I remember someone who shall remain nameless (you know who you are) that would blare Mariah Carey through the household so loud that I wondered whether those high notes would shatter the windows or my ear drums first. Though I was never a fan of her music I could see that some people just loved it and her talent for noises that should be outlawed as weapons of mass ear drum destruction was profound. But oh how the mighty fall. What better way to end 2016 than with Mariah Carey’s performance on New Years Eve? After many deaths of celebrities I grew up watching how fitting to watch the death of Mariah Carey’s career.

On New Years Eve Mariah Carey was all set to sing, or was she? Something went wrong. “Just walk me down,” she told two backup dancers. Then she told the crowd “we can’t hear”. Maybe its my lack of understanding or any form of musical talent but does one HAVE to hear in order to sing? If there really were technical difficulties (which production is denying) couldn’t she have taken the ear piece out and just sang it? I’ve seen contestants on “The Voice” do this when there is a technical problem in the ear piece. Someone who boasts so much about her talent really should be able to hack it without every technical advantage.

As the “technical” problems continued she said, “We’ll just sing,” and , “It went to No. 1.” She was unable to manage some notes as she tried to sing. Then she said, “We’re missing some of these vocals, but it is what it is,” she said. Then she tried to cop out and said, “Let the audience sing.” However, they weren’t about to sing. While we see some people were still digging it (likely feeling the New Year alcoholic buzz) they weren’t about to do her job for her. Then the next song starts and it seems they have fixed the problem.

At exactly 4 minutes and 50 seconds in this video I believe the real problem showed itself. The diva swings the mic downward as vocals continue. Mariah Carey went full on Milli Vanilli. She was lip syncing.

Later, did Mariah blame it on the rain? No. She blamed it on Production. But I believe the problem was that the lip sync vocals didn’t play from the start. She was unprepared to sing that night and she cant hit the high notes like she used to when her songs were on the top of the charts. What does this truly tell us? Mariah can’t hack it on stage any more. Maybe she can still do it in the studio with some Autotunes help, but she obviously needs to stay away from live productions. Who wants to hear a pre-recorded song anyway? I can get that in my car.

I guess the question is, am I right? Is her career at an end like Milli Vanilli? Is she done or will the longevity of her career carry her through this crisis? Personally, I think she is washed up and I would prefer to see the stage cleared for new talent but only time will tell.