Whenever Mariah Carey performs ‘Without You’ post 2000 it always presents quite the conundrum.
Before MC took the stage at ‘Top of the Mountain’ in Austria, she tweeted “Singing at this altitude is almost like giving birth to twins…”, which prompted suspicion that the diva would rely on pre-recorded vocal tracks to carry her.
Find out if such was the case with ‘Without You’ after the jump and sound-off below.
UPDATED: ‘Hero’ and ‘Emotions’ added.
Judging from this video, it’s safe to deduct that Carey sang the verses live behind her backing singers, but allowed the vocal track to take center stage during the song’s bellowing choruses and sustained belts. It begs the question: does Carey lip sync out of convenience or necessity?
As a professional singer touted by many as ‘The Voice’, one would assume Carey should always sing live no matter the condition of her voice. However, as an insecure perfectionist, it’s understandable why the ‘Vision of Love’ belter would opt to mime rather than deliver. It alleviates the strain on her voice, gives a pitch-perfect vocal, and maintains the allusion she’s still ‘got it’–but is diminishing the integrity of her legacy as the industry’s top vocalist worth the price of admission?
**UPDATED**
‘Emotions’
‘Hero’