Bizarre, Society, Torts

They Call The Wind Mariah: Dick Clark Productions Raises Defamation Claim Over Mariah Carey’s Disastrous New Year’s Performance

200px-dick_clark_logo-svgLike many my family watched the Dick Clark New Year’s celebration on Saturday night (we watched CNN in past years but the inexplicable return of the always vulgar Kathy Griffin finally led us elsewhere this year). Instead we caught the disaster surrounding the performance (or lack thereof) of Mariah Carey. Not only did Carey show the world that she is the worst lip sync artist since Milli Vanilli, but she went on a tirade against Dick Clark Productions about technical problems that DCP says did not exist. Now, 2017 is starting with our first alleged defamation (a promising start) from DCP over her comments. DCP made it clear that Mariah is all wind and that it was her not the equipment that was out of whack on New Year’s Eve.

For those of you who missed it (and I will admit it was riveting), Carey seemed out of sorts as she began to sing her hit “Emotions.” She could be heard complaining about the monitors and never sang the song. Instead she told the audience to sing, though some critics noted that her voice sounded pretty bad when she could be heard signing a few lines. After trying to sing a few lines, she said “I’m trying to be a good sport here” and just strutted around the stage. When the song ended she simply said “That was” . . . amazing.” She then began to sing the 2005 hit “We Belong Together.” However, that performance became even more bizarre as she stopped moving her mouth and revealed that she was clearly lip syncing. That became abundantly clear when she put the microphone down and began saying things like “Happy New Year!” while her voice continues to magically play in the background. She ended with a disgruntled comment of “It just don’t get any better” and walked off stage.

Fulfilling every stereotype of a programmed artificial being, Bryan Seacrest then said in a gushing tone in the wake of the disaster, “No matter what Mariah does, the crowd absolutely loves it.” What? (DCP has yet to explain why it views lip syncing to be an appropriate practice at events deemed live performances).

Carey and her manager clearly blamed the production company. Her manager Stella Bulochnikov (who appears only marginally more lucid than Mariah Carey) dashed off a letter to DCP with an irate accusation of negligence. The letter noted that “You know her inner ears were NOT working and your entire production team did not set her up to win . . . AND MARIAH KEPT TELLING THEM [something was wrong] ON STAGE IN REAL TIME. THEY KEPT IGNORING HER. SHE TOOK A HIT HONORING HER COMMITMENT TO YOU. I SHOULD HAVE PULLED HER OFF THE STAGE THIS IS SABOTAGE.” She demanded a formal apology.

The suggestion of technical problems (and the denial of such problems) clearly impune the professional standing of the company and its contractors. There are obviously economic injuries that can be associated with the allegation that the company blew one of the biggest events of the year and then denied responsibility.

Instead, DCP officials put the blame squarely on Mariah and noted the defamatory content of these statements and denying that there was any technical problems. A source said that the problem was that Mariah refused to rehearse or test out the equipment.

Dick Clark Productions says, “In very rare instances there are of course technical errors that can occur with live television, however, our initial investigation has indicated that DCP had no involvement in the challenges associated with Ms. Carey’s New Year’s Eve performance.” DCP people are quoted as calling the statements “defamatory” “outrageous and frankly absurd.” However, DCP added “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.”

The controversy reminds one of an earlier musical hit:

O no, Mariah blows the stars around
And sends the clouds a-flying
Mariah makes the mountain sounds
Like folks were up there dying
Mariah, They call the wind Mariah

Now before I knew Mariahs name
And heard her wail and whining
I had a girl and she had me
And the sun was always shining
O, but then one day I left my girl
I left her far behind me
And now I’m lost, I’m oh so lost
Not even God can find me

Mariah, O, Mariah, They call the wind Mariah
I hear they got a name for rain
And wind and fire only
But when you’re lost and all alone
There ain’t no words but lonely
And I’m a lost and lonely man
Without a star to guide me
Mariah, blow your love to me
I need my girl beside me
He, Mariah, O, Mariah
I’m lonely can’t you see
Mariah, O, Mariah
Please blow my love to me
Mariah, blow my love to me

Here is the video:

55 thoughts on “They Call The Wind Mariah: Dick Clark Productions Raises Defamation Claim Over Mariah Carey’s Disastrous New Year’s Performance”

  2. Why is it the DCP’s fault that Mariah Carey was lip syncing, and that her voice was off key when she could be heard? She also either forgot her own lyrics, or lost her place in the song and couldn’t figure out where she was due to echoes or some other auditory problem.

    What is sad is that Mariah Carey has had issues with mental health, as well as the quality of her voice, for years. She just may be unable to perform anymore, but resistant to dealing with that reality.

    1. She has a 41,000 sq foot house somewhere around Los Angeles, and putatively employs a staff of 10 to take care of it. She’s run through two husbands. The first husband is 31 years older than the 2d husband. She’s spent 13 of the last 23 years in a state of separation or divorce, not to mention that engagement cancelled last year. I doubt she has the best judgment.

  4. Thank God the world is so peaceful and secure today that we can afford to dedicate significant portions of our intellect to matters of global importance such as this. We will forever remember the Mariah Vs. Dick Clark affair as the event that changed the course of our destiny. As foretold in prophecy.

  5. I am confused about the song lyrics to They Call The Wind Mariah. . . I thought it was Madonna who was going to “blow her love” to people who voted for Hillary???

    I must have missed something.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

    1. Squeeky –
      Not sure if you are actually puzzled. “They Call the Wind Mariah” is from the 1951 Lerner and Lowe musical, Paint Your Wagon. It was sung onstage by Rufus Smith, but later on popularized by Vaughan Monroe.

