On Saturday night, the world finally ushers in the year 2017 and it can't be soon enough. And of course, the ABC staple New Year's Eve show Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve will be there to ring in the new year with you, as well as celebrate the show's 45th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, Mariah Carey performed on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on Saturday night, just before midnight on the East Coast. Sure, it's always awesome to Mariah around, but she was the first performer to headline the show's live Time Square performances in 2005, according to Billboard, so this was a nod to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve history. And the performance left fans as confused as she seemed to be on stage.
Bustle reached out for comment to Carey's representatives, but they did not respond in time for publication. Update: Carey's representatives have issued the following statement to Bustle: "There was a production issue. Technical difficulties. There unfortunately was nothing she could do to continue with the performance given the circumstances."
Earlier: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Carey explained to the crowd that her vocal track was missing. “I’m trying to be a good sport here,” she said, according to the publication. She was set to perform a medley of songs just before midnight on the East Coast and it started off great. Surrounded by feather fans, Carey performed "Auld Lang Syne" wearing a fabulous white coat. She then shed the coat and the fans during a throwback performance of the song "Emotions" — which she did not sing. Mariah seemed confused at the inclusion of the song and let the instrumental music play as she danced in Time Sqaure. For the whole song.
To her credit, she did try to join in on the song, but stopped several times. She can be heard saying into the mic, "We didn't have a check for this song, so I'll just say it went to No. 1 and that's what it is. We're missing some of this vocal, but it is what it is. I'm going to let the audience sing." Mariah walked around awkwardly for a bit, saying "We didn't have a sound check for this new year's, baby. Put these monitors on, please. Later, she joined the dancers and says, "I'll just go through the motions."
She powered through and sang "We Belong Together" and close the performance by saying "It just don't get any better" while looking a bit upset. Carey did join the hosts of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve for the countdown to midnight, so there doesn't seem to be any hard feelings.
In an interview before her performance, she was excited to be back in Times Square and described that first performance in 2005 to Seacrest: "It was just looking up and it was so festive. And now here we are. It's 2017." Time indeed does fly. Her children Moroccan and Monroe were also with Carey in Times Square for the holiday.
Watch the puzzling performance in the video below.
