From The Vault: Mariah Carey – ‘If It’s Over’ (Grammy Awards 1992)

Published: Sunday 17th Oct 2010 by Trent

Mariah Carey’s performance of ‘If It’s Over’ at the 1992 Grammy Awards has the distinction of being this week’s From The Vault selection. The iconic diva, who was nominated for ‘Producer of the Year, Non-Classical’ that year for her work on her sophomore album, ‘Emotions’, was performing at the ceremony for the second time of her rocketing career.

This has to be one of the best performances of Carey’s career to date. Her voice thundered from the stage, building from deep growls to breathtaking, powerful belts. If anybody needs proof that Carey is the probably the best vocalist that the industry has ever seen then this is it.

Sidebar: Carey was once heralded by critics as the next Aretha Franklin because of her incredible skill and the raw power of her voice. While working on her ‘Emotions’ album, Carey worked with Carole King who wanted her to cover ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ (a song she wrote for Franklin) but Carey opted to compose ‘If It’s Over’ with her instead. Franklin’s influence on her is obvious.

Thoughts?

Comments 64

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  1. Sublime00 October 17, 2010

    Soul

  2. perry October 17, 2010

    Bahah Trent you’re such a ridiculous stan. You take every chance you get to prove Mariah is basically the world’s greatest legend. We get it. Hop off her d***.

  3. WATEVA October 17, 2010

    aint gon’ get better than this folks!!
    Mimi u better teach them how its done! 😀

  4. WATEVA October 17, 2010

    forgot to add my Monique dramatics
    YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

  5. JAYLA October 17, 2010

    WOW, SHE HAS MY RESPECT, I SEE WHY SHE’S A LEGEND

  6. Miss Chick Boom October 17, 2010

    That was Phenomincal.

    Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston Stan war in…

    5…4…3…2…1…

  7. Nic October 17, 2010

    Trent, you just HAVE TO find a video of Mariah performing ALL I’VE EVER WANTED. One of the best vocal performances I’ve ever heard from Mimi.

  8. Miss Chick Boom October 17, 2010

    Speaking of Grammys

    Are u guys gonna post Grammy Submissions?

  9. Star October 17, 2010

    Nicki Cannon was 12 -__-

  10. Landen October 17, 2010

    This Is Why I Always Wanted TO Mary Her.

    She Was So Phenomenal! And Is too.

  11. MARIAH CAREY & MONICA S*** ON BEYONCE VOCALLY October 17, 2010

    mariah carey’s vocals are just smooth and flawless

    and the same goes for monica…

    those two are just a BEAST on the mic

  12. MUSIC LOVER October 17, 2010

    Ahh the year I was born! Mariah is a living legend!

  13. iLoveXtina October 17, 2010

    That was beautiful. AND I KNEW IT WAS A SLOW ASS NEWS DAY.

    lmao @Star

  14. Jazlene October 17, 2010

    Funny thing you (Trent) say Mariah was “heralded by the critics” as the next Aretha Franklin when infact those were the same critics who criticized her singing as IMpressive but NOT EXpressive…Aretha was all about being expressive and singing from the soul…even earlier in Mariah’s career she was always knitpicked upon for the lack of soul in her vocal performances.

  15. I HATE TGJ October 17, 2010

    LITERALLY … one of the best vocal performances in the HISTORY OF MAN!!!!! This is truly God showing His power as a brilliant musician!!! He obviously gave Mariah some of that power!!!!!

  16. Darren October 17, 2010

    omg.. mariah nailed this one.. the growl towards the end shook my entire house,,hahhaha amazing

  17. SPATE Magazine October 17, 2010

    Gotta luv her

  18. theman October 17, 2010

    1 of the greatest vocalist ever, and perhaps the most versatile ever. Simply astonishing. INCREDIBLE !!! VOCAL GODDESS !!!!!!!!!!!

  19. !!! October 17, 2010

    WOW! New respect for her.

  20. Kpolo October 17, 2010

    Simply amazing.

  21. Dunster October 17, 2010

    Ahhh, Mariah when it was all about singing. Before the breast implants, sparse outfits and drama.

    The good old days….

  22. theman October 17, 2010

    Now, speaking of emotion i hear it all in this performance. Fck the critics they are just haters. This woman is one of a kind. This is text book sanging !!!!!!! One of the GREATS !!! UNMATCHED !!!!!!!!

  23. nickalus Randle October 17, 2010

    baby, this woman was so amazing! she still makes good music, BUT she cant do it live like this anymore-MAN THIS WAS JUST A JOY TO SEE, makes me remember y I love her…YES!

  24. B**** October 17, 2010

    AMAZING!!!!

