Entertainment

Mariah Carey's team says New Year's Eve performance was sabotaged

By Cox Media Group National Content Desk and Michelle Ewing
By Cox Media Group National Content Desk and Michelle Ewing
Who's to blame for Mariah Carey's botched "New Year's Rockin' Eve" performance? Not the singer, her team says.

NEW YORK — "She was not winging this moment and took it very seriously. A shame that production set her up to fail," representative Nicole Perna told Billboard on Sunday.

Carey seemed to give up on her performance Saturday night, claiming she was experiencing technical difficulties.

“We’re missing some of these vocals, but it is what it is,” she said during the show. “I’m going to say let the audience sing, OK? We didn’t have a sound check, but it’s New Year’s, baby. That’s OK, you guys.”

>> Watch the clip here

Perna – who told Billboard that Carey rehearsed for three hours the night before the performance and again on New Year's Eve – said Carey told the production team before the show that her earpiece wasn't working.

"They told her it would be fine once she was on stage," Perna told Billboard. "However, that was not the case, and they were again told that her earpiece was not working. Instead of endeavoring to fix the issue so that Mariah could perform, they went live."

According to Billboard, a production source disagreed, saying Carey "chose not to" rehearse and used a stand-in for her on-site New Year's Eve rehearsal. There were no technical issues, the source said.

Dick Clark Productions denied the sabotage claims in a statement Sunday.

"To suggest that DCP ... would ever intentionally compromise the success of any artist is defamatory, outrageous and frankly absurd," the statement said, according to Variety.

"In very rare instances, there are of course technical errors that can occur with live television; however, an initial investigation has indicated that (Dick Clark Productions) had no involvement in the challenges associated with Ms. Carey’s New Year’s Eve performance. We want to be clear that we have the utmost respect for Ms. Carey as an artist and acknowledge her tremendous accomplishments in the industry."

Read more here or here.

Cox Media Group

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