Mariah Carey embraced Christmas early in her career but over the past decade, she has turned her connection to the holiday into a veritable mini-industry. She is now so identified with Christmas, memes of her start popping up in early November each year showing Carey being “thawed” or returning from the ocean to rule the weeks before Dec. 25 yet again.
As the estates of Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Andy Williams and the very alive Georgia native Brenda Lee know, Christmas keeps their voices vibrant and relevant for multiple generations.
Although Carey failed to patent the trademark title “Queen of Christmas” in 2022, she has no shortage of Christmas bona fides: she has released two hugely popular Christmas albums and a star-studded 2020 Apple TV+ Christmas special. And she has been holding Christmas tours every year since 2014 except for the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
And of course, her song “All I Want for Christmas” she recorded in 1994 has become part of the canon and remains one of the most played Christmas songs year in and year out, competing with the likes of Wham’s “Last Christmas” and Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journ
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journ
On Saturday, the 55-year-old Carey came to Atlanta for the first time ever with her Christmas-themed concert, selling out State Farm Arena and giving fans an early excuse to don reindeer antlers, Santa hats, sparkly red dresses and ugly Christmas sweaters.
This was also her first headlining concert in Atlanta since before the pandemic at the Fox Theatre in 2019.
Carey bestowed the audience a breezy 90-minute set where she spent perhaps an hour on stage. In other words, Carey wasn’t competing with Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen for endurance and stage time. In classic diva fashion, she focused on quality over quantity, appearing majestic while single-handedly keeping the sequin industry in business.
Much of her lengthy time off stage involved changing into one of four very Carey-esque outfits: a silver-sequined mermaid dress with a detached puff sleeve, a red sequined mini dress flecked with snowflakes, a floor-length silver sequined with matching cape and for the encore, a red jewel-encrusted bodysuit with black knee-high boots.
Carey’s voice remained supple and smooth. She hit those heavenly one-of-a-kind high notes during her 1991 No. 1 hit “Emotions” that seemingly could break glass. In her ridiculously tight dresses and high heels, her movements were limited to a careful gait.
Credit: RODNEY HO
Credit: RODNEY HO
And since Carey has never even pretended to be a dancer, a dozen professional dancers of a variety of ages did the heavy lifting, providing a flurry of activity behind her. She also had a choir give the crowd a spiritual lift during certain songs, especially the opening series of religious classics like “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Gloria,” and “O Holy Night.”
She included several of her original Christmas songs such as the wistful ballad “Miss You Most (at Christmas Time),” the jaunty “Oh Santa!” and pretty R&B-inflected “When Christmas Comes.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rhO
Credit: RODNEY HO/rhO
She also gave her 13-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan plenty of stage time. About halfway through concert, Monroe led a group of kids through the Waitresses’ cheeky 1981 song “Christmas Wrapping.” She was then joined by her twin brother Moroccan on drums for a mashup of “Deck the Halls” and “Let It Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!”
After Santa Claus himself made an appearance throwing out gifts into the audience during “Here Comes Santa Claus,” Carey came out in a fresh dress. She noted that when she first started touring a Christmas show a decade ago, she stuck exclusively to holiday tunes. But her agent suggested she throw in some legendary non-Christmas tunes as well. She agreed.
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
“You got to give them hits,” she said on stage. So she gave pitch-perfect renditions of five of her signature monster tunes: “Emotions,” “Hero,” “Always Be My Baby,” “Fantasy” and “We Belong Together.”
During “Fantasy,” she fulfilled the fantasies of two bedazzled fans by bringing them on stage for two selfies as well as signing a few posters. It felt very Willy Wonka, like winning the Carey golden ticket.
While she changed into her final outfit, the choir rose above the stage and sang a glorious “Carol of the Bells.” Then her music director Daniel Moore led the audience in a sing a long of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and ‘Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
Carey then entered the stage on a sleigh for an encore that featured the joyous song that made her Christmas career: “All I Want for Christmas is You.” A monsoon of fake snow shot from the ceiling and Santa made a return visit, along with her twins. As the final notes of the song concluded, Carey with her kids hopped on the sleigh and disappeared backstage.
But Christmas lovers have nothing to worry about: Carey will remain a ubiquitous presence in your ear at every local Starbucks and Target for another month.
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