ive been a mariah fan all my life. but the fact of the matter is mariah's best days are behind her. period. and that's okay. every singer has a prime and you just simply cannot be on top forever, i dont care who you are. but like someone else said, MC has nothing to prove anymore anyways. shes a legend, an icon and noone can take that from her. shes the best selling female artist of all time (i know fans of other divas like madonna, janet, celine,whitney ect) cant stand to hear that hear that, but its a FACT! i she has 18 # 1's, (more than anyone except the beatles) and has won awards for best selling artist of the decade, artist of the millenium and a lifetime achievement award. not only that, virtually every pop star today ,from britney to christina to beyonce to rihanna, has been influenced by her. i will always love mariah, but i have to admit that she has made alot of mistakes in her career the last decade and a half and has done alot of things that have irritated me also in that time. im not one of those people that longs for the "old mariah" , but i belive that she really has cheapened her whole image and totally abandoned the fanbase that made her who she is. i dont like her diva-ish attitude either. celebrities surround themselves with yes people and she's no different and you can tell that she belives her own hype. i went to the angels advocate tour here in phoenix and she was SO diva-like it was a total turnoff. she kept having people coming out and spraying her down with a light mist, fixing her hair, putting on lipgloss ect it almost felt like she was flaunting her status. she was the queen and we (her fans) were mere peasants. also, it sucks to say, but i agree with the person that says mariah does not have the stage presence of someone whos been in the biz as long as she has and im sure thats a big reason why her concerts are so small. (honestly, i couldnt belive how small Dodge theater was, which is the venue she performed at on her AA tour in phoenix) i went to the britney spears circus tour the year before and the front row alone had as many people as mc's WHOLE CONCERT! no lie. people go to concerts to be entertained and even though mariah did a good job at the concert i went to, she is just not a good entertainer for the most part. another thing that ive noticed is how desperate mc is to be that # 1 diva again, putting out (mediocre) record after record. im not saying that some of her music now isnt good because it is but there is alot of it that isnt good. or at least as good as it could be. anyways, when her christmas cd came out, it was obvious that she was trying to to recapture the success of 1994s "merry christmas". and when i first heard "santa baby", it was even more obvious that she was trying to make another "all i want for chrismas is you". i dont know whats gonna happen with mariah, but i do know that she is NOT living up to her true potential and until she does, things will always be the way they are right now for her. but either way, i will always support her. i do consider myself a lamb, but im also a realist and wont defend mariah just because shesmariah, which sadly, alot of lambs do do.