Sure, she's got a fairly big range. Not as big a range as she thinks she does....scrunching up your throat and squeaking out high C's doesn't qualify as range. But bigger than normal people, I can admit that. But the quality of her voice and the emotion behind her singing just doesn't cut it for me, even if it is just pop music.
She doesn't seem to sing with an open throat, she squeezes it shut, you can hear it in her singing. Which is okay I guess, a stylistic thing. But to me, it doesn't sound all that great. Especially when the higher she goes, the more she squeezes it shut, so that at her highest notes barely any air is getting through. And of course in her extreme lower range, she always sounds like she's choking on a dead rat or something. Why sing in those places when it don't sound good? I never really understood why she did that.
The emotion behind her singing, it just doesn't seem to be there. I can't hear it at least. Her songs are mostly about nothing I guess. But still....there needs to be a mindset there, something that she doesn't have. Some songs, even if they are about nothing, they're fun, or they're lyrical or they're something. Mariah sings just so she can sell records I think. I think she's one of the blandest singers ever. Well, maybe I exaggerate a little. But I'm not really captivated by her music. (Actually, I have a tendency to switch radio stations whenever I hear her).
Why do people like her so much? I don't understand. She's okay, but I'd much rather listen to a lot of the other singers out there. I don't know many of the divas in her era, but like Whitney Houston, is head and shoulders above Mariah in all categories probably. Celine, she has some of the bad habits, but the sheer power of her is incredible. Madonna maybe, is like Mariah. Very bland. Contemporary girls, I guess the top three are Britney, Christina and Jessica Simpson. Britney is probably not as good a vocalist as Mariah, but she has fun with her songs, and that's what's good about her. Christina Aguilera has such an amazing voice that you wish she'd never stop singing, even though the way she sings and the songs she sings pretty much sucks. And Jessica is going to retain her virginity until she marries, unlike Mariah, who by the way she dresses on her album covers wants to get knocked up by all of America or something. So all in all, although all divas have their faults, none except Madonna is quite as bland as Ms. Carey. So what, people like bland? I don't get it.