Thursday, November 17, 2011

Mariah Carey HSN Collection 1st Anniversary

Next week will mark the one-year anniversary of the debut of Mariah's line of jewelry, footwear and fragrances on HSN. Mariah will appear live on Tuesday, November 22 to take viewers' calls and show off her latest products. Below is the schedule for Mariah's segments:

12:00 am- 2:00 am EST: Hosted by Amy Morrison
12:00 pm- 2:00 pm EST: Hosted by Bill Green
4:00 pm- 6:00 pm EST: Hosted by Adam Freeman
9:00 pm-11:00 pm EST: Hosted by Colleen Lopez

Mariah's Virtual Christmas Concert

Earlier today, Dueutsche Telekom, Europe's T-Mobile carrier, presented Mariah's "Global Christmas Extravaganza." Packed crowds in Germany, Croatia, Macedonia, Poland and Montenegro were treated to a simulcast of a four-song concert:

1. Oh Santa!
2. Hero
3. Silent Night
4. All I Want For Christmas Is You

Mariah made three festive wardrobe changes and the crowd danced along and waved candles, creating an environment sure to get everyone in the spirit of the season!

The performance is the latest in T-Mobile's "Life's For Sharing" series. Footage from today's show will be posted to T-Mobile’s YouTube page.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Mariah Covers Us


MARIAH CAREY: "HOW I LOST 30 POUNDS!"
She's come a long way, baby! Mariah Carey tells Us how she got her
body back after twins — in just three months By Ian Drew




"Do my legs look good?" a beaming Mariah Carey asked as she posed for Us at NYC's Industria studios on November 4. Not that she needed reassurance. The first-time mom proudly showed off her toned gams and flat stomach — the hard-earned results of losing 30 pounds after giving birth on April 30 to twins Moroccan and Monroe (with husband Nick Cannon). Getting her body back once seemed to be a, well, sweet fantasy for the star. After finally conceiving (Carey took what she called "excruciatingly painful" regular progesterone shots, a hormone often prescribed to boost fertility, then continued the shots for 10 weeks afterward to reduce the risk of miscarriage), the singer developed gestational diabetes, suffered a double hernia and was eventually put on extended bed rest before delivering "Roc" and "Roe" via C-section at 35 weeks. "I gained an enormous amount of weight. I was scared I was never going to walk again!" the Grammy winner confesses. "After carrying two 6-pound babies around, I had to relearn how to do it."

And did she ever. Not only was the hitmaker able to strut to her songs "Shake It Off" and "Fly Like a Bird" at the Us shoot, she also slid into size-6 shorts. Her secret? A nutrition and workout plan from Jenny (formerly Jenny Craig). Starting with a 1,500-calorie-a-day menu and thrice-weekly workouts in July, Carey began losing one to two pounds a week. As her advisers monitored her progress on the plan's at-home delivery service with weekly consultations and weigh-ins, she decreased to 1,200 calories a day a month later. Now the brand's ambassador, Carey opens up to Us about reclaiming her svelte figure.

You look amazing!
I feel incredible, but it was a long road! Being pregnant felt longer than it was. It was a huge blessing to be able to have the babies, but I felt trapped in my body because I couldn't move.

How much weight did you gain while pregnant?
The last time weighed myself was 1998! But I will say that I gained a lot of water weight.

Was it nice to eat whatever you wanted?
Truthfully, I wasn't that hungry because the babies were pressing on my stomach. But I was really into Big Gulps. Nick would always run to the store and get me icy, sugary drinks.

How did Nick feel about you gaining weight?
He was there for me every step of the way. He's the most generous guy. When I was pregnant and still able to swim, Nick would buy me maternity bathing suits. But when they didn't fit, it was the worst!

When did you realize you wanted to lose weight?
I have a picture from two days after I gave birth when our friend Reverend Al Sharpton came to bless the babies. I was so happy then that the babies had made it. But I looked at myself in the photo after and thought, Who on Earth is that? Mind you, I thought I looked good at the time!

