Mariah Carey Redeems Herself With New Year’s Eve 2018 Live Performance

Mariah Carey made a triumphant (and sparkly) return to the Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve stage Sunday night (Dec. 31), and it was beyond evident that the 47-year-old had one goal in mind upon ringing in 2018: Leave the now-infamous NYRE flub in 2017.

As she took the stage before cameras started rolling, Carey — dressed in a crystallized nude gown and elegant white fur coat — laughed off just how freezing it was in Times Square (10 degrees, -7 with windchill, to be exact) by giving eager fans a couple camera-made shots. “Let’s get some poses in while we wait,” she tells the main stage crowd with a half-shivering smile.

Despite clearly feeling the freeze, it was also easy to see that Carey was there to put the naysayers to rest. Once producers counted her into show time, Carey snapped out of her chill and into a roaring rendition of “Vision of Love.” Remaining stationary for the entire performance, Carey belted out every note (with a few minor crackles along the way) and allowed for her voice to shine — and show that she still has plenty of chops without the help of a backing track.

Brent N. Clarke/Invision via AP
Mariah Carey performs on stage at the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Dec. 31, 2017, in New York.

“Happy New Year!” she told the crowd of an estimated 1 million people gathered in the frigid cold. “Just want to take a sip of tea if they’ll let me. They told me there would be tea. Oh! It’s a disaster.

“OK. Well, we’ll just have to rough it. I’m going to be just like everybody else with no hot tea. But we’re going to try and do this one for you.”

Carey made it triumphantly to the end.

Carey left nothing up to chance this year. Hours before she performed live, she could be seen doing a sound check.

Only a few more hours before the night gets started! @MariahCarey runs through rehearsal in preparation for her performance on the Countdown stage. #balldrop pic.twitter.com/f8wXNrCJtL

— Times Square (@TimesSquareNYC) December 31, 2017

While Carey hit most of her notes and runs flawlessly, fans may have noticed that she toned down some of the more dynamic parts of the songs to cater to her lower register — something that further displayed her efforts to show she really was singing. And judging by the look on her face as the performance came to a close this year as opposed to last, no technical difficulties got in the way this time around. Even when the cameras stopped, Carey was all smiles and gushed “I love you” back to adoring fans.

The pop diva later rewarded herself with a nice cup of tea.

Found my tea! 🍵 pic.twitter.com/r5EIIbT5Zw

— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) January 1, 2018

(Excerpts) Read More at: Billboard.com and ABCNews.go.com

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