Mariah Carey was back in Seoul yesterday looking like she traveled back in time to her debut years.
The 39-year-old singer last visited Korea six years ago and is here to promote her 12th studio album "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel."
There is also an as-of-yet announced concert in the works to be no doubt held at the Olympic Park Gymnasium - the default venue for all high profile international concerts in Korea - later this month.
In front of a packed room full of rabid photographers and reporters, the five-time Grammy award winning pop superstar sashayed onto the stage in pure diva-like form during a press conference at the Grand Intercontinetal Hotel in southern Seoul.
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It was obvious the original queen of pop-R&B has taken on a nostalgic concept with her new album.
Clad in the same tight, all-black, form-fitting one-piece dress and rocking a mane full of the iconic curls she made famous almost two decades ago, she greeted the press in Korean saying "Ahnyeong-ha-sae-yo" showing off her voluptuous curves.
"They say that if you say something enough you begin to believe it and then it becomes true and that`s a theory some people have so when people ask me (what my secret is), I say I`m eternally 12," she joked.
"Basically, I`m the same person I was when I was twelve so why not just be twelve -- 12 with a nice hair and make up artist."
Throughout her long and illustrious career, Carey has remained relevant even with younger upstarts vying to take her place by collaborating with the hottest hit-makers and trend setting producers in the business.
But with her latest, she decided to go back to the drawing board.
"I really did just just have fun making this album," she said.
"Back then we weren`t trying to make hits, we were trying to make good music. I`m a writer and this is my memoir."
Though she tied the knot with heartthrob Nick Cannon who is 10-years her junior in 2008, Carey has no plans of slowing down or taking a break to start a family.
"This is what I love to do. I make music, I write songs, this is who I am," she said.
"I do definitely also want to have a family -- I had the opportunity to get married a year and a half ago and I`ll (someday) definitely take the time off to do the best I can with that. But it`s difficult to do both things at the same time. I really have to make the time to eventually have a family without dysfunction and I know that`s very hard. It`s a balancing act, so we`ll see."
She event took a moment to hawk her new perfume to the press called "Forever" reflecting her never-ending career as a hit maker. It is also the title of a 1996 single and went on sale around the time her latest album hit stores late last month.
"It`s a festive perfume. Elizabeth Arden and I worked together on it," she said and joked "we tried to combine my husband`s (smell) into the perfume."
Carey is on track to break the record The Beatles achieved in having the most chart topping singles with 18. She needs two more number one singles to match the fab-four`s record.
(kws@heraldcorp.com)



By Song Woong-ki