Entertainment

Mariah Carey Kept The Jokes Coming On NYE

by Allie Gemmill
ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images

It's may have been the best way to send off 2016 and ring in 2017. Both during and after it happened, Mariah Carey joked about her performance on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Ever the consummate professional, Carey was able to keep things light during what could otherwise be classified as a really awkward live performance. During the performance, it appeared that Carey's vocal track wasn't working, leaving her to fend for herself on live television. Carey's representatives 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." Through it all, Carey made sure that if she wasn't able to sing, she could at least keep the crowd happy.

Something was off after Carey finished singing "Auld Lang Syne." As she stepped down onto the stage to sing "Emotions," the sound seemed to be cutting in and out. From there, Carey decided to forgo trying to sing and instead chose to keep an air of levity about the situation.

As her dancers went to her side, she quipped, "That's it, walk me down," referring to helping her down the steps to the larger portion of the stage. She continued: "Well, happy New Year," and then it would appear she says something to the effect of, "We can't hear, but I'll just go through the motions."

Carey continued to walk around on stage, continuing to try and keep her chin up, despite the obvious: this performance wasn't going to get any better. You have to commend Carey for not freezing up or walking offstage, instead choosing to keep the mood as light as possible.

After trying to find her earpiece (she couldn't in that moment), and looking frustratedly into the camera, Carey told the audience, "We didn't have a check for this song, so I'll just say it went straight to number one and thats what it is." By this point, if you weren't applauding Carey for her perseverance, you were probably chuckling along with her. Who know that she was so quick on the draw with her witty one-liners?

As she attempted to get back in time with the vocal track, she appeared to fumble and explained to the audience, "We're missing some of the track, but it is what it is." Then, like to total queen that she is, she just said, "I'm going to let the audience sing, okay?" I think we all need to slow clap for Carey, okay? She totally eased the weirdness.

Luckily, Carey's fans were quick to joke with her and saw the upside of this soon-to-be iconic performance. They took to Twitter, with one person saying, "Mariah Carey's attitude is how I'm entering 2017."

Hey, if Carey can manage to find the humor in a sticky situation, then I think we can all do the same.