Carey-me

NEW YORK—A chauffeur for her dog, 100 pairs of shoes for one holiday and an assistant tasked solely with holding her drinks. The outrageous demands of uber-diva Mariah Carey The diva has landed this week Mariah Carey arrived in the UK to promote her new album. She has the reputation for being one of the most demanding A-listers ever. She herself admits: ‘I guess I am a diva in many ways. I can be difficult and a little bit rigid about what I want.’ But then, amazingly, she says: ‘I don’t think I’m demanding enough.’ But, as David Thomas reveals, it’s hard to imagine just how much more demanding Mariah could possibly be.
When signing autographs this week at Selfridges department store, Mariah demanded a 50,000 antique table, covered with silk cloth, to scribble upon, flown in from New York. She sat on a 1,000 throne and was surrounded by roses and butterflies. Having stayed out until 3am at celebrity restaurant San Lorenzo, in Knightsbridge, Mariah cancelled an interview on London’s Capital Radio Breakfast Show because ‘she’s not a morning person’. She then rescheduled a BBC Radio 1 interview because there were problems getting her four-car convoy to the studio from Claridge’s hotel, less than half a mile away.
She insisted on having a 10,000 gym installed next to her penthouse suite at Claridge’s. It was also rumoured she was bringing 100 pairs of shoes with her on the trip. She booked every penthouse suite in the hotel to ensure her absolute privacy and comfort.She has a 15-strong entourage with her, including bodyguards, stylists, hairdressers, publicists and managers. Perhaps Mariah’s single greatest moment of diva madness came when she checked into London’s Baglioni Hotel in 2005.
At 2am, a team of her minions arrived to check that everything was ready for their mistress’s arrival. She, meanwhile, was driven around in her limo, until the hotel had rolled out a red carpet, lined with white candles, for her to make her entrance. The hotel management was happy to oblige. Mariah was renting 15 rooms at a cost of 20,000 a night small change to Mariah, who’s worth an estimated 125 million. When accepting her role in the upcoming film Tennessee, an independent, low-budget production, Mariah was told budgetary constraints meant she would have to travel to the location on an economy-class air ticket, rather than her usual first class or private jet. Mariah agreed, then bought every single economy seat on her flight, and travelled alone in the cabin. Mariah has a steamy time in the bedroom but it’s got nothing to do with her sex-life. As part of her obsessive campaign to preserve her all-important vocal cords, she insists on maintaining rainforest levels of humidity.
‘I’ll have 20 humidifiers around the bed,’ Mariah reveals. ‘Basically, it’s like sleeping in a steam room. The bed is all towelling cloth, the ceiling is sloped so the water can’t fall on my head, and it drips down to my side. My TV is behind glass.’ She insists on wearing high heels at all times, and has even been filmed in her stilettos while using her home-gym equipment. ‘I can’t wear flat shoes,’ she sighs. ‘My feet repel them.’ Mariah turned 38 on March 27 this year, but she refuses to acknowledge her birthdays or advancing age. ‘Honestly, I don’t even have birthdays. I call them anniversaries. It really is about how young you feel,’ she claims.—Agencies