Carey made it to finish line on New Year’s Eve

The New York Times

NEW YORK — This time, there were no malfunctions. And there was no hot tea either, but hey, it could have been worse. It could’ve been last year.

Mariah Carey, wearing a white fur coat, long earrings and a gold-colored glittery dress, took the stage in Times Square to close out 2017, one year after a debacle of a performance that could be a contender for the Mount Rushmore of live-television moments, right alongside Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction.

This time, Ms. Carey’s performance did not feature the backup dancers of last year. There was minimal choreography, as she stayed in mostly one spot onstage during a frigid New York City night. She started a twosong set at 11:38 p.m. with “Vision of Love,” her first single, from 1990. Before her second song — “Hero,” from 1993 — it seemed all was not well from Ms. Carey’s point of view. She wanted her tea.

“Happy New Year!” Ms. Carey said, addressing the crowd. “Just want to take a sip of tea if they’ll let me. They told me there would be tea. Oh! It’s a disaster. OK. Well, we’ll just have to rough it. I’m going to be just like everybody else with no hot tea. But we’re going to try and do this one for you.”

Even without the tea, Ms. Carey’s performance gathered strength throughout the set without any obvious glitches — a marked improvement from last year. After the ball dropped at midnight, she was seen onstage on the ABC telecast, singing along with Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” which was blaring over speakers.