Mariah Carey is giving birth in more ways than one.
The music superstar's just-confirmed pregnancy is getting lots of attention, but her immediate focus is on Tuesday's (Nov. 2) unveiling of her second holiday CD, "Merry Christmas II You."
For the rest of the year, she'll be making the media rounds to promote it, and she admits she's already feeling the effects of tackling such a schedule in her current condition.
"That's the thing," the friendly Carey tells Zap2it. "I was like, 'Interviews? Today?' I worked so late last night, it was to the point where I got home and didn't even have the strength to take my makeup off.
"One perk was that I woke up today still looking good! I mean, even my hair. I had this sort of flip thing going on. I slept with a well-positioned neck pillow, and when I woke up, my flip was still good."
"Merry Christmas II You" offers many seasonal standards, including an "Extra Festive" update of Carey's own classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You." She says hearing that song "keep coming back always makes me so overwhelmed. It really, really makes me happy. A lot of people don't realize that I also co-wrote it [with Walter Afanasieff].
"I was working up to the last day they made me hand in the album, and there was one time when it was a 24-hour marathon. I wasn't telling anybody I was pregnant yet, and I knew I was in pain -- but I was like, 'Whatever I have to do to get this done.'
"I knew I had to get 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' done," Carey adds, "and at the last minute, [composer-arranger] Marc Shaiman saved the day. People don't do these big orchestral sessions that much anymore."
As for possible baby names? Carey reports she and her "America's Got Talent"-host husband, Nick Cannon, began discussing those "a long time ago. We're just waiting to see. I was doing two videos yesterday, and I didn't even watch the interview (on NBC's "Today," in which Carey revealed her baby news). I'll look at that on a plane, maybe."
Carey envisions spending much of the holiday season in New York, with an itinerary that includes a performance on the annual NBC special "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" Tuesday, Nov. 30. Another television consideration for her is one that many top artists have these days ... the possible use of her catalog on the FOX series "Glee."
"I believe there have been some discussions about a potential melding there," Carey says, "and I would love to explore that. I'm not a rabid watcher [of the show], but that's only because of my schedule. Truth is, I get the DVDs of some of my favorite shows, then just end up watching those all the time."
Source: Zap2It