I was a big fan of Mariah's until the Butterfly album came out. Her attitude (and size of her tits) changed dramatically that year. She's never been the same since. Artistically, it was her choice to move away from pop and go heavier into the hip hop sound. What she never seemed to understand though, was that she'd lost probably over a third of her audience when she decided to do this. I think had she not developed the off putting "DIVA" persona she'd still be doing well. This new album Caution (though still not the level of her first 4 or five albums) is much better than her last half dozen outings. It's a good album actually rather than a half ass album with a couple really good songs on it, which is what she's been trending with. That said, the audience for this type of sound isn't as large as her audience was when she did pop music. I was feeling really nostalgic when I heard the last song Portrait. That's where she needs to get back to. She should further explore the gospel sound because I don't even like gospel music but when she does it, like on her 2nd album, it's amazing! Mariah's talent isn't in question, her presentation I think is. It's not appealing at all. I don't root for her because she's so arrogant and entitled. I still listen to her old stuff though. Madonna endures because she was a bad ass from the beginning. Her tough attitude and unapologetic nature was part of the Madonna show from the start. Mariah was a nice girl in the beginning who turned into a mean girl. People don't like that. Celine has always been a class act and a decent human being. Artistically Mariah has the edge, but Celine is more consistent. Worldwide, Mariah has never done as well as Celine, Janet, Madonna, Whitney etc..