Though she wasn’t able to get the hot tea she so craved, Mariah Carey was able to put last year’s demons behind her with a scintillating performance at Times Square.

This time, there weren’t any shortcomings from her side. Dressed in a white fur coat and a gold-colored dress, Mariah Carey sang “Hero” and “Vision” of Live to turn the heat on an otherwise extremely cold night.

“Happy New Year!” Ms. Carey said, addressing the crowd. “Just want to take a sip of tea if they’ll let me.” Though the tea never arrived, Mariah didn’t let its absence affect her on-stage performance.

Learning From Her Mistakes

Last year Mariah was in Times Square to welcome the New Year with her performance. However, to put it mildly, the performance went disastrously that time around.

That performance was a testament to what happens when there is zero coordination between team members. For example, while singing her blockbuster “Emotions”, Mariah was unable to sync with the music and lyrics.

To add insult to injury, Mariah gave up midway through one of her songs, “We Belong Together” – despite the fact that the recording of the number continued to play, an evidence that she was lip-syncing during the entire time.

In the light of these circumstances, therefore, it was imperative that Mariah set record straight. And amusingly for her fans, the veteran singer did just that.

Learning her lessons from last time, Ms. Carey arrived hours in advance to personally check the arrangements. Her team was omnipresent even before with her manager being the most active of her team members.

It paid off.

Without any misgivings that marred her performance last year, Ms. Carey seamlessly made it to the finish line. The fact that all had gone awesome was evident when – after singing “Hero” – Carey received a standing ovation from large segments of the audience.

Surprise for her Fans

If you’ve watched her performance, you might have seen the giant rock glittering on Mariah’s middle finger. According to CNN, it was an engagement ring which her ex-fiance, James Packer, gifted her. Mariah touts it as an “inconvenience fee” as she has sued Mr. Packer for $50million after the couple’s breakup last year.