Some Fan
Dec 27th, 2003, 11:40 PM
Abstract from Simon Cowell's new book: I Don`t Mean To Be Rude, But...
On Mariah:
Don`t Lose Touch With Reality.
"I quite like Mariah Carey, and I had the opportunity to speand some time with her in the studio, but I can honestly say it was one of the weirdest experiences in my life. During the entire afternoon I spent with her, there was only one subject that she could talk about: herself. It was also the only subject her entourage could talk about. At the time, she was beginning a period of decline in her career, but you would never have known it from the people around her. They agreed with her on everything, whether it was her publicists or makeup people or backing singers. In this particular case, we met because she had produced and sung a duet with one of my groups, Westlife. When the tape was sent to me, I played it and I was absolutely horrifed. It was terrible. I phoned her record company in London to tell them that I wasn`t putting the record out. They fought, but I held my ground. Finally, they asked whether I would tell Mariah myself, and I said that I would be happy to. That`s why I had to fly to Canada to meet her and, in the midst of her "yes" brigade, tell her that I thought the production was horrendous and needed to be changed before the record could be released. When I said as much, there was a deadly silence; it was as if I had spit on the Queen in court. But I couldn`t care less. I just wanted a hit. In the end, we did change the record, and it went to number one. I have to say that I love Mariah--she is a genuine star and ironically her diva-ness is part of her appeal. But I wasn`t surprised when her career went downhill: It was clear that she had no one around her to tell her the truth. Prince was probably in a similar situation, and it cost him dearly--I don`t think he has put out a decent record in ten years."
Resource(s): FOMM (MariahsRod) | Erik from Diva Central | Mariah Connection
On Mariah:
Don`t Lose Touch With Reality.
"I quite like Mariah Carey, and I had the opportunity to speand some time with her in the studio, but I can honestly say it was one of the weirdest experiences in my life. During the entire afternoon I spent with her, there was only one subject that she could talk about: herself. It was also the only subject her entourage could talk about. At the time, she was beginning a period of decline in her career, but you would never have known it from the people around her. They agreed with her on everything, whether it was her publicists or makeup people or backing singers. In this particular case, we met because she had produced and sung a duet with one of my groups, Westlife. When the tape was sent to me, I played it and I was absolutely horrifed. It was terrible. I phoned her record company in London to tell them that I wasn`t putting the record out. They fought, but I held my ground. Finally, they asked whether I would tell Mariah myself, and I said that I would be happy to. That`s why I had to fly to Canada to meet her and, in the midst of her "yes" brigade, tell her that I thought the production was horrendous and needed to be changed before the record could be released. When I said as much, there was a deadly silence; it was as if I had spit on the Queen in court. But I couldn`t care less. I just wanted a hit. In the end, we did change the record, and it went to number one. I have to say that I love Mariah--she is a genuine star and ironically her diva-ness is part of her appeal. But I wasn`t surprised when her career went downhill: It was clear that she had no one around her to tell her the truth. Prince was probably in a similar situation, and it cost him dearly--I don`t think he has put out a decent record in ten years."
Resource(s): FOMM (MariahsRod) | Erik from Diva Central | Mariah Connection