Mariah Carey Memorabilia Donation, Autograph Session and CD Review

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Mariah Carey Memorabilia Donation, Autograph Session and CD Review – The Emancipation Continues

By Jerod Williams

VIP fans standing on the balcony

On a gorgeous evening with not a single cloud in the sky and the sun on the brink of setting, the Hard Rock Café at Universal Citywalk set the stage for the arrival of international pop superstar and Island Def Jam Music Group recording artist Mariah Carey. The outside of the Hard Rock Café is decked out with everything Mariah. No detail was overlooked to make this event a night to remember for her fans.

A jumbo screen plays all of Mariah's videos as well as decorations take over the Hard Rock Cafe

The jumbo screen played chart-topping videos such as “ Honey”, “ We Belong Together”, “ Shake It Off”, “ Don’t Forget About Us”, “ Touch My Body” and other videos that chronicled her near twenty-year career. As an added indulgence for the public, her latest CD E=MC2 plays on repeat throughout the evening solidifying her vocal presence on the event.

Mariah poses for the camera on the lavender carpet

Instead of lining the Hard Rock Café’s entrance with the traditional red carpet for Mariah to walk on, the evening called for a lavender carpet which is the signature color for the artwork on her current album. There was also a large billboard promoting the release of E=MC2 that draped the second level balcony of the Hard Rock Café where VIP fans and invited guests were standing.

The evening got off to a rocky start as intolerant media photographers proved that they were raised in a barn by displaying their childish actions by name calling and booing due to a two hour late arrival of Mariah Carey. ( See TMZ Video of Booriah Carey) It wasn’t until later that a reliable source at the Hard Rock Café says that yes she was running late for the event, but Mariah took the time to meet and greet her VIP fans as she signed and took pictures with her guests which explained part of the reason for Mariah’s late arrival for the lavender carpet photo ops. Once all the commotion and the brouhaha died down and Mariah was ready to grace the media with her presence, there was not a single camera that wasn’t ready to capture the very first photo of her walking out of the Hard Rock Café’s doors. As she made her way out of the venue, the frenzy was captured on camera and film as Mariah Carey walked out to give the public a smile here, a pose and head tilt there and the occasional wave to her adoring fans. She was decked out in a black leather jacket, black leggings, stiletto heels, dark shades and what appears to be a small pair of black-striped booty shorts.

Mariah Carey poses for media photographers as she promotes E=MC2

Mariah and her entourage (which included Da Brat and Carey’s manager Benny Medina) made their way through hectic media photographers and flashing lights to an elevated soundstage set up where Mariah’s autograph session took place. As she approached the edge of the stage to get on the microphone, purple confetti and glitter shot out into the crowd and rained down on eager and ecstatic fans. What was clearly amazing was seeing fans wait in droves to get their CDs and posters signed as the line stretched around Universal Citywalk’s major businesses and eateries. One thing can be said for certain about Mariah is the fact that she graciously took the time and personally signed each and every piece of memorabilia that the fans put in front of her. During the fan frenzy signing, Da Brat occasionally got on the microphone to hype up the crowd and visit with some of the fans. She proceeded to lead the crowd in a sing-along of songs played over the loudspeaker.

Review of E=MC2

E=MC2 marks that 11th studio release and the first single "Touch My Body" marks a record-breaking 18 #1 songs

E=MC2 is an impressive collection of singles that further celebrates her emancipation. She teams up with producers Bryan Michael-Cox, Scott Storch, Stargate, Rodney Jerkins, will.i.am, Tricky Stewart and once again with super producer Jermaine Dupri. The first song that leads off the album is the club thumping “ Migrate” featuring T-Pain that hip-hop aficionados will be pleasantly surprised to hear. The track sets the mood of the album beautifully and offers up her hip-hop side to let everyone who listens know that Mariah is back. Other noteworthy head bobbing tracks include the reggae-infused Damian Marley collaboration of “ Cruise Control” and the collaboration with Young Jeezy on “ Side Effects” pointedly discusses her emotional abuse from her broken marriage to Tommy Mottola.

Mariah is all smiles for the evening's events

The track “ I’m That Chick” is a throwback to the ‘80s and samples Michael Jackson’s song “ Off The Wall”. A Mariah Carey album would not be complete with sultry ballads and mid-tempo songs that flow seamlessly: “ Bye Bye”, “ Love Story”, “ For The Record” (which is the theme song featured in her perfume commercial ads for M) and the gospel-driven vocal stand out that wraps the album up in a nice package “ I Wish You Well”. E=MC2 has a little bit of everything to appease the masses. This album should easily replicate the success of The Emancipation of Mimi as this marks the continued journey of the inner workings of an iconoclastic artist.

Despite the rocky start to what could have been a catastrophe for the evening, Mariah Carey continued to smile throughout the night and well into the late hours literally showing no fatigue whatsoever as she signed autographs and waved to her fans.

For breaking news, fan club memorabilia, music, pictures, upcoming projects and background information on everything Mariah, visit her official fan website at ( Mariah Carey).

All photos by Jerod Williams