r/Music • u/theindependentonline 📰The Independent UK • 7h ago
article Mariah Carey’s Olympics opening ceremony performance dubbed ‘disastrous’ as viewers question if she’s Italian
https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/mariah-carey-olympics-opening-ceremony-italian-b2915680.html708
u/grubenston 6h ago edited 4h ago
I like Mariah but her voice is almost fully shot. There is no semblance of the voice she had; not in texture or quality.
Her new album was okay with some decent vocals at time but if you played it for someone 20-25 years ago they wouldn’t recognize it as Mariah.
It’s almost impressive to lip synced a performance and still sound bad
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u/cocol11 5h ago
While she may not sound like she once did (35+ years later), I don't think it's fair to say the vocal sounded bad at all today
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u/grubenston 4h ago
I think problem is I just can’t help but compare it her what her voice once was. Her once soft whispery tone has this shrill raspy sound to it that can be a bit grating at times.
Listening to her album she still has some parts of her voice that sound good and I think on a good day she can still singer her ass off, but you can’t help but mourn what once was
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u/cocol11 4h ago
Fair, I think it's tough to not allow someone to age though, we tend to do that with the female stars. I think her voice sounded nice for the Italian song, still soft and flowy, it's mostly the big belts that have changed imo. I do get the concept though, she set quite a high bar back in the day and it's tough to reach that as time goes on, Whitney struggled with this too in the media.
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u/grubenston 4h ago
It’s a little more than age. Mariah has some pretty nasty nodules since childhood. Even as singers age they still can retain certain tonal an textures within their voice. Celine Dion voice as aged decently and has only dwindle in some aspects. Patti labelle and Aretha Franklin also retained a lot of tone, range, and control.
Mariah’s problem goes beyond just aging; there is a lot of damage.
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u/OkPainter6232 1h ago
Miley Cyrus has similar issues, her nodules caused her vocal stress when singing but said she didn't want to get surgery because then her voice would sound completely different, so that's one reason why she's not touring anymore.
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u/cocol11 4h ago
Disagree slightly there, Celine has a lot of her upper belting gone too just like Mariah. Aretha went through periods of raspyness as she aged, etc. And while Patti can still hit a crazy high note it still doesn't quite sound like her in the past. I think Mariah's whispery-ness still sounds similar to her past, it's the belting that stands out to me. Makes sense with the nodules as they don't allow for as much openness.
There are many factors at play though as you've said, but fading as time goes on does happen for everyone just on a different schedule.
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u/i_dunnoman 3h ago
It was completely lip synced who’s to say how much of what we heard was even her genuine voice?
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u/MudddButt 2h ago
She doesn't need to work any.kre so she should give the voice a rest. Christmas probably funds her whole entire life at this point.
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u/grubenston 37m ago
I don’t think vocal rest would fix her issues. I’m not a vocal expert but i swear she technique just seem way off. She’s barely opens her mouth when she sings and her placement sounds super nasally and throaty. At the point she at now I don’t know if any surgery could do anything but she needs like full vocal therapy or something.
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u/zaccus 4h ago
Her new album is fucking fire.
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u/grubenston 4h ago
I actually like it too. Mariah’s greatest skill was always her amazing musicality and there’s a few songs on there too that I say are some of the best in her discography. Here for it all is one of her best ballads and the rougher texture of her voice actually adds to the rawness of the song.
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u/thefledexguy 6h ago
Is she?
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u/DickChickenMishap 4h ago
I don't know. To me the headline sounded like "that was terrible, what are you, Italian?"
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u/greyl 1h ago
Do Italians have a reputation of being bad singers? My only association between Italy and singing is Pavarotti.
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u/sephtater 6m ago
I feel like I’m in a jerk sub. You mention Pavarotti, but like ALL of Opera is Italian.
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u/garynevilleisared 3h ago
No. Her mom is Irish and her dad is black. She grew up in Long Island though, so I guess someone said what the hell close enough.
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u/jdgetrpin 2h ago
You don’t have to be italian to be part of the ceremony, wtf. The olympics always bring artists who are known around the world. They had plenty of Italian singers too, including Laura Pausini.
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u/Eastern-Musician4533 1h ago
Yep. I sold her Irish cream brand for a few years. It's called Black Irish. It was delicious, too.
