March 19, 2008

Mariah Carey Says, 'People Think I Am A Ditzy Moron,' Insists She's A 'Prude'

By Jennifer Vineyard (MTV.com)

Mariah Carey cares a lot about her image - especially when it comes to the D-word, and we don't mean "diva."

"I understand," the singer told Allure for the magazine's April cover story, on newsstands March 25. "I understand that people think I am a ditzy moron."

Er, where might that image come from? Perhaps it's her childlike obsessions with rainbows, Hello Kitty and anything else considered traditionally "girlie." Her Manhattan triplex, for instance, features what her interior designer Mario Buatta described to Architectural Digest as a "butterfly frenzy." "There are butterfly handles on the cabinets in the bedroom, and butterflies are woven into the bed hangings," he said. "They're even on the soap in the bath and on the tiles in the kitchen."

Her friends call her "Tinkerbell" for this; Mariah (who turns 38 next week) simply calls it being "eternally 12."

But then there's also a very grown-up side to Mariah, as evidenced by her latest song, "Touch My Body," and her tendency to show off her cleavage. "It's a dichotomy," she admitted to Allure.

The skimpy outfits and perpetual displays of celebrity skin are no accident - she's proud of the workouts she's had with a personal trainer she flies in from St. Barts. "This trainer has actually helped me reshape my arms," Carey told Allure. "That's where I gained most of my weight: upper body. That's just one thing you have to lose weight for. With this whole steroid crap, that's crazy. I'm almost on the verge where I'd be too muscular if I was going to do a thing like that."

But Carey, who admits to having a "complete complex" about her body, doesn't feel the need to work as hard at proving she has a brain - or, for that matter, talent, because that should be a given.

"I've been here for years," she added with a laugh. She also joked while on the KIIS-FM show "On-Air With Ryan Seacrest" on Monday, "I may be crazy, but I ain't stupid."

Just to prove that dressing a certain way doesn't mean you're acting a certain way, Carey points out that she's not a sexpot in real life. Describing herself as "a freakin' prude," Carey told the magazine she's never even had a one-night stand. "I'm Mary Poppins," she says. "I'm what the buttoned-up girls are supposed to be."

Carey said she'd prefer to have a stable partner who can "take care of me emotionally," which means they should be in show business as well, to understand "who I am." "That's a big deal for me," she said. "It shouldn't matter, but it does, because the energy it takes to be 'on' is a lot."

Mariah will be "on" next when she appears on the American Idol Gives Back event on April 9. The American Idol special will also feature artists like Bono, Snoop Dogg, Miley Cyrus, John Legend, Fergie, Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood and Annie Lennox, who will all help raise awareness and funds for various charities.

Carey will also perform and mentor contestants on Idol on April 15 and 16, the same week of the release of her next album, E=MC².