Mariah has been hard at work on finishing up her brand-new Christmas album, reportedly titled Merry Christmas II You, which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, November 2.

Last Friday night, August 27, Mariah had a big session with a full live band at Fox Studios in Los Angeles, California recording 5 holiday songs – 2 new and 3 traditional songs! Our reliable source tells us, “Mariah was very humble and thanked the band for their great work. At one point, she got up on the conductor’s podium and playfully pretended to conduct the band.”

The titles of Mariah’s two new and original Christmas songs, both co-written with Marc Shaiman of Broadway’s Hairspray fame are:

• “Christmas Time Is In The Air Again”
• “One Child”

“Chistmas Time Is In The Air Again” has been described to us as “a really nice mid-tempo number.” Mariah was happy to be working with Marc Shaiman and said: “He’s so talented and can hear the chords in my head.”

Source: Mariah Daily

Whether you are into fast cars or not, Grand Prix season has an entertainment line-up to get your motor running.

From as little as $38, the lowest price of the Sept 24 single-day Zone 4 walkabout ticket, music lovers can see stars such as Grammy-winning hip-hop singer Missy Elliott and American Idol alumni Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry who will be singing with his band, Daughtry.

They will perform on a huge stage at the Padang in the heart of the race circuit, in between and after the races. On Sept 26, the final night of the three-day Grand Prix, the cheapest tickets to see Mariah Carey, one of the biggest names in pop, cost only $128.

‘If Lushington brings in Mariah Carey alone, the ticket would go up to $800,’ Singapore GP executive director Michael Roche, who is also director of promoters Lushington Entertainment, told Life!. F1 Rocks, last year’s big-scale music festival at Fort Canning Park, will not be held this time around.

The festival is on hiatus due to organisational changes but the musical offerings by Singapore GP within the circuit park have picked up the slack. It raised its entertainment budget from $4 million to $5 million this year. This includes $600,000 for the imported main stage that is larger than a basketball court, and where headliners will perform.

The stage, which the organisers say is possibly the largest makeshift stage ever constructed here, is accessible to all ticket-holders and is expected to draw 30,000 fans.

Source: Straits Times

Universal Music Australia have added Mariah Carey’s upcoming Christmas album into their release schedule. It is tentatively scheduled for a November 5th Aussie release date – where it will compete against new albums by Rihanna and Jessica Mauboy.

Source: Mariah Carey Australia

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for two pop divas…again. Mariah Carey and Jessica Simpson are both planning on releasing their second holiday albums this year.

Mariah is releasing her first holiday album since 1994’s “Merry Christmas,” which has been certified 5x platinum in the U.S. Carey, who created a modern yuletide classic in “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” is set to feature a remix of the track on her upcoming album, which is set to feature both original songs and covers.

Carey is teaming up with her former musical director and “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson on the project, who also produced one of her most underrated album tracks “Subtle Invitation” off 2003’s “Charmbracelet.” She’s also working with Broadway composer Marc Shaiman, who helped bring the music of “Hairspray” and the upcoming “Catch Me If You Can” to the stage.

Jessica Simpson is also set to release her second holiday collection. Her first, “Rejoyce: The Christmas Album,” made much less of an impact than Carey’s. It was originally released as a 7-Eleven exclusive EP (yes, that 7-Eleven), and later fleshed out to a fuller album. It featured duets with then-husband Nick Lachey and sister Ashlee Simpson.

“Rejoyce,” Simpson’s best-selling album since 2003’s “In This Skin,” featured covers of songs like “O Holy Night” and “What Christmas Means To Me” and an original Simpson co-write, “It’s Christmas Time Again.” Simpson is currently in the studio recording the new album, on the fast-track to hit shelves before December.

Carey and Simpson aren’t the only divas feeling the holiday spirit this year. Katharine McPhee is following up her sophomore effort “Unbroken” with her first seasonal collection. Tentatively titled “Christmas Is the Time…To Say I Love You,” McPhee’s album is set to feature an original self-written ballad along with classic covers. Check out her “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” cover, released last year, for a taste.

