Mariah Carey: Kind of the Bomb

MC is featured in the April issue of Allure and during her interview she uses words like "dichotomy," quotes Swingers, and displays quite a bit of self-awareness that had been so creepily absent in years past...like, maybe when she acted all weird and naked on TRL...or when she got naked and slipped into a bubble bath or worked out on her StairMaster in Manolos on Cribs. But she owns that shizz and is very nonchalant about her wackier behavior, so...now I kind of really love her.

But it is pretty remarkable that she's still such a heavy contender 18 years after she first hit the mainstream. Her music's never been very deep or classic, and she's had more than her fair share of publicity nightmares. So while it would certainly be so easy to write her off as having had an insane amount of luck, I think the more likely explanation would be that the woman is just straight-up talented.

I've never been an ardent fan, but I was thinking about it last night and realized that I really love most if not all of those 18 #1 singles and she was practically the sole source of entertainment on last week's abysmal episode of Saturday Night Live. She performed "Touch My Body" and showed off her new, toned physique in the tiniest of mini-skirts. Honestly, I've never wanted to trade legs with someone SO BAD. And did I mention that she's turning 38 next week? Check it out: