my family," she says 
with apparent conviction. 
"There's absolutely no bitterness between us. 
"But right now, it's my time to grow up as an independent woman." 
The changes, considered monumental in the corridors of the US music 
industry, do not foreshadow a shift away from Sony. 
"I'm very happy at Sony," she says.  "If I were to leave the company now, 
it would be in effect saying that my relationship with Tommy was my only 
reason for being there, and that's not true." 


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MORE SOON
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