No Rock And Roll Fun

THE MISUNDERESTIMATION OF THE BRAND: Things needn't be quite so bleak for Mariah Carey - as Celine Dion has demonstrated, when your market shrinks, you just find a way of squeezing more out of the top layer. But rather than admit she's become a Gold Station artist, and make do with playing venues where your audience can sit down and order a steak and some Tums while you play, Mariah seems determined to try and cling to the Teen Vogue market. Hence the appointment of Jermaine Dupri as producer. Because, rather than play her a couple of songs that would sit well on a Hallmark Christmas freebie album, he's telling Carey what she wants to hear:

"Her singing is something kids could follow. All those kids like Christina Aguilera, they looked up to Mariah when they first came out. That was the person they liked voicewise. In the studio, I'm telling Mariah, 'This is what you gotta do, you gotta get yourself back to what kids is following'."

I don't actually recall Christina or any of the generation-before-the-current one expressing admiration for Mariah myself, but we do look forward to the undignified spectacle of Mariah attempting to follow The Sisters Simpson and Hillary Duff's lead.