When did you start your program?
I had to wait more than six weeks after I had the babies! At the beginning, I was breast-feeding, so I actually had to eat more than I normally would. It was frustrating.

Tell Us about the diet. Was it tough at first?
When I started, I got really strict with myself. Jenny and the American Heart Association, which I'm working with to raise health awareness, helped me understand that losing weight is about eating what you like, just in the appropriate portion sizes. I wouldn't say it was really hard, but it required focus and determination. In our society, we tend to just eat and eat because it's there. I'd love to sit around and eat whatever I want all day, but now I have to watch it.

Do you get to snack?
They have snacks that you actually want to eat, like popcorn and cheese curls. I've learned how to have just enough, like if you eat the popcorn slowly, you're good for the whole movie. And you can have one S'mores Bar, not five! When you're dieting, being able to eat things like that lifts you up. It's not a bleak thing where you say, "Ugh, I have to eat this now."

Do you feel deprived?
No, the program is so easy. You can grab something so you're not starving. I like the Tomato Florentine Soupitizer because it's low in calories and you're full!

Do you ever cheat with food not in the program?
I do cheat a little sometimes with ice cream. I'll have a small sundae, but I'll substitute frozen yogurt. And I still put the fudge on there because I'm not having a huge one!

And you exercise, right?
Working out made me feel like a whole person again! As soon as I could, I went to a friend's house in Palm Beach, Florida, that was like a private spa and had a gorgeous gym. I don't use weights because I'm big-boned, but I do a lot of cardio and aquatic workouts in the pool using my own weight for resistance. And I walk a lot. Even though my weight loss was mostly from dieting, I'm never going to stop working out. It releases stress. I'm really focused on my health now — mind, body and soul.

Did the program help you find that focus?
The advising sessions felt almost therapeutic. Nutrition is important to me now. My health struggles over the past years have helped me realize how many people go through similar things and they have nobody to educate them. So doing that for others is my main motivation.

What body parts are you loving the most?
My legs! Normally, no matter how much weight I'd gained, they were the same, so I could look at them and be like, OK, I'm still me. But during the pregnancy, it was like two of them equaled one. Seeing my legs again and being able to wear skirts have been great. I also love my arms. I think it's been easier to tone them because my tolerance for pain has been greater!

Do you want to lose any more weight?
A lot of the people around me think I should stop. They say, "You're at your weight from the 'Honey' video [in 1997]. Stay there!" But I think I looked my best in "Touch My Body" [from 2008], so that's my goal now. I know I'm not going to look my thinnest every day, but I know how to get back there if I want to.

So what's next?
The studio is calling my name! Our babies are such an inspiration, and I can't help jotting down lyrics and singing new melodies every day. My fans have no idea how grateful I am to them for sticking with me through all of this, and I can't wait to give them another album. But for now, I'm just really glad to look like myself again.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Mariah Carey: I Lost 30 Pounds of Baby Weight in 3 Months!

"Shake It Off," indeed!

Six months after welcoming twins Moroccan and Monroe, Mariah Carey has lost 30 pounds -- and shows off her toned legs and flat stomach in size-6 short-shorts on the stunning new cover of Us Weekly, out now.

"I gained an enormous amount of weight," the Grammy-winner superstar tells Us of welcoming her son and daughter April 30 with hubby Nick Cannon.

How'd she slim down? Beginning in July, Carey buckled down with a nutritionist and a workout plan from Jenny (formerly Jenny Craig), keeping to a 1,500-calorie-a-day menu and thrice-weekly workouts.

"I feel incredible," the "Fly Like a Bird" singer tells Us, three months after her body transformation began. She and Cannon, 31, famously struggled to conceive their twins (born via C-section at 35 weeks) after a heartbreaking miscarriage.

"It was a huge blessing to be able to have the babies," Carey says, "But I felt trapped in my body because I couldn't move."

Adds the once-again svelte star: "I'm proud of how hard I worked to get my body back...I had to do this for me."

For much more of our cover story on Mariah's incredible transformation -- her body ups and downs, a sample menu and workout plan, adorable new snapshots of the babies, what Nick thinks of her new body and whether she'll lose more weight -- pick up the new Us Weekly, on stands Friday!