  25. alex October 17, 2010

    Shutup Trent we get it! shes the greatest blah blah blah
    how about she starts putting the work in n stop bein so fat n lazy cos shes ruining her diva status

    ur damn near 30 and being obsesed with another human being is highly laughable

    SHUT THE F*** UP no one read that s***

  26. SparkD October 17, 2010

    Trent,

    You should have posted Mariah singing Make It Happen at Madison Square Garden in 1996.

    People talk about singers dancing and singing.

    Mariah ran around that stage with stamina with a giant gospel choir in the background, and control that performance. Other than a Whitney or gospel singer, a pop singer singing/dancing has nothing on Mimi running and singing over a big choir, and singing beautifully.

  27. UGh October 17, 2010

    lmao @ STAR

    Mariah can sang!!!!!!!! She is most definitely the best female vocalist out there.

  28. Facts Officer October 17, 2010

    This is ALSO one of my favorite perfromances from Mariah. This and the Grammys perfromance of “Fly like a bird” (YouTube It)

    If you dont get CHILLS from both of these performances CHECK YOUR PULSE!!!

    #LEGEND!!!!

  29. Sublime00 October 17, 2010

    A true ARTIST, Mariah wrote these lyrics!

  30. Natam October 17, 2010

    CORRECTION: “if anybody needs proof that Carey USED TO BE the best vocalist that the industry has ever seen then this is it”

  31. topman October 17, 2010

    Vocal technician of the highest degree, there’ll never be another!

  32. Luv-Lee October 17, 2010

    See!!!!! Now THIS was when I was a Mariah Carey FAN!!!!! Boy, how times have changed.. : /

  33. Kyle October 17, 2010

    Amazing performance and she definitely deserves to be a legend, but…

    “∫f anybody needs proof that Carey is the probably the best vocalist that the industry has ever seen then this is it.”

    …someone needs to go to a Deborah C** concert.

  34. the kiddz October 17, 2010

    YES! YES! YES! No one from this generation could generate the amount of volume and skill Mariah displayed here. There are so many high belts (F#5’s) she does so effortlessly. Ugh. Sickening. Let’s not forget the equally good performance she did on SNL.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9oI8dS1C1c

  35. Sarah October 17, 2010

    Brilliant

  36. Anonymous October 17, 2010

    I think people forget Mariah has been shutting it down for 2 decades. Her past live showings and body of work are enough to keep her way above anyone out today.

    Just amazing, phenomenal, flawless, and I’m not even a huge fan but you have to respect this.

  37. Facts Officer October 17, 2010

    I AGREE @TheKiddz That SNL version is EPIC!!!

    And you can tell it was prolly a few years later.

    MAN I LOVE MARIAHS VOICE!!!

    Yesterday AND Today!

  38. Trent Is The R***** October 17, 2010

    AND SAD TO SAY 18YRS LATER FAT-RIAH IS THE SHELL SHE USED TO BE. NO LONGER THE NEXT GENERATION “ARETHA” (EXCEPT IN WEIGHT), HER VOCALS GONE, AND SHE IS LEFT TO LIP SYNC MORE THAN 50% OF HER LIVE PERFORMANCES. THIS IS WHEN TOMMY MATOLLA WAS BUYING HER #1 HITS ON THE HOT 100, LITERALLY.

  39. TheMan October 17, 2010

    i have NEVER heard anyone say that Mariah was the next Aretha? When it comes to soul singing Mariah was never even in the top 5.

  40. ranjeet October 17, 2010

    Well this performance is just beyond the scope of your everyday beyonce,aguilera,Dion etc. but what’s most astonishing is that this performance is NOT Carey’s best performance at all!
    Or atleast not the ‘toughest to sing live ‘ / ‘toughest to recreate’ performance atleast.

    You can all go to a Houston performance say : all the man i need,etc and then go to one of Carey’s 90-96 performances.
    The difference in musicianship,agility,versatility and dynamics is MIND BOGGLING.

    While Houston’s all-penetrating voice sounds stronger to the casual listener,a more interested person will easily understand who is the better vocalist AND singer AND musician.(only very slightly)

    All other singers are unworthy to even be mentioned with them.

  41. Bruce October 17, 2010

    Really! Stop embarassing yourself Trent! Everyone in the industry will tell you Whitney is the best singer in the world. This perfornmance of Mariah is average at best for a live performance. You need to go back and listen to last weeks vault of Whitney at the AMA’s! Look at her engagement with the audience, look how her notes and vibrato make them not sure if they want to sit or stand, cry or shout. Listen to the ease of her transitions between octaves, her clarity, diction and dynamics! Watch how she takes command of the stage and her band and her audience. She is directing the whole performance while showing all the colours of her voice. She is a world class vocalist!
    You really need to stop your nonsense!

