If someone told Mariah Carey in advance that Friday night's MusiCares Person of the Year tribute would include a live auction — an auction in which a meet-and-greet with the singer in Abu Dhabi was offered to the highest bidder — you probably wouldn't know it by watching her reaction.
Sitting near the stage at the Los Angeles Convention Center, with a camera streaming close-up images of her face to several screens, Carey seemed genuinely surprised by an auctioneer's description of the backstage meeting she was expected to participate in next month.
But that's the life of a queen.
Watching Carey respond in real time was actually the highlight of this annual Grammy weekend gala meant to honor an artist's work and philanthropy. Although the 56-year-old herself sang only for about a minute at the end of the show, Carey was a joy to watch as a host of fans took turns performing some of her many hits (and a handful of deep cuts).
Jennifer Hudson performs.
(Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
The look of the game acknowledging the game when Jennifer Hudson crushed “Vision of Love.” The tenderness with which he looked at his old friend Busta Rhymes performing “I Know What You Want.” The slow realization that this heavily tattooed white man named Teddy Swims was really going to pull off “Without You.”
“That was terrifying,” Swims said as he finished the song, an all-time power ballad with a long chain of custody stretching back to Carey, Harry Nilsson and the doomed Welsh band Badfinger.
Best of all was seeing Carey proudly singing alongside Foo Fighters and Taylor Momsen as they performed a couple of tunes from the cult-favorite grunge album he secretly recorded in the mid-1990s under the name Chick.
Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, left, and Taylor Momsen perform.
(Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Other acts on the bill included Adam Lambert, who was slow and moody on “Can't Let Go”; British girl group Flo, who gave an airy performance of “Dreamlover”; and Laufey, who kept a close eye on a giant prompter that scrolled the lyrics at the back of the room while he performed “It's Like That.”
Then there was Billy Porter, who took “Always Be My Baby.” shape over the top with wild vocals that made up for what they lacked in precision, well, mostly volume.
Carey took the stage late in the evening to thank “so many friendly, familiar faces: people I've worked with, people I've long admired, even people I thought I'd never see again.” Following his speech, Jon Batiste appeared to lead a random assortment of stars through a finale of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which recently set a new record for most weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Charlie Puth? Gayle King? Rita Wilson? Carey seemed pleased (more or less) to see each one.
