Mariah Carey - Wednesday 23rd March - O2 Arena, London

From one American musical legend to another as Mariah Carey and entourage descend on London's O2 arena for the first time in 13 or so years. A fashionable 30 minutes late, the compact set consisted of a mix of ballads and more uptempo numbers - but nothing too new. It began with Mariah (who had apparently taken the river bus to get here) being carried on by her male dancers. From the (very expensive) seats we had about half way back in the Arena, Mariah's vocals were too low in the mix and the decision to have no live screens in an arena this size was inexcusable.

Better was Mimi's decision to interact with the crowd - including a couple of "British" accents and the costume changes were much less frequent than expected. However, good as singer Trey Lorenz was (and the backing singers) - it was Mariah we had paid to see and so, something was definitely lacking. This was most apparent in a seemingly rushed mid-set medley which was almost over before it began.

The show was saved for me by the ballads section, where we finally got to hear that voice. Describing Phil Collins as an inspiration before "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)" and her song Hero as "schmaltzy", the last 4 or 5 songs were fantastic. I would have loved to have heard "Vision of Love" or "Dreamlover", but maybe I'll have to save my pennies for a return to Las Vegas for that.

All in all, an enjoyable show, but one that could have offered a little bit more.

Setlist
Fantasy (Def Club Mix)
Emotions
My All
+
Always Be My Baby
I'll Be There (with Trey Lorenz and Jackson 5 on video)
Rock With You (Trey Lorenz solo)
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Touch My Body
I Know What You Want 
Obsessed
It's Like That
Shake It Off
Loverboy
Heartbreaker
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Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) 
One Sweet Day (with Trey Lorenz)
When You Believe (with Whitney Houston on video)
Hero
We Belong Together
+
Without You