“S—happens,” Mariah Carey tweeted early Sunday, acknowledging that her New Year’s Eve performance in Times Square in New York had gone drastically, laughably wrong.
The problem appeared to be technical difficulties while she was lip-syncing some of her hits, but she also had trouble reaching some notes when she tried to sing.
The diva of divas appeared to be perturbed about it at the time:
She stopped attempting to sing “Emotions,” paced the stage and told the audience to finish the lyrics for her. “I’m trying to be a good sport here,” she told the crowd.
Later, she stopped singing “We Belong Together” after another malfunction. “It just doesn’t get any better,” she said, and left the stage.
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By New Year’s Day she was more philosophical, tweeting sad and happy emojis and a GIF of herself shrugging.
“Have a happy and healthy new year everybody! Here’s to making more headlines in 2017,” the tweet read after the brief, profane introductory sentence.
Carey was the headliner for the annual Times Square New Year’s bacchanal “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”; this year, about a million revelers jammed in to greet the new year despite frigid temperatures.
“Unfortunately there was nothing she could do to continue with the performance given the circumstances,” Carey spokeswoman Nicole Perna said Sunday, blaming technical issues.
As is usual with anything having to do with Carey, the reaction on social media was immediate and stinging. “Disaster” was mentioned. Jokes abounded (the Russians did it!)
Carey has had a history of vocal breakdowns in concerts in recent years, when she appeared unable to hit high notes despite her multi-octave range. In the smartphone era, the full Monty of her embarrassment has been captured on video, posted by mocking TMZ or on YouTube by disgruntled members of the audience.
In 2014, for instance, she had a bad night in Tokyo kicking off “The Elusive Chanteuse” tour, sounding unsteady on several songs, including “Hero” and “Vision of Love,” and failing to hit high notes she has always hit before. TMZ and critics on social media ensured the rest of the world could witness it.
Maria Puente, USA TODAY