  42. JAYLA October 17, 2010

    HATIN ASS F*** LMAO…. SHE KILLED IT! GO DO SOMETHING WITH YALL LIVES LMAO….

  43. TheMan4U October 17, 2010

    excellent post Bruce and so True

  44. Bill October 17, 2010

    Oustanding i love her so much best singer ever x

  45. Wake Up Six October 17, 2010

    Mariah Carey = BEST VOCALIST EVERRRRRRRRR *Guy from Simpsons Voice*

  46. Mrsjones October 17, 2010

    Occult game f****** proper! I mean the performance was great, but the stage scene was f****** creepy. The big ass red triangle in the back, the stage floor, the “shadow” choir. Just weird s***.

  47. Quiana October 17, 2010

    Now this is Mariah that I love, I wish she can go back to this Mariah instead of the Mariah we have now.

  48. Topman October 17, 2010

    @Bruce Must you really call this performance “average” just to get the point across that you prefer Whitney? We’re talking about strictly vocals yet most of your justification seems to be based on her performance skills and interaction with the audience – it’s generally agreed that Whitney is the better PERFORMER. Mariah couldn’t have shown more ease transtioning between octaves than changing from belting full force to a whistle note at the end of the bridge. She has more resonance in the upper chest register than Whitney could ever manage and her adlibs and melisma is always placed perfectly to reflect the music. It’s not a competition, let’s just look back on the greatness that is these two women.

  49. Candy Bling October 17, 2010

    The greatest!

  50. TheMan4U October 17, 2010

    Topman you have got to be joking, did you watch the post about Whitney’s AMA performance, Whitney’s transitioning is AWESOME and her upper chest register is UNMATCHED, go back and listen to her belting in upper chest on I am telling you, mariah could never do that at any point in her career

  51. Bruce October 18, 2010

    @Topman I think I was pretty clear in my post that my beef was with Trent’s staement that mariah was the best vocalist in the industry. I am at a loss as too how this performance supports this. I love the fact that Tommoy Motala wanted his own Whitney and constantly held Mariah to Whitney’s vocal standard! You hear her using all of Whitneys inflections and signature adlibs on her fisrt single Vision of Love. When that single was released people thought it was a Whtiney song. Topman as you say this is not a competition but common sense must prevail! Every performance that Whitney and Mariah gave together Whitney made her look and sound like a back up singer. Whitney is the real deal! Sorry to be so harsh.

  52. True Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Blue October 18, 2010

    “If anybody needs proof that Carey is the probably the best vocalist that the industry has ever seen then this is it.

    Eh, no offense to Mariah, but I got evidence that says otherwise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aduNahDPjBA

    IMO, of course.

  53. bobby d October 18, 2010

    daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!!!!!! you dont see talent like that very often.

    GO MC!

  54. the kiddz October 18, 2010

    @ True Blue

    Those are fighting words, my friend. XD

  55. True Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Blue October 18, 2010

    ^^^ 😀

  56. BeBe October 18, 2010

    Too bad she hasn’t had a performance like this since 1996.

  57. Cassi October 18, 2010

    This woman can sing anything – I’ve heard her sing soul, ballads, pop, hip-hop, r&b, reggae, impromptu ( jazz, opera, country) <<<< yes she can! and they all sound sublime. There are plenty of technically perfect singers but her creativity and versatility combined with her vocal skills is truly unmatched – ever.

  58. theman October 18, 2010

    Deborah C** is great but as far as skill Mariah just owns it. Mariah is in another league.

  59. tamone October 18, 2010

    Wow ! Definitely The BEST Singer of ALL Time !
    This performance is AMAZING (To say the least)
    & the Crazy thing is That Mariah Carey is so Damn Good
    That Theres LIKE 100+ other Performances that are as Good
    EVEN better than This !
    Shes Truly a Legend , & EVERYONE needs to give
    Mariah the Respect she DESERVES .
    20 Damn years & Strong, shes iconic & beautiful !
    Shes most def BLESSED & her
    CHRISTMAS ALBUM IS GOING TO BE FIRE !
    check out Mariah’s “Oh Santa”
    xoxo

  60. Lyrico October 18, 2010

    Damn!!

  61. Scoopz October 19, 2010

    No way Trent-

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ3T2nCtfqY

    They both excel in different areas. Mariah was more versatile and has more resonance in the upper register, but Whitneys control, artistry and belting prowess were significantly greater.

  62. Bessie Shouts June 22, 2011

    Excellent post. It is truly assist to us. Its offer us a great many curiosity and pleasure. Its possibility are so fantastic and working fashion so speedy. Its genuinely a excellent article. It gives me a great many satisfaction and curiosity.

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