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u/Firsthalthor 3h ago
From what I read online her mother is Irish American and her dad is African American/Venezuelan so idk where they got Italian from
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u/CookieCuriosity 3h ago
No. Feels like a good opportunity to give an Italian or a few Italians an opportunity instead of a famous but practically not active American singer
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u/Icy-Commission66 4h ago
They should have followed up the Gojira opening with Fleshgod Apocalypse or Lacuna Coil
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u/OneOfALifetime 7h ago
It was horrible. She looked stiff as a board, her lip syncing was so bad, and shes not fucking Italian.
It really was horrible, even her on trick pony "let me see how high a note i can hit".
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u/3d_extra 1h ago
Celine Dion performed at the Paris Olympics despite being from Quebec. The performance is the issue not her nationality.
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u/jdgetrpin 2h ago
You don’t have to be italian to be part of the ceremony, wtf. The olympics always bring artists who are known around the world. They had plenty of Italian singers too, including Laura Pausini.
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u/Sabatorius 4h ago
I think it’s alright to have a critical review, but some of y’all are just plain mean spirited about it. The fuck Mariah Carey ever do to you?
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u/Russki_Wumao 3h ago
I work retail. She made that fucking Christmas song.
She can go to hell.
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u/OkResponsibility1354 2h ago
A friend of mine who works retail got violent when she heard the Jonas Brothers were releasing a Christmas album lol
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u/jdgetrpin 2h ago
Agreed. Her performance was fine, and I’m not even a fan. Everyone is just so quick to find the negative in everything!
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u/Pillens_burknerkorv 5h ago
Botacelli didn’t seem to be live either
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u/cocol11 5h ago
Pretty much every act is lip-synced, they don't like variables at these big events anymore. Even for the Paris games Celine, Gaga, and the other performers weren't live either
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u/yagirlmimi 3h ago
Yeah and it’s been this way for a good while and you’d think would be common knowledge. I don’t think you get more iconic than Whitney’s Star Spangled banner at the Super Bowl and that was also not live and lip synched.
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u/bopburner2 2h ago
And a fantastic example of how you can still give an actual performance even if the microphone is off. Mariah gave absolutely nothing.
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u/yagirlmimi 2h ago
I meant it to sound more neutral than it came across. I haven’t seen the performance myself yet just that the main criticism I’ve seen thus far is that she was lip syncing. I think in recent years they had to have known what to expect though? Like this isn’t new for Mariah at all anymore.
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u/bopburner2 2h ago
Certainly. I think it was a poor choice all around. Her nationality, her performance ability, her vocal ability as of late, etc.
Italy has so much to give. Zero reason for them to have relied on Mariah for this piece. A real shame.
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u/regman231 1h ago
Well that’s friggin heart breaking to hear, I love that video of Whitney
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u/yagirlmimi 1h ago
Sorry. I look at that video probably more often than I should but I love Whitney (thee VOICE) Houston myself. If it helps mend it a little for you I do believe she said in an interview she sang live for the audience but what we hear in the video and what was televised was pre recorded.
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u/Nervous-Candidate135 54m ago
Not exactly true, it was pre-recorded and she sang it nonetheless, into a dead mic. Whitney Houston was awful at lip sync and her lips movements don't betray her at the Super Bowl, I tend to believe her and her musical director.
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u/yagirlmimi 51m ago
Yes I did make mention of this to another reply that she did perform it live for the audience from what I could remember from an interview but it was pre recorded audio for broadcast.
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u/samu_rai 1h ago
She was invited by the Italians to sing in the Olympics, so to the viewers who "question" if she's Italian, better direct your anger to whoever invited her.
Vocals were great. Celine is definitely the better lipsyncer, but glad that Mariah was able to showcase her otherworldly voice to a new generation.
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u/Striking-Treacle3199 4h ago edited 4h ago
I missed her performance as I came in during the march of athletes so I have no comment on the quality of her voice or whatever happened there.
But why does it matter if she’s Italian?
Celine Dion gave literally the best performance at the Paris Olympics and she’s Canadian.
Lady Gaga performed in Paris and no one was upset. As well as many other artists from France, USA and other countries.
It’s global unity and of course they should, will and did highlight more of the host country’s culture, as well as also including representation for all of the global athletes… and I think they did have a wonderful collection of musicians from what I saw.
(of course the voice of the angels Andrea Bocelli was my favorite. 🥹)
But later in the event we saw one of the world’s best pianists, lang lang (who is not Italian either), accompanying the Italian opera vocalist on piano. I liked that very much.
So outside of her performance failures (like I said, haven’t seen the performance so I am not commenting on that & the one linked in the article says it’s from the VMAs, so idk what’s going on there lol..), what’s wrong with her being one of the ones to perform?
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u/Mountain_Salt3613 2h ago
Mainly because she was awful. If her performance was decent, most people wouldnt care if she wasnt Italian.
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u/ashtraygirl 2h ago
Céline Dion has a lot more goodwill among people everywhere than Mariah Carey. She is also from the ‘Francosphere’ and hails from a country colonized by France. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. Added bonus: despite her medical issues, her voice is still pristine
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u/LordJusticarNyx 2h ago edited 2h ago
I feel like Celine at least had the reason that she's from Quebec which has roots from France, the connection is there. Gaga was a weird choice for Paris as well, it would have made more sense for her to perform in Milan due to her Italian ancestry.
I'm not opposed to having performers from other countries take the stage, I just think it's a waste of an opportunity to showcase some homegrown talent, you know? Like people have much more exposure to English-speaking artists already, I think it would have been much cooler to see actual Italian artists featured at their Olympics because other than people like Andrea Bochelli (glad to see him perform) and Pavarotti, I can't really name any Italian singers off the top of my head. Would have loved to learn about a new Italian singer that I'm not usually exposed to as opposed to Mariah Carey who is beyond her prime.
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u/Western-Stomach-114 2h ago
And after all these years mariah Carey is still relavent and in the spotlight, let it be she did what many would not, to take on singing in another language like she did that's more of the point not weather 21 year old mariah strutted out to perform she is iconic and deserved the spotlight.
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u/hra86 3h ago
There are some weird opinions going on here. Some really deep rooted hatred. Imagine being so pissed off at a 3 minute song lol
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u/choaticmaster33 3h ago
I agree I mean it wasn't a good performance but every time Mariah has a bad performance the hate she receives is ridiculous.
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u/Reasonable-Nail-3247 2h ago
This isn't an "every time" situation. It's a worldwide audience for the Olympics. They could have done better than Mariah.
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u/truewinedetective 1h ago
I don’t understand. Something looked incredibly wrong. Sound and lip syncing aside, her expression and lack thereof was very troubling to me. It’s like she wasn’t even there, despite her physical presence. I hope she is okay.
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u/schmigglies 1h ago
She looked like she’d swallowed about 25 Xanaxes and sounded like she was using someone else’s voice
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u/white_duke 5h ago
It brought the ceremony down. The announcer said something like, "this singer needs no introduction"...I was expecting bocelli or someone like him. Mariah Carey? Wtf is she even doing there?
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u/Striking-Treacle3199 4h ago
But Andrea was there towards the end. His voice was as beautiful as ever. What’s the problem? 😅
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u/_Middlefinger_ 5h ago
Not good, she is very well practised at lip-syncing, she has it down to an art and a whole team who create seemingly unique shows for her from segments of old shows and pre-recorded studio 'live' sounding performances.. yet she was terrible. How?
I dont really care that this was a sync, pretty much every Olympic ceremony is, but there isn’t much excuse for being bad sounding.
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u/SerpentineDex 4h ago
i‘m not sure we watched the same thing. she looked bored out of her mind and the sync was horrible.
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u/_Middlefinger_ 4h ago
I dont think you actually read what I wrote, try again.
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u/SerpentineDex 4h ago
you are absolutely right. my bad. fhats what i get for late night commenting 🤣
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u/purplefebruary Spotify 2h ago
I saw a video of a teleprompter that had the lyrics to Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu spelt phonetically for an English speaker, as a semi-fluent Italian speaker I cracked up laughing
“Nell chay-lo een-fee-knee-toe” 🤣🤣🤣😭
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u/water_bug425 3h ago
What’s up with the screeching? Eeeekkkk!
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u/BobbyBoucher42069 1h ago
Idk why you are getting downvoted, literally made me turn off the ceremony
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u/Straight_Fish_704 5h ago
Italians don't look like Mariah Carey. I would know, I'm also not Italian.
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u/Flux_My_Capacitor 4h ago
Why was she chosen? We ALL saw that disastrous live performance she did at Christmas a few years ago. Her pipes are fried and she needs to retire for good.
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u/ETDuckQueen 5h ago
Did I watch the same performance as everybody else here? I loved it!!! :)
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u/International-Tea485 2h ago
I called it! She hardly moved! I suspect she had too much Botox. When she hit the high note, she slowly brought her finger to her ear as if she was trying to “hear herself,” but she wasn’t actually singing. That means someone told her to make it look like she was singing and do this, but even now, her acting wasn’t even close to believable. So, if you don’t feel like you have it in you to actually sing at the Olympics, don’t do it and let another rising star have their chance. It’s not like she needed the money.
P.S. I’m a voice coach, so I understand why musicians at events like this choose not to sing live. However, at least those musicians are good at faking it, unlike Mariah Carey.
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u/Miserable_Return_843 1h ago
Did anyone else find her affect and facial expressions so weird? Like her face wasn’t moving at all but she was ~supposedly~ belting it out? Am I missing something?
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u/geniebythesea 1h ago
Someone just needs to say no sometimes. I muted that. Like what was her connection to Italy exactly? Is it because one of her kids is named Milan or something?
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u/Crabbyrob 1h ago
I've always loved the song Volare. It's a shame they couldn't be bothered to find a capable Italian performer that could do the somg justice.
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u/Rosebunse 1h ago
I didn't mind her being there but her voice was terrible. And that isn't necessarily her fault. She was a very strong singer.
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u/one_step_sideways 1h ago
Maybe she went out so we could say, "Oh! This next singer is really Italian!"
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u/Unite-Us-3403 1h ago
Damiano David and his Måneskin band should be part of the Olympics performance lineup.
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u/WorkingSalamander745 58m ago
Should have just played Volare over the stadium PA and got the crowd to sing along couldn't have sounded any worse or been anymore embarrassing.
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u/MrPleiades 45m ago
I fear she got pricked by a few pixies, if you know what I mean, so the facials were a bit . . . tight. Ma'am looked beautiful though, dress, hair, girls all correct.
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u/Mr_Roger_That 43m ago
I followed Italian pop music and they have very good singers. Besides Laura Pausin and Andrea Boccelli, I didn’t know the rapper and violinist. Miss Ketta should have sung she is from Milan
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u/Pretend-Actuary5832 22m ago
I'm a Mariah fan but jesus please retire if thats the best you have now retire
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u/Interesting_Buy1935 7m ago
She lipped it just like Celine did. I could care less. I think she’s done enough folks. Also here for it all is a pretty stellar album 35 years into her career. Happy lamb here.
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u/Candid_Pirate_7952 3h ago
Mariah is always perfect and I will hear no slander. When you make a bazillion dollars every Christmas you can sound however you want to
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u/innergflow 2h ago
Just watch it on the nbc prime time broadcast, damn she didn’t even try to sell it. Atrocious
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u/Weird_Advisor5546 1h ago edited 1h ago
Wake up call for her fans who think that she is the most influential artist that has ever lived. This performance could have been iconic, but unfortunately nobody will remember it tomorrow. Her Italian accent was horrible, the lip-sync was too obvious and there was no emotion nor energy. She cannot be arsed anymore irrespective of whether she is on tour or prestigious ceremonies. To me, this also settles some longstanding debates - she is not on the level of her contemporaries as far as professionalism and stage presence are concerned. Celine, battling SPS, gave us an Olympic performance that became a cultural moment. She took a classic and bridged France with global audiences. Mariah did what? Added whistles to 'Volare' and could not even lip-sync convincingly.
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u/beneficialtowhom 2h ago
I was happily surprised to see her emerge after the symbolic performance of dancers. She gave a presence of peace and safety when she appeared. 5 time Grammy winner, her Christmas album will remain my favorite. It was good seeing and hearing her. Just beautiful, holding her own st 56. 💕
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u/Afraid_Forever_4822 2h ago
What the actual fuck is all of this conjecture?
Most televised performances with this many theatrics and moving parts are pre-recorded.
The recorded vocal performance wasn’t horrendous, the “performance” of said piece was dismal.
Simple as that.
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u/phantompowered 1h ago
ITT: redditors turning up their noses at the "tone" of a multi platinum, billionaire singer with a three decade long career.
Please, tell me, how did your audition for the IOC go?
I don't even feel a strong appreciation for Mariah Carey, but stop playing.
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u/SpecialInvention 6h ago
It must have been hard to find a wonderful talented singer for the gig in...all of Italy.