 Mariah Carey has a reputation for being demanding, so we feared a 'diva moment' was imminent from the start of her NEC concert. After walking like a prize fighter, surrounded by a posse of minders, from the back of the arena to the stage the 33-year-old performed Heartbreaker, then took a sip of tea through a straw in a beaker. Grimmacing, she announced: Theres something in my tea and its disgusting. The audience held its breath. Would we see a tantrum? Would Mariah storm off? She just smiled and picked up another drinks container.
Mariah Carey
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Ive got another one just in case, she said, obviously taking her reputation with a pinch of salt. Later in the two hour show her hairdresser joined her in the spotlight to tidy her hair. Everyone says I do diva things, so I thought why not have my hair crimped while Im on stage? she said. This was a show that had everything. The sets were extravagant, the dancers energetic and the costumes eye catching. Mariah began in a teeny flapper-style dress, changed to evening wear, then a mini skirt. Denim hot pants followed and then what can only be described as a piece of material wrapped tightly round her to just about cover the important bits while she wriggled on a piano singing Subtle Invitation. Later there was a long evening dress, running shorts and a formal outfit fringed with feathers. This girl does not travel light and with each change of costume there was different hairstyle. Goodness knows how many cans of hairspray she went through. But the visuals did not detract from the music - 18 songs, including big ballads, hip hop duets, multi-octave epics and a cover of Def Leppards Bringin On The Heartbeat complete with a heavy metal guitar solo by Vernon Ice Black. Even Leppard themselves didnt perform that when they played in Birmingham on Sunday. To finish there was Hero and a quick foray into the audience to shake hands. A knockout win for the diva. | 