Mariah Carey sings praises of Jenny Craig after weight loss

Singer Mariah Carey made it happen and hopes to inspire others to do the same.

Carey, 42, lost the weight she gained during her pregnancy. She and her husband, Nick Cannon, have twins, Monroe and Moroccan Scott Cannon, born April 30. She has dropped 30 pounds on the Jenny Craig weight-loss program since July 22 and is the company's new celebrity spokeswoman.

"I feel better in every way," says Carey, who has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide and had 18 No. 1 singles. "To me, it's mind, body and soul. I was in a bad place physically during my pregnancy."

When she was expecting, Carey had gestational diabetes and severe edema — swelling caused by excess fluid trapped in the body's tissues.

"Edema was the probably the most painful thing I went through during my pregnancy. My legs looked three times the size of what my legs do right now. I thought I would never be the same person again."

After the twins were born, "I lost a lot of water weight initially, and then I lost 30 pounds on top of that."

Over the years, she has shared her emotional struggles, and now she's sharing her weight-loss struggles for people "going through the pain and shame — everything that comes with weight gain."

Some of her future commercials for Jenny, the company's new shortened name, will feature her song Make It Happen. "I wrote that song from personal experience."

The song is "so fitting because a lot of people give up hope when they have had their kids and can't lose that 20 pounds or 40 pounds, or they have gone through issues with weight their entire lives. It becomes so frustrating and debilitating that you give up."

Carey says she had a few indulgences during her pregnancy, including sugary drinks, soul food and pizza. But she doesn't know how much weight she gained because she didn't weigh herself. "I was walking around the house, pregnant and miserable, looking at mirrors and saying: "Why did I put so many mirrors in my house?' "

After the babies were born by cesarean section, she breast-fed them for a while and followed a regular diet.

Several weight-loss companies called her about working with them, Carey says, but when she spoke to the executives at Jenny, "all of whom had their own issues with weight," she felt "a kinship with everybody I spoke with."

The company is known for its high-profile success stories, including actresses Carrie Fisher and Valerie Bertinelli, lifestyle counseling services and packaged food eaten in combination with high-fiber fruits and vegetables.

Carey also will be working with Jenny in a new venture to support and promote the American Heart Association's new initiative, My Heart. My Life.

Dana Fiser, CEO of Jenny, says, "We are thrilled to have her commitment for such a big cause for several years."

Fiser says the company hopes that the combination of Carey and its new name to broaden its appeal to younger women.

In July, when Carey was no longer breast-feeding the twins, she started on the Jenny program, ate the company's foods and was particularly fond of their soups. She says she mixed it up and did some of her own cooking, too, which is part of the program. She does mostly aquatic workouts for 45 minutes four or five days a week.

Speaking of her current weight, Carey says she doesn't go by the scale but by "my dress size. Right now I am between a 4 or 6." She's 5-foot-9.

About her weight loss, she adds, "I worked like a fiend."

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Mariah Teams With Jenny Craig

As announced on The Rosie Show earlier this evening, Mariah will be joining forces with Jenny Craig as a spokeswoman for the popular diet program.

Some of her future commercials for Jenny will feature fan favorite song "Make It Happen," which Mariah says is "so fitting because a lot of people give up hope when they have had their kids and can't lose that 20 pounds or 40 pounds, or they have gone through issues with weight their entire lives. It becomes so frustrating and debilitating that you give up."

Mariah will also help Jenny promote the American Heart Association's iniative "My Heart. My Life."

To learn more about Mariah's new venture, tune in to the live stream on the Jenny Craig website tomorrow at 11:30 AM EST/8:30 AM PST.

Check out Mariah's debut Jenny commercial below!


Mariah Carey: I Lost 70 Lbs. After Twins

Mariah Carey wasn't shy about showing off her baby bump when she was pregnant with now-6-month-old twins Moroccan and Monroe Cannon.

And now, she's positively ecstatic about unveiling her hot new post-baby body after losing, she says, a full 70 lbs.

On Tuesday's episode of The Rosie Show on OWN, Carey, 42, was lowered diva-style onto the stage riding on a crescent moon and wearing a skin-tight black mini-skirt and cleavage-baring leather jacket.

She then explained her new physique was courtesy of a strict diet and exercise – along with the loss of what she says is about 40 lbs. of water due to a difficult pregnancy.

"In the beginning, when I first had the babies, I had so much edema … water and swelling. Most pregnant woman have that just in their feet," Carey says. "One day I was doing my thank-you notes and I noticed it started rising up the leg, so I had edema. … I didn't think I would ever be the same person."

Diet Plan Spokeswoman

Once she'd shed the water weight, Carey embarked on the Jenny diet plan (formerly Jenny Craig), for which she now serves as a spokeswoman.

"The first week, I lost 40 lbs. … of just water," Carey says. "It was just water, initially. When I started with the program, I lost at least 30 lbs. of weight that needed to be lost."

And, says Carey, it wasn't all about appearance. Carrying so much extra weight made everyday tasks, including going to the bathroom, a challenge.

"I had a really tough pregnancy," she says. "I was supposed to be on bed rest, but it was so bad that even bed hurt. … I learned a lot being pregnant, watching my body change."

She adds, "The whole point of this is not just like: 'Oh, hey, look at me and my weight loss, I'm fantastic.' It's really health. Like I said, I learned it when I became helpless and felt so vulnerable like never before in my life."

How She Did It

Because she had a Cesarean section, Carey says exercise wasn't an option early on. So, she says, "The diet is 90 percent of it."

Remembering to eat was one of her biggest challenges because, she says, she believes if she goes too long without refueling, "You slow down your metabolism."

For her, it was important "being able to just grab something. I like the soups a lot. It's 50 calories. I gotta say I like the snacks too."

Carey also regained her fitness by exercising with her dogs and doing workouts in the ocean.

One thing she won't stick with once she meets her goal.

"I never weighed myself," she explains. "People will think I'm a liar but it's true. This is another cliché phrase, I'm a big boned girl … I'm tall and so I always weigh more."

Instead of weighing herself, she says, "I would tend to go, 'Does this size dress fit me that I wore three years ago? I'm good, let's go.' I would go by what it looked like, how I felt."

Monday, November 7, 2011

Mariah Carey Debuts Her New Look

She is the best-selling female artist of all time, the proud new mom of twins and has never looked better! Tune in to The Rosie Show Tuesday, November 8, to see Mariah Carey debut her new look and get her weight loss secret.



The Rosie Show airs on OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network) at 7:00 pm Eastern/Pacific (6:00 Central) and 10:00 pm Eastern/Pacific (9:00 Central)

"When Christmas Comes" Remixed With John Legend

Mariah Carey is waiting to unwrap another Christmas present for her lambs. In addition to shooting a video with Justin Bieber for "All I Want for Christmas Is You," the pop songbird has joined forces with John Legend on a remix to her holiday song "When Christmas Comes."

She teased with a video of herself driving through the snow playing a snippet of the remix. The original song, produced by The Roots’ James Poyser, appears on her 2010 holiday album Merry Christmas II You.

"Coming soon, a legendary musical collabo. #WhenChristmasComes Sorry for the camera work, the snow made it pip!" tweeted MC. "So.. that was a snippet of the RnB Christmas collabo – me & the legendary John, soon to be topping your Christmas list! P.S. It’s a SGSHW!"

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Justin Bieber Shoots "Classic" Video With Mariah

Mariah and Justin Bieber have been busy shooting the music video for their duet on "All I Want For Christmas Is You" at Macy's in New York City! Check out the first two photos from the videoshoot:


Justin Bieber has been very busy this week. He dropped a new album, Under the Mistletoe on Tuesday, appeared on "Dancing With the Stars," freestyled over the Throne's "Otis," and not only shot a music video with Boyz II Men for "Fa La La," but also managed to squeeze in a shoot with Mariah Carey.

Bieber and Carey both tweeted about the video for their reimagining of her classic holiday tune "All I Want for Christmas Is You."

