Ariana Grande admits ‘it’s a great honor’ to be compared to Mariah Carey

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As soon as people heard Ariana Grande sing for the first time, the comparisons to Mariah Carey began. Honestly, the first time I heard “The Way,” I thought it was an old Mariah song that I had forgotten. So, Ariana has been dealing with the Mariah comparisons for a couple of years. Ariana has always taken pains to not draw out those comparisons though. And when someone asked Mariah about Ariana earlier this year, Mariah threw shade, saying: “I wish everybody all the best of luck and if this is the career path they choose, hope that they can achieve longevity.” HAHA.

After Mariah threw that excellent shade (without even saying Ariana’s name directly!), Ariana was reportedly pissed at Mariah. Sources claimed Ari “insisted that Mariah’s name never be brought up in her presence.” Team Ariana’s ground rules for journalists echo those reports – all journalists are told not to bring up Mariah at all. But I guess Us Weekly didn’t get the memo, because in the middle of Ariana’s infomercial, they asked her about the comparisons:

Being compared to Mariah Carey? One less problem! Since she broke out as a recording artist with the 2013 song “The Way,” former Nickelodeon star Ariana Grande has gotten endless musical comparisons to similarly multi-octaved vocalist Mariah Carey.

This doesn’t bother her, in fact, the “Problem” singer, 21, enjoys hearing it.

“Mariah has been a huge influence on me since I was a little girl,” the new Wat-Aah! water bottle spokeswoman exclusively tells Us Weekly. “I’ve even done a cover of one of her songs. I don’t think there are any negatives to being compared to one of the greatest vocalists of all time. It’s honestly a great honor.”

[From Us Weekly]

Do you believe her? Eh. I think Mariah was probably a big influence on her, as she says here, but in other interviews she’s always tried to make it sound like she was more into punk or goth or whatever. So, yes, she’s telling the truth at last. But I bet it was like pulling teeth to get her to admit it. She also said some other stuff about her brother, Frankie Grande, and his appearance on Big Brother, but does anyone care about that? Nope.

As for Ariana’s infomercial, she’s the new face of Wat-aah! Water, which sounds like SmartWater marketed to kids. Ariana took money upfront plus “an undisclosed ownership stake in the brand” and she’s also going to “serve as creative and strategic adviser.” Some people are happy that Ariana hasn’t signed up to represent Pepsi or Coke, and I have to agree. The branding on Wat-aah! is “no sugar, no calories, no bad stuff.”

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Photos courtesy of WENN, Ariana’s IG.

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37 Responses to “Ariana Grande admits ‘it’s a great honor’ to be compared to Mariah Carey”

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  1. Jaderu says:

    SHAT-UUHP!™

  2. mimif says:

    I like it when GoodNames compares her to a brat.

  3. Size Does Matter says:

    I detect a bit of age-shade thrown back at Mariah by Ariana. Immediately following this interview I bet Ariana glided calmly into the elevator, waited for the doors to close and then shanked her assistant in a full on blind Bratz rage.

    • Brin says:

      LOL…this^^^!

    • Jenna says:

      Not sure if it even counts as mere shade when she said ‘when she was a little girl’ (granted, that was what… three weeks ago? A month? This chicka is practically a zygote! Sorry, sorry… birthday coming up next week and it’s making me cranky towards all these young’uns!) Mariah was a huge influence, seems more like an outright massive age dig. But at least she is now copping to being influenced by her, and not simply trying to pretend they are nothing alike… which could be some glimmer of hope for this whiny whiny little diva wannabe.

      And with THAT grumpy snark written, I’ll go back to yelling at kids to get off my lawn and pull up their pants.

  4. blue marie says:

    Mariah’s singing, no comparison but attitude, probably. Her fake hair looks like it needs a trim.

    • Kitten says:

      She’s showing the wrong side of her face in that Instagram pic.

      • Catriona says:

        Haha you’re right! I think my theory of her PR team trying to negate all the identical horrific press reports of her might actually be true.

        (She now is instructed to show more of her right face (or at least flip the image if chile is too self conscious AND talk about Mariah in a positive manner) I mean, girl’s got some water to shell to the public, her image needs a major overhaul.

  5. aims says:

    Why is she always wearing a ponytail?

    • deehunny says:

      for the full fake hair. You gotta imagine the fit her PR team threw in order to get her to act right here with the pre-rehearsed talking points. She’s onn the verge of a new water campaign endorsement, she could be a long-term goldmine for them if they can keep her leased.

  6. G says:

    “Mariah has been a huge influence on me since I was a little girl,”

    Did she just imply Mariah is…old? LOL!!

  7. Gypsey says:

    Why is it so important to the Media to create a chick-fight?
    Why isn’t there a boys-fight cult in the Media like they have this obsession with chick-fight?
    Ariana did do a cover of Mariah a long time ago (on Youtube), you don’t do covers of people you don’t like, so yeah I believe her.

    • Jaderu says:

      I’ve always wondered this. I’d love to see a good Matt Damon/Charming Potato knock down, drag em’ out, hair pullin, beat down. Preferably with them both wearing lederhosen and nