Mariah Carey showed off her incredible vocals and funny side as she played up to her diva image on stage at Glasgow's SSE Hydro for the first night of her European tour - and the audience loved every minute of it.
Right from the get go the US superstar showed she meant business as she was carried on stage aboard a chariot by her hunky male dancers.
As she belted out a rendition of Fantasy, the title of her tour, wearing a glittering leotard which showed off all her curves in the right places we knew we were in for a treat.
Mariah thanked her crowd as she joked she'd been swirled around and then treated us to a rendition of Emotion.
It was then she threw her first 'diva strop'.
As she paused to take a drink from her bottle she said: "You don't mind if I do this on stage? No how is this supposed to work really? Can you even see this. It's a spray thing for your throat but the one they gave me has no spray thing on it. What is that? I mean honestly. Does anybody want this cause I can't use it. People wonder why they throw diva fits. I'm not going to have a diva fit but I'm asking . Come on what were they thinking?" She then poked fun at herself adding: "I know I have a reputation for being a diva but this spray doesn't work."
As if by magic one of her topless male backing dancers rushed in with a new one which Mariah said 'This one doesn't seem to be working either. It's such a drama. Does it have to be such a drama? I mean really, do you find this dramatic. It's actually a little traumatic for me."
Maria, who then sung from her Butterfly album, switched her conversation to kilts and asked the immortal Scottish question: "Tell me the truth? Do men really not wear anything under their kilts, cause that's what I've heard. I'd never look, cause I'm such a good girl and I don't do those things but is it true, yes or no. Is that a yes. It's very exciting."
Everything was done with a cheery grin and it appeared to be more for theatrical impact than out of malice.
In a world where concerts can be over produced and many artists have become media trained robots, it was a refreshing change.
After a quick costume change into a shimmering pink dress she asked the audience. 'Is this alright? It's the first wear tonight.'
She then serenaded her own cute twin boys (the ones she'd got DVD's in ASDA for) in the audience with Always Be My Baby before inviting her friend Trey Lorenz on stage to duet with her, but she couldn't resist another diva demand as she asked for her fan to be switched on, and complained about her ear piece bothering her.
Laughing she said: "I'm just doing the best I can with what I got okay. Is that a little better, a little more dramatic? When did you ever see me without the fan on. Tonight for the first time? There's too many dramas. This is our first show but we are in Glasgow and excited about it. We're happy to be with you."
A beautiful duet of I'll Be There followed in tribute to Michael Jackson with a tiny clip of him joining in displayed on the projection screen behind them.
The audience swayed and there was more to come as Mariah reappeared on stage in a glittering black leotard to speak to her audience.
She sang her monologue : " I'm going to bring somebody out the audience..." And she did. One lucky Scots chap was brought on stage and blindfolded as he sat on a chair and she writhed about on his knee for Touch My Body.
Mariah, who was now wearing a long train behind her leotard hit us with a medley of upbeat RnB numbers including Obsessed before launching into Heartbreaker. Her male dancers provided even more eye candy for the audience.
It was time for another outfit change - this time a shimmering gold dress and of course there was another diva moment to come with the microphone as she realised it was too high for her. She sighed: "The abuse I endure is never ending. No I'm only kidding"
Another hunky flunky adjusted if for her before she launched into a vocally perfect rendition of Against All Odds, her hit with Westlife, written by Phil Collins.
When one of her microphones wasn't ready for her and she was given a standing mic instead of a roaming one, she said: "With the gold one I might have a little more freedom but if we're not set up for that I'll just stick with this mic.
She took a slight dig at other artists copying her style adding: "I used to use sparkly microphones but then everyone else started using them. I'll be honest, it got annoying so I stopped using them. What? is there something wrong with that. I like having my own. Oh my gosh nobody understands .Its not that deep, it's just a microphone."
As Mariah, was given a replacement microphone she added: "I'm going to name that microphone Glasgow because it happened here."
Her crowd lapped up every divaesque word as she said: "Anybody that is writing about this show writing that I have a bunch of diva demands onstage, technically it's true but I'm laughing about it as it happens. It's jokes, just for laughs."
Mariah, who had been rehearsing until 5am on her arrival in Scotland, sang One Sweet Day from her album Daydream with two of her musician friends, Trey Lorenz and Daniel Moore, before paying an emotional musical tribute to Whitney Houston. She revealed she had to call Whitney's family for permission to include her in the show, before launching into an incredible duet of When You Believe with a giant projection of Whitney as a backdrop. It was a jawdropping moment.
The ballads kept coming with Hero, a dedication to her lambily, and then Without You.
The energy flowed as the goosebumps were raised and Mariah proved she's bigger than the hype.
We have just one diva demand for Mariah. Please don't leave it another thirteen years to go on European tour.
