Mariah Carey - The Adventures Of Mimi (Deluxe Packaging) [DVD]

For an artists with so many hits and so many records broken, its always been surprising how average Mariah Carey's DVD catalogue has been. Sony's efforts have been short, shoddy efforts that were more poor documentaries. Universal have finally stepped up to change that with The Adventures Of Mimi Tour DVD.

Right from the word go, the presentation on the DVD is a class product and a world away from normal Mariah DVD's. You're treated to an impressive CGI rendition of the tour stage that lets you navigate the various different options. Jump right into the concert itself and you actually get that. Not savagely edited performances bolted together from three different locations. You get the ENTIRE concert. This is the full show as those thousands of fans experienced it. Nineteen Mariah hits are all here, all live. The full set list is an impressive displays of classic and modern hits -

1) Opening Video
2) It's Like That
3) Heartbreaker
4) Dream Lover
5) My All
6) Shake It Off
7) Vision Of Love
8 ) Fly Like A Bird
9) I'll Be There
10 Fantasy
11) Don't Forget About Us
12) Always Be My Baby
13) Honey
14) I Wish You Knew
15) Can't Let Go
16) One Sweet Day
17) Hero
18) Make It Happen
19) We Belong Together
20) Butterfly Reprise

Among the chart topping hits, you also get the full concert experience - the exchanges with the crowd, from why Mariah has to sing 'Hero' for its inspiring message or the moment when one lucky fan gets to come on stage for a hug. You can enjoy the show as it was, not edited to pieces.

The set list is safe but solid and guaranteed entertainment. It's all the hits that stormed the charts. Commercial, popular and what keeps the crowd cheering from start to finish. This tour was a celebration of one of the greatest music comebacks in history. Mariah is pulling out the weapons that made her #1 and when times got tough, brought her back there too.

Her improved stage presence is a delight. More than ever, Mariah now seems more relaxed and happy on stage, buzzing with natural energy. She's still posing like a killer catwalk model of course - and looking fantastic while doing it. But she's absolutely radiant on stage, really loving being up on that stage performing for the audience of thousands of adoring fans.

That same audience came for 'The Voice' as will anyone watching at home. You get them too, stripped right from the concert. Raw, more passionate and a little looser, they breath new life in her most timeless classics. 'Vision Of Love' is still as fresh as the day it was first released but Mariah breaths new life into her rendition.

The camera team have succeeded in also keeping things visually things interesting. Its just as on the eye and as the ear. Filmed concerts can get quite boring without some good visuals to hold the attention. The DVD has some excellent sweeps across both stages that take in the scope of the venue, peppered with some nice cinematic ones too. With 'Fly Like A Bird', the camera starts on the floor of the crowd, before moving forward and upwards to the stage where Mariah stands with an army of gospel singers. It really makes you feel like your there in the crowd.

There's more than just the concert of course - there are the wealth of extras too. One of the more interesting ones is the Juke Box. You have 12 virtual credits and can create your own set list. You decide what order the songs will play in, certainly a novel feature to play with.

All the hilarious concerts skits are included on 'Lovers & Haters' as well as the karaoke feature for six classic tracks. Whether you sing with or without Mariah, you too can now pretend to sing to a full house of captivated fans.

The Behind The Scenes feature is about ten minutes long, with exclusive interviews with all of the crew. While entertaining, it pales in comparison to the second discs documentary. Better features are on the second disc. This is a goldmine of fresh information for Mariah Carey fans everywhere. The whole design process of the tour is discussed in impressive depth. Set designs are discussed, proposed/rejected concepts, singers and dancers interviewed and even bloopers are reflected and laughed upon.

The set list is considered, with Randy Jackson discussing forgotten gems like 'Vanishing', what song Mariah likes to open the show with and how she experiments with merging certain remixes. For any fan, this is unmissable - you hear Mariah discuss the history of the mixes and process behind her song writing.

She also touches on the many celebrities who have shared her stage during the tour plus - Boys II Men, Da Brat, Jay Z and many more. Her discussion on 'Hero' is very, very interesting. She touches on the need to perform it. This is followed by an in depth discussion of each song she performs on the tour, some musings over each and its reason for including it on the tour. Some fascinating gems are unearthed here that even the most hardcore fan will be surprised at.

I cannot stress how great this documentary is. This 60 minutes of footage will have you enthralled. It's about the music and its for the fans. This is - finally - the Mariah DVD we've all been waiting for. Excellent features, good, uninterrupted features, superb footage and solid vocals. This wait has been worth it. The ultimate Mariah Carey DVD has finally arrived.

Not her best vocals but still very good. If you hear some of the other concerts form TAOM tour like the show at New York, Miami and Philadelphia you would see that her voice (which has been the subject of debate between fans and critics) is still there and is just as good as it has ever been and exceedes the album versions of these songs in most cases. I think mariah Carey fans would really like this show you know 'for the nostalga' ! Its one of her best in terms of entertianment and has a real party vibe, she also interacts with the audience well. The remix of dreamlover was interesting and I like the way she did both the remix and the original version for some songs like heart breaker and my all. The real standout points of the show were the performance of my all - so moving I havent been moved by anyone performing live (only mariah on record occasionally on songs like outside from the butterfly album and some of the rainbow interludes) she is very good at conveying her emotions through songs but you can tell she really was sisnging it from her heart on this occassion. Other high points were vision of love a nice remake showing a different sound to Mariah and fly like a bird.Another good point was the length of the show - much longer than her usual concerts and good choice of songs from the different albums throughout her career. I wish she would have sung can't let go and I wish you only knew in full but overall a very nice show.

Went to Dallas to see this live last year, wasnt sure what to expect but wow what a performance, if the DVD is as good as the live show its a must for any music DVD collector, great vocals and she looks amazing. Try it, buy it you wont be disappointed!!!!!!!