"Might have to go shoot this video with @mariahcarey for our duet! focused on the positives ... the music. #UNDERTHEMISTLETOE," Bieber tweeted about the shoot, referring to a California woman's claim that he fathered her child.

"4:30am and going hard on the 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' shoot with @mariahcarey !! #superfestive #underthemistletoe," he later shared. The original video for the tune, shot to look like a home video, features Carey decked out in skimpy Santa suits and snow-bunny garb, running around decorating Christmas trees, playing in the snow, hanging with Santa and his elves, and generally getting into the holiday spirit.

Mariah Carey seemed equally stoked about the video shoot, gushing about it on her Twitter: "Shooting the final take of 'All I Want.' duet with surprise appearance by Jilly beans & directed by my friend, the wonderful Sanaa Hamri," she said, noting that the shoot was made even more special because it coincided with one of her personal milestones.

"Happy anniversary to [my album] MERRY CHRISTMAS II YOU!!!" she added.

"On the night we're shooting the new 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' with @justinbieber."

Hamri has shot videos for Carey's "Crybaby," "Bringing on the Heartbreak" and "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)," as well as clips for Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z and Christina Aguilera.

The shoot lasted all night, with Bieber tweeting Thursday morning (November 3) that Carey and the crew had wrapped up. "Just wrapped the ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU with the icon and amazing @mariahcarey!" he wrote. "HONORED and I think this video is gonna b classic!"

Bieber told MTV News that getting Carey to join him for the duet was surprisingly easy. "Mariah Carey is doing it with me! It's incredible. So excited," he said. "We wanted Mariah from the beginning, but we kind of thought it was really hard, so we didn't really push the idea. But she's on my label, so we reached out to some people, she got in contact with us, and Randy Jackson was actually at the studio with us, and I was like, 'Yo, you think you can help get Mariah on the Christmas album?' And he was like, 'I'm actually going to see her in New York on Monday,' and I was like 'Yo, go do that!' "

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Mariah Carey Guests on Uncle Murda's "Warning"

East New York MC Uncle Murda has friends in high places, and he's out to prove it on the remix for his street hit "Warning."

Mariah Carey, 50 Cent and Young Jeezy stop by on Murda's redux, and the track begins with Mrs. Cannon talking about something she's lost.

"How can I explain the fact that I don't know where my sock drawer is," Carey says with a laugh. "I don't know. OK, Let's stop the questions there."

50 Cent comes in on the second verse warning others of sleeping with the wrong person.

"Everything cool 'til I black out, oh you goon' get it, " 50 Cent spits. "Run, you back up, be my target, oh I'm gon' hit it. N---as see me with the strap out, oh they start snitching. F--- the wrong bitch then it's oh when you're pissing."

Elsewhere, Young Jeezy addresses those who say the MC's fallen off of his game.

"I gets money, I gets money, oh, I'm having paper," Jeezy says. "Man I'm saying f--- the playing, oh these n---as haters. When they thought that I was over, I'm like oh you n---as trippin', I'm out with Wink Loc in Brooklyn, like oh these n---as crippin'."

Uncle Murda was signed to Roc-A-Fella in 2007 but left the label not long after the following year. The "Warning (remix)" featuring Mariah Carey, 50 Cent and Young Jeezy follows the first redux, which boasted Vado, Cam'Ron, Jim Jones, French Montana, Jadakiss and Styles P.

Mariah Carey/Justin Bieber Duet Out Now!

"All I Want For Christmas Is You (SuperFestive!)," Mariah's duet with Justin Bieber, is largely available worldwide on Justin's Christmas album, Under The Mistletoe. Check out the links below to purchase this updated version of Mariah's classic holiday tune!

USA:
Amazon.com mp3 99 cents
7 Digital 99 cents
iTunes $1.29

Canada:
7 Digital C$1.29
iTunes C$1.29

UK:
Amazon.com mp3 £0.89
7 Digital £0.99
HMV £0.99
iTunes £0.99

Australia:
Justin Bieber Australia $2.15
iTunes $2.15

Japan:
iTunes ¥150