MARIAH Carey finally stepped out into the spotlight of the gathered Shanghai media, with her regal superstar bearing and diplomatic expertise at reacting to reporters' questions.

Even two days ahead of the press conference, most local reporters responsible for stories on Mariah Carey's concert had been informed, via calls or faxes, that they should not mention anything about the diva's personal life at the press conference.

This presumably refers to the 33-year-old singer's highly publicized nervous breakdown last year.

Meanwhile, the photographers were also warned that they would not be allowed to take any pictures during the press conference. The reason, the local organizer said, was that camera flashes and the "clicking" sound of the shutters would put Carey off.

Some reporters complained to the organizers about such demanding requirements.

One staff member of the local organizers, who refused to disclose his name, sighed: "Do you know that we have been striving hard to arrange a press conference for you reporters. Previously, the American agent for Carey was even refusing to hold a press conference at all."

Though the press conference was supposed to have started at 1.45pm on November 2, it was not until 2:36pm that the pop diva made her elegant albeit sexy appearance, wearing a black strapless evening gown and black high-heels, with a group of bodyguards surrounding her.

The staff members of the Hilton Hotel revealed that the 33-year-old songstress didn't waste any of the 45 minutes, she was busy making-up during the whole time span.

The five-octave singer didn't show much enthusiasm for answering reporter's questions, especially when compared to her passionate singing.

None of her answers was longer than one sentence.

The reporter from the Shanghai Television Station asked the first question, and used it to question Carey about whether the sudden arrival of chilly weather would affect her choice of costumes.

Carey said, in her low but enchanting voice: "If it's raining and cold, I'll still be wearing the same skimpy outfits as if it were warm."

And that was the longest sentence Carey uttered during the entire conference.

The reporters continued asking for details about the costumes and Carey said she would change them seven or eight times, with the styles varying greatly.

Fans will get to see her wearing funky street wear, vintage clothing and original designs.

But Carey did not explain the exact reason why she brought 300 pairs of shoes with her to Shanghai.

Her answer was merely that she will wear some of the shoes during the performance and others during publicity events.

One reporter, surnamed Yao, murmured: "Counting all the occasions she will show up in the city, 300 pairs of shoes are 10 times more than what are needed."

When asked what would be her repertoire for the Shanghai tour, she said with a sweet smile that she wants to give her fans a great "surprise". Full stop.

With the four words: "I am not sure", Carey fenced with the following questions, such as whether she would record the title song for the next James Bond movie or whether she would be cast in a new movie.

When the reporter from the Associated Press asked about her future plans in life, Carey said, "I am not a good planner but I have a large planning team." Nothing more.

Super ostentation

According to the Chinese organizers, after Carey arrived at the Shanghai Hilton the pop queen did not walk even one step out of her presidential suite and didn't reveal any plans for sight-seeing.

However, the dedicated Mercedes-Benz 600 is still available to Carey at any minute right around the clock.

The chauffeur, surnamed Hu, kept on scrubbing the surface of the car for fear that even one little granule of dust would spoil the whole thing.

Hu proudly said that the car had carried many celebrities, such as Bill Gates and Luciano Pavarotti, but Carey's ostentation was unprecedented. Only Pavarotti had asked Hu to remain in constant readiness, he said, and then only for 12 hours. For Carey it was 24.

According to Hu, he had not seen any big shots bring as much luggage as Carey. "In total, eight vehicles greeted Carey at the airport, four of them were luggage cars, including one two-tonne container, plus one Mercedes-Benz 320 for Carey's agent and one bus and one mini-bus for her other crew members," said Hu.

This is all part of the life of the superstar vocalist who sold more than 150 million albums in the last decade of the 20th century since her debut album in 1990. She was also the recipient of the World Music Award of "Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium".

In spite of her ostentatious and unco-operative attitude to the local media, the tickets for her concert on November 12 sold out very quickly. Noting the demand, on the November, the Chinese organizers decided to organize one more performance, for November 14. Just one week later more than 70 per cent of the tickets for the additional performance had already gone.