On the stroke of midnight as October turned to November, Mariah Carey did what she does every year: she confirmed the holiday season officially open… once Mariah says it’s time, Christmas has begun.
The best part is that it’s almost a trick as you don’t expect the christmas to come out.
It opens within a dimly lit New York City bar on the night of October 31st. Carey appears in full alternative-rock mode: dark makeup, bold coloured hair, leather and studs, performing “Hermit,” a track from the mid-1990s album Someone’s Ugly Daughter.
She released that record under the band name Chick, a project she created with her friend Clarissa Dane. Carey co-wrote and produced the material and sang on it under a pseudonym. Her involvement stayed largely under the radar until she revealed it in her 2020 memoir. The clip captures the energy of that era before the clock hits midnight and everything changes.
At the moment the clock strikes 12, the scene shifts dramatically with the “gotcha” trick.
Carey reappears in her iconic glittering red sequined Santa-style bodysuit with white fur trim, perched as the star atop a massive, elaborately decorated Christmas tree in a snowy mountain landscape. She delivers her signature high whistle-tone “It’s time!” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” begins.
She also appears holding a bottle of Sol de Janeiro’s Cheirosa 62 perfume mist, tying it to her partnership with the Brazilian beauty brand and the hashtag #SoldeJaneiroPartner
Each year the video gets a new creative concept, and you either love it or find it hilariously early.
