Mariah Carey showed up late for a taping of her 1994 hit "All I Want for Christmas Is You" last night, Dec. 3, for the Christmas in Rockefeller Center special. Reports claim that Carey was stuck in a meeting with divorce lawyers, which is why NBC executives decided to let the diva sing the tune live. She did not exactly kill the performance, though, and fans were quick to criticize Carey on Twitter.
You can see in the video below that Carey is continuously fiddling with the listening devices in her ears, a classic sign that singers are not "hearing it right." Now, she is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the song, MTV News points out, so it is understandable to miss a few notes. She struggles a little bit with the beginning, but once the backup singers join in, everything is fine. This is not 1990s Carey, but this is not the '90s, either. Kudos to the singer for doing it live anyway. Haters gonna hate.
The singer addressed her tardiness via Twitter, apologizing to fans who got there early to see the taping:
Last night's situation was beyond my control. I apologize to all that showed up, you know that I would never want to disappoint you.
— Mariah Carey #MC20 (@MariahCarey) December 3, 2014
Unfortunately, the haters did hate:
mariah carey sounds like i do when i try to keep a tune in the shower — jada sprouse elgort (@crannarrys) December 4, 2014
wtf happened to mariah carey's voice?! — ✨WonderMudra17✨ (@WonderMudra17) December 4, 2014
i love mariah carey, but like so many others, her time to sit down is now. — LK. (@ldkaye) December 4, 2014
Others begged to differ:
Cruise, you're a cruel man. #MariahCarey sang like an angel from Heaven above! "@ChrispyCruiser: #MariahCarey I thought you were a singer." — Boyd Bradford (@BoydBradford) December 4, 2014
I don't know what everyone is speaking about! @MariahCarey sounded amazing! BRAVO for singing live & sounding great! #mariahcarey #TheVoice — Me. I Am Liam ✌️ (@Littleliam1996) December 4, 2014
