Mariah Carey was looking a million dollars – quite literally – when she celebrated her 35th birthday in London at the weekend. The Glitter star made an appropriately dazzling entrance at the capital's fashionable Tantra club in a white Robert Cavalli dress with £1 million worth of diamond jewellery.
And the birthday girl, who is in Britain to promote her new album, The Emancipation Of Mimi, was determined to make it a night to remember. "It's a very happy day for me and I'm very excited," she said. "I love being in London, I have fabulous friends here – it's been extremely exciting."
Those lucky enough to receive an invite were left with sweet memories of the New York diva, who splashed out £5,000 on a spectacular birthday cake statue of herself. Chefs at Harrods spent 18 days working with sugar leaf and white chocolate to prepare the mouth-watering creation in time for the event.
The glitzy celebration came just after Mariah had wowed her British fans with an appearance on Top Of The Pops. Among the celebs who went along to congratulate the chanteuse were Blue boys Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe, along with Mis-Teeq star Aleesha Dixon and footie ace Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Mariah was looking equally radiant on Friday when she made an appearance on Top Of The Pops
MARIAH CAREY celebrated her 35th birthday on Saturday night (26MAR05), with a life-size $9,500 (£5,000) cake, modelled on herself.
The VISION OF LOVE singer ordered the 1.82 metre (six foot) tall sponge creation, filled with praline butter cream, to be made for her exclusive bash at London nightclub Tantra.
The black, gold and cream treat took a team of 17 chefs from the capital's Harrods store to create.
IT may have been Mariah Carey's party, but Steve Brookstein can cry if he wants to... Reality show winner Steve was recently labelled the "Ex Factor" by industry insiders - and it seems the poor bloke's already been forgotten by those that matter!
The 36-year-old singer - tipped for great thing by Simon Cowell - pitched up at pop diva Mariah's 35th birthday party on Saturday. If only someone had warned the club doormen he was on his way!
Despite making it into plush nightspot Tantra, Brookstein was barred from the party's VIP section because no one knew who he was. Surely you could have taken your hit album along as ID, Steve? Oh, of course ... there hasn't been one, has there?
A 3am spy at the party tells us: "It was a huge embarrassment for Steve. Mariah's proper party was going on in the roped off VIP area. Steve strolled up and was expecting to join the fun, but the bouncers gave him the once over and said, 'No Way'.
"He spent the rest of the night outside the VIP section looking in. To make matters worse, Mariah spotted some of her fans on the way into the club and invited them all in to join her for champagne and a dance. So they got in - but Steve didn't."
And you missed out on a right old knees up, mate. The Armadale vodka was flowing, and it took a team of six male models just to carry her birthday cake. The singer, in the UK to promote her new album, The Emancipation of Mimi, wore a $1million-worth of diamonds, including a chunky bracelet, and spent two hours mingling with her close pals.
Although when we say "close" pals, we're not quite sure Lee Ryan, ex-Mis-Teeq singer Alesha Dixon and Simon Webbe are Mariah's lifelong chums - but at least they got in.
It was also single mum Suzanne Shaw's first night on the tiles since she split from love rat Darren Day. Not surprisingly, the former Hear'Say singer, 22, celebrated giving the serial cheat the boot by knocking back the booze.
But has the creepy cockney put her off men for life? We only ask because by the end of her night she was snogging a sexy blonde gal pal...
Bless Mariah Carey, she either doesn't know how to pack light or she received an enormous amount of gifts for her birthday.
The 35-year-old star needed a little more than a luggage trolley when she left the London hotel she'd been staying at for a week. In fact, she needed an entire lorry.
It took porters at Kensington's Baglioni Hotel half an hour to load dozens of her bags into the back of the truck, as the singer's week of promotional shenanigans in the UK came to an end.
An onlooker told The Sun: "It was incredible. There were about 50 suitcases, all labelled for Mariah. It took bellboys half an hour to load them all."
Her latest trip will be better remembered for her hilarious diva demands, than her comeback album, after reports that she had to drive round the block before arriving at the Baglioni in the early hours of one morning...
Why? Because the hotel didn't have the requisite red carpet and sturdy white candles leading up to the entrance in place.
The Daily Mail also reports that those in her London entourage of 15 were said to have to been under orders to declare - at least once a day: "Good morning Miss Carey, you look beautiful today."
The singer was also an hour late for the Capital FM Awards, where she was presented with a gong for her outstanding contribution to music. She was also two hours on the tardy side for her combined birthday and record launch at a nightclub in London.
However, she was said to be enchanted by a 4ft cake version of herself which was made especially for her 35th birthday - although she revealed she wasn't hungry and just nibbled on a bit of icing from one of her hands.
The Daily Mail also reports that those in her London entourage of 15 were said to have to been under orders to declare - at least once a day: "Good morning Miss Carey, you look beautiful today."
Yeah, it'd be nice to be told you were beautiful 15 times a day.
03-29-2005 08:48 AM