      I am surprised that Turley would invoke this song, as it was surely before his time — almost before mine. The original song is haunting indeed.

      1. I just read up a bit on the song, and learned that Mariah Carey was in fact named after the song. More amusingly, the tradition of naming hurricanes with (originally) women’s names, goes back to this song.

      2. @JayS

        No, I was not really confused. I actually liked the movie. I was just poking fun at Madonna and her promise to provide sexual favors for HRC voters if she won. As far as “Paint Your Wagon”, it inspired me to get a copy of Arno Karlen’s “Threesomes” back when I was in high school. Which my mom confiscated and added to my Dad’s library. Which I stole back from him later when I was in college.

        FWIW, I also like other musicals, like South Pacific. And the song, “Souuuuth Pacific, where the wind comes rushing through the palms. . .”

        Squeeky Fromm
        Girl Reporter

      3. Jay S – I call the wind Mariah is a slight remake of the song sung by Harve Presnell in the movie of Paint Your Wagon. It is a movie I missed because the leads are Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood. Neither can sing. It hurt may ears just to listen to the previews. However, this is the very talented Presness, singing I call the wind Maria. You will notice that lack of an h on the end.

        https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjLqNfPn6TRAhVN2mMKHTaNDc8Q3ywIHDAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3DrOqRQQ9mg&usg=AFQjCNFeXe7vN8bkvP0YRes6ZgJiee0Yng&sig2=2fI4Ol0z4Em00JAjY6mf-g

  8. First of all she should not have been lip-syncing. Second, she should have done the sound check and they would have found the problem. Third, the least she could have done is have a wardrobe malfunction.

    1. It seems that the ear thingee was not working before the show, the DCP was asked to fix it and they did not. Have you tried lip-synching without being able to hear the music? I have no opinion about lip-synching or not.

      1. bettykath – it is easy to swap out an earpiece, most venues have 8 to 10 of them. With a star of her rating, they would have done that. She is just trying to find somebody to blame.

          1. bettykath – this is something theatre people deal with all the time. If she wasn’t lip-synching she could have just relied on her talent.

  9. In the words of the premiere criminologist and defense expert in the People v. Orenthal J. Simpson, Dr. Henry Lee, “Something’s wrong.”

    “I’m trying to be a good sport here.” “That was . . . amazing.” “Happy New Year!” “It just don’t get any better.” “We didn’t have a sound check for this New Year’s, baby, but that’s alright.” “Something’s wrong here.”

    Apart from Mariah using the incorrect negative contraction of the verb to do in “It just don’t get any better,” the above and some additional language had “defamatory content”? Better pick a good jury.

    Mariah’s manager, throwing in her own repartee for good measure, “you know her inner ears were NOT WORKING,” probably opened a bigger can of worms, but Mariah’s attorneys will thank her for the additional billable hours. (Trickle down economics are at work here.) I suppose Ms. Bulochnikov had a need to make herself look useful. Same here.

  10. I don’t care much about any of it, but do wonder why Anderson Cooper consents to appearing with Ms. Griffin. The 20 minutes or so that I watched was moronic.

    1. I totally agree. Anderson is bent and for some reason likes to sort of flirt with this female. Dork.

  11. She’s been a working performer for more than 25 years. Why is she lip synching?

    2. Ditto that. And one of the few that sings or is it sang in three octaves.. Has she done a Streisand? Mariah. No one’s throat lasts forever. Even the lead singer for Led Zeppelin couldn’t hit the high notes any more on his final album. Not to worry there IS no competition for you in the copy cat clone music of today. .Adriana a good example whose main offering is ‘sex’ and she made her self an object.

  12. About “inner ear” problem: I suspect not a revelation about some viral condition. Rather a misnomer by the manager, who meant “in-ear” as in “in-ear monitors.” These levels are set in sound check, and while it’s possible they were not brought up correctly, it’s more likely that Mariah blew off the sound check. To her peril.

  13. If she was ill, why was she attempting to perform? Was it a contractual obligation?

  15. Kathy Lee Gifford is ‘vulgar’? Is Hoda Kotb vulgar as well?

    Milli Vanilli weren’t bad lip synchers. They were lousy singers, which is why they were lip synching (at the behest of their producers).

      1. I’m confused. Who was he talking about–Kathy Lee Gifford or Kathy Griffin?

          1. No, he mentioned ‘Kathy Gifford’. He amended it when the error was pointed out by the first commenter.

  16. This on-stage goof-up is only slightly more amateur than the way this poor article is written.

    Neither the reporter nor Carey are smarter than a 5th grader.

  17. Pingback: They Call The Wind Mariah: Dick Clark Productions Raises Defamation Claim Over Mariah Carey’s Disastrous New Year’s Performance — JONATHAN TURLEY | privateclientweb

  18. DCP are the ultimate professionals, as I’ve met them and gotten to know them personally and including Dick Clark before his death.

    As usual, the talent pool is low on brain cells because I can tell you that DCP are the best. I hope they sue her for her defamatory comments. I guess she’s taking the typical ‘not my fault’ routine we hear so much about from Hillary Clinton.

    Once these anti-responsibility stars and politicians start taking responsibility for their actions, maybe their lives, popularity and votes will improve.

  19. This SNAFU is a lot more entertaining than the original program might have been.

  20. Kathy Gifford and Kathy Griffin are two different people. Your editors should have caught that one.

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