Although not confirmed, Susan Boyle is reportedly readying a holiday album to follow-up last year’s smash “I Dreamed a Dream” album. Annie Lennox is also set to release her first holiday collection, “A Christmas Cornucopia,” this fall.

Source: AHN

During the past week Mariah has been featured on both Extra and E! News respectively.

Extra Segment – Idol Rumours

Format: MPG Size: 27.3 MB Capped by: Moony Year: 2010
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Extra Segment – Pregnancy Rumours

Format: MPG Size: 22.2 MB Capped by: Moony Year: 2010
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E! News Segment – Pregnancy Rumours

Format: MPG Size: 27.6 MB Capped by: — Year: 2010
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Mariah was also mentioned briefly on the local news in New York, you can watch and/or download the segment below.

New York Local News Segment – Mariah Mention

Format: MPG Size: 18.8 MB Capped by: Moony Year: 2010
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Thanks to Moony for sharing these videos!

Source: Moony, February Sky

There are no idle moments in the hectic world of Mariah Carey.

The 40-year-old pop diva, currently sunning herself in Brazil, could soon be busy on American Idol.

Host Ryan Seacrest told E! news: “We are in the final stages of talks to have her on the show.”

Source: Daily Mirror

Let’s think about this: you don’t make a huge, long trip from Los Angeles to Rio de Janiero and then do grueling concerts if you’re in the middle of a tricky pregnancy. So enough already with Mariah Carey-is-preggers-rumors. Poor Mariah. It was cold in Brazil. She wore a t shirt over her dress. She wore a sweater. But really, photos from her Rio shows only indicate that she’s got a flat tummy.

Mariah has been trying to get pregnant. She doesn’t need any stress from the tabloid press, believe me.

On the other hand, Mariah has been working hard in the studio with producer Randy Jackson. She’s even brought in an unusual collaborator: Broadway’s Marc Shaiman, who wrote “Hairspray” and dozens of hits. Shaiman is also a five time Oscar nominee. This is really interesting since Shaiman could be fashioning some colossal material for Mariah. Whoever came up with that idea was really thinking outside the box. Shaiman most recently worked with Bette Midler on a great song about late producer Arif Mardin which appears on an album called “The Greatest Ears in the World.” I wish more people could hear it.

Mariah told me in an email last week that Shaiman was her favorite collaborator since her days with Walter Afanasieff. “He’s so talented and can hear the chords in my head.”

If she is pregnant, Mariah is not saying. So let’s leave her alone until she’s ready. And hope her album is the breakthrough she’s aiming for.

Source: Showbiz 411

Every day a multitude of stars wander through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that’s why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

The last time we heard new music from Mariah Carey was last year’s Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and though the buzz that surrounded the first single “Obsessed” has not stuck around, Carey continues to drop singles from it (the most recent being the well-received one-two punch of “Up Out My Face” and “Angels Cry”) and play shows all over the world (she is an international superstar, after all). She took her act to the Barretos International Rodeo in Brazil on Sunday (August 22) wearing a T-shirt that read “If You Like Fun You’ll Love Me.” She plowed through her massive box of hits and may or may not have fueled more pregnancy rumors (which husband Nick Cannon continues to deny, most recently on his radio show on Monday).

Carey wasn’t the only star getting outside her comfort zone, as “True Blood” stars Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin got married in Malibu and Miranda Cosgrove paid a visit to the Governor’s Ball in Los Angeles.

Source: MTV News Room

Source: February Sky, You Tube

On August 12th (Thursday) Mariah was featured on the E! Daily 10 show. You can download and/or watch by clicking on the links below. Thanks to Moony for the clip!

E! Daily 10 Segment – Is Mariah The Next Judge?

Format: MPG Size: 18.4 MB Capped by: Moony Year: 2010
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Source: Moony, February Sky