Two More Tries

Mariah often throws a cover on to the latter halves of her albums. Some are wildly successful, like her cover of Prince's "The Beautiful Ones" on Butterfly. Some are less inspired ("I Want to Know What Love Is," MOAIA). Since it's 2014 release, I've thought that Me...I am Mariah: The Elusive Chanteuse contains one of her finest covers: George Michael's "One More Try." As I've written in these pages before, one of the most gratifying aspects of this song is that M retains the male identity found in the lyrics, i.e. not changing "uptown boy" to "uptown chick" or something ridiculous like that.

Since George Michael's passing this song has been on my mind, and I discovered this lovely fan-made "duet" on YouTube that lays the two vocal tracks over each other. You can hear how closely she hews to the original in the first verse, with slightly more alteration (although still very faithful) in the second verse. And her interpolations during the break are spot-on in emulating the song's tone while putting her original spin on it. It's really unexpectedly lovely to hear these versions together. Enjoy.

"Mariah Let Her Hair Down...:" Donatella Versace Reviews MIAMTEC

Seems like everybody wants to weigh in on MIAMTEC these days. Obviously inspired by this blog, designer and important plastic person Dontella Versace has now thrown her hat into the ring. In a Vogue exclusive, Donatella opens up about what Mims has meant to her, favorite tracks from the new album, and what it's like to be friends with Mariah...The Conclusive Caboose (< new thing I just invented).

 Mariah Carey is such an important part of my life, it feels like I've known her forever. 

Word! With ya so far, Donz.

 The first time I met her was at one of my fashion shows. Straightaway, she made me laugh, and I knew immediately that we'd be friends.

What did she saaaaaay? Need the deets! Probably something like, "Have you SEEN what Thalía is wearing??" (*Insider Tommy Mottola joke for the lambs).

A few years later, Mariah had a day off from her world tour, and she flew from Sweden to Milan, just to come see one of my shows. That season, Beyoncé was also my guest, and the two together caused a sensation. Mario Testino was there, and he said he felt like he was in heaven.

Straight namedroppin'.

 We had a party that night in the Palazzo Versace which was pure magic. Mariah let her hair down, dancing and chatting with everyone. 

Wheeeeeeeeee!

Like every Mariah fan in the world, I've been desperate for the release of her new album, Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse. She is a maverick, a woman who doesn't follow the rules, so I wasn't surprised when she released the album in her own way. With this album, Mariah seems to write her own life.

Agree except please don't say "maverick."  I should never be confused as to whether someone is referring to Mims or Sarah Palin.

Donatella then goes on to mention some of her favorite tracks:

• on "You Don't Know What to Do" ft. Wale: "I love how in this track Mariah's vocals contrast with Wale's rapping, it's like poetry." This reviewer says: have you listened to much hip-hop? You might like it!
• on "Meteorite:" "'Meteorite' is so fantastic. It is upbeat, and it is fabulous." This reviewer says: Actually it is the weakest track on the whole album. Look out for a future blog about "Meteorite" and musical pablum.
• on "One More Try:" "...I feel that Mariah really understands every word that [George Michael] has written. At times her voice is angelic, at times pleading and then, towards the end, it goes into a crescendo reaching amazing heights. I'm sure that George would be very proud of Mariah's version of his much-loved song." This reviewer says: Fair enough, plus props for not trying to change "uptown boy" to "uptown chick" or some such nonsense. Enjoy.