Mariah Carey is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style, and signature use of the whistle register, she is referred to as the "Songbird Supreme" and the "Queen of Christmas". Carey rose to fame in 1990 with her eponymous debut album. She was the first artist to have her first five singles reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, from "Vision of Love" to "Emotions".
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer and actress. She is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston is also one of the most awarded artists in history. Known for her powerful and soulful vocals, she has influenced many other singers. Houston is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, from "Saving All My Love for You" in 1985 to "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988.
Junior Vasquez, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer.
Nicolette Louisa "Nikki" Palikat is a Malaysian American singer from Tambunan, Sabah, and a finalist in the first season of Malaysian Idol. She is known for her vocal belting and her ability to sing in the whistle register.
Walter Afanasieff, formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is a Brazilian-American musician, songwriter, record producer and composer of Russian descent. He is known for his longtime collaboration with Mariah Carey on her first six studio albums. He won the 1999 Grammy Award in the Record of the Year category for producing "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, and the 2000 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.
My Love Is Your Love is the fourth studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released worldwide on November 17, 1998. It was Houston's first studio album in eight years, following I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990) although she had participated on three movie soundtracks during that period. My Love Is Your Love is composed of mid-tempo R&B, hip hop soul, pop, reggae, and torch songs, produced by musicians such as Rodney Jerkins, Soulshock & Karlin, Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, David Foster, and Babyface. It is notable for introducing elements of hip hop into Houston's work, only sparingly used in her previous material.
"When You Believe" is a song from the 1998 DreamWorks musical animated feature The Prince of Egypt. It was written and composed by Stephen Schwartz. A pop single version of "When You Believe", with additional music and lyrics by writer-producer Kenneth Edmonds, was also recorded for the film by American singers Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston for the film's end credits and its soundtrack album. Additionally, the song serves as the lead single for both Houston's fourth studio album, My Love Is Your Love and Carey's first compilation album, #1's. The original version of the song, featured in the narrative portion of the film, is performed by Sally Dworsky, Michelle Pfeiffer, and a children's choir. "When You Believe" is described as a big ballad, with meaningful and inspirational lyrics, describing the ability each person has to achieve miracles when they reach out to God and believe.
#1's is the first compilation album by American singer-songwriter and producer Mariah Carey, released by Columbia Records on November 17, 1998. The album contained Carey's then thirteen number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as four new songs. In Japan, the album also included her popular single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which was Carey's biggest selling single there. Though showing the characteristics of a regular greatest hits album, Carey expressed a dislike for the track listing, which she called a large collection of her most commercial singles. She has regularly voiced her frustration with the song choices on the album, expressing her disappointment with the omission of her "favorite songs".
"Hero" is a song by American singer-songwriter, and record producer Mariah Carey released on October 19, 1993, via Columbia Records as the second single from her third studio album, Music Box (1993). Originally intended for Gloria Estefan, the song was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff. While writing the song, Carey did not connect to its style or sound, therefore forfeiting it over to the soundtrack of the film of the same name (1992). However, after being convinced by Sony executive Tommy Mottola to keep it, she changed some of the lyrics to more precisely fit her personality. Lyrically, the song is regarded as one of Carey's most inspirational and personal ballads, with its protagonist declaring that even though people may feel discouraged or down at times, in reality, they are "heroes" if they look inside themselves and see their own inner strength; in time, it will help them "find the way".
"One Sweet Day" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey and R&B group Boyz II Men. The song was released on November 14, 1995 as the second single from Carey's fifth studio album, Daydream by Columbia Records. The artists co-wrote the song with Walter Afanasieff, who co-produced it with Carey. Lyrically, the song speaks about the death of a loved one, how the protagonist took their presence for granted and misses them, and finally about seeing the person in heaven. Both Carey and Boyz II Men wrote the song about specific people in their lives, being inspired by sufferers of the AIDS epidemic, which was globally prevalent at the time.
"Open Arms" is a song by American rock band Journey. It was released as a single from the Heavy Metal soundtrack and their 1981 album, Escape. Co-written by band members Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain, the song is a power ballad whose lyrics attempt to renew a drifting relationship. It is one of the band's most recognizable radio hits and their biggest US Billboard Hot 100 hit, reaching number two in February 1982 and holding that position for six weeks.
VH1 debuted the first annual VH1 Divas concert in 1998. VH1 Divas Live was created to support the channel's Save The Music Foundation and subsequent concerts in the series have also benefited that foundation. The VH1 Divas concerts aired annually from 1998 to 2004. After a five-year hiatus, the series returned in 2009 with a younger-skewed revamp. In 2010 the concert saluted the troops and in 2011 it celebrated soul music, doubling the previous year's ratings. After a dance music-focused 2012 edition aired live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on December 16, 2012, the show took another hiatus before being revived on December 5, 2016, at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York with a holiday theme and achieved its highest ratings in over a decade.
Mike Leon Grosch is a German singer who came to fame as the runner-up of the third season of the television show Deutschland sucht den SuperStar, the German version of Pop Idol.
"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a power ballad by the British-American rock band Foreigner. It was released in November 1984 as the lead single from their fifth album, Agent Provocateur. The song hit number one in both the United Kingdom and the United States and is the group's biggest hit to date. It remains one of the band's best-known songs and most enduring radio hits, charting in the top 25 in 2000, 2001, and 2002 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents chart. "I Want to Know What Love Is" has continued to garner critical acclaim, and is listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's greatest songs of all time at number 479. The song is also featured in a number of films.
Miss Dominique [as she is generally known as], born Dominique Michalon 7 September 1978 in Sarcelles, France, is a French singer and second-place finalist of the fourth edition of Nouvelle Star [based version of "Pop Idol"]. Her parents are both Caribbean.
Leon Jackson is a Scottish singer. He won the fourth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2007. Following his win, Jackson was the main star of his on-web series entitled Leon's Life, which ran from 2007 until 2008. Jackson's début album, Right Now (2008) finished the year as the 75th best-selling album in the UK, and included the singles, "Don't Call This Love", "Creative" and "Stargazing".
The third season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar premiered on 16 November 2005 and continued until 18 March 2006. It was won by Tobias Regner. The season was co-hosted by Tooske Ragas and Marco Schreyl.
Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is the twelfth studio album by American singer-songwriter, and record producer Mariah Carey. It was released on September 29, 2009 by Island Records. After promotion for her previous album, E=MC² (2008) ended, Carey began to work on a new album, producing songs with Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and revealed the album's title through Twitter. Carey said that Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel would have "big ballads", and that "each song is its own snapshot of a moment in a story".
"Oh Santa!" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her second Christmas album and thirteenth studio album, Merry Christmas II You (2010). Carey wrote and produced the song in collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox. It was released as the lead single from the album on October 1, 2010 by Island Def Jam Records. It is an up-tempo R&B song about Carey making a plea for Santa Claus to bring back her partner in time for the Christmas holidays. It received a positive response from music critics, with many praising its composition and style.
