(UPDATE) NEW YORK — After a brief, flawless “Auld Lang Syne,” it was all downhill for Mariah Carey on New Year’s Eve.
A representative for the million-selling superstar cited technical difficulties for a disastrous appearance on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest,” which aired on ABC and was the subject of widespread mockery on social media.
Carey’s mood seemed to range from frustration to resignation as she struggled with the pre-recorded musical tracks. Telling the revelers jammed into Times Square that there had not been a sound check for her hit song “Emotions,” she lamented that “we’re missing some of these vocals, but it is what it is.”
“Let the audience sing,” she decided as she paced the stage.
“I’m trying to be a good sport here,” she said, adding her own sarcastic review of the performance. “That was … amazing.”
The next song, “We Belong Together,” went no better. At times, she lowered the microphone from her mouth and the music, vocals and all, kept playing, making it clear she was lip-synching.
“Unfortunately there was nothing she could do to continue with the performance given the circumstances,” Carey spokeswoman Nicole Perna said Sunday.
A representative for Dick Clark productions did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Carey later tweeted about the night, starting with a brief profanity, throwing in a couple of sad emojis and concluding with, “Here’s to making more headlines in 2017.”
On Twitter, commentators called the fiasco a fitting end to a traumatic year for the music industry, marked by the deaths of Prince, David Bowie and George Michael among others. One tweeter, referring to the 2016 presidential campaign, joked that Carey’s show had been hacked by the Russians. TVJ
Mariah Carey performs at the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016, in New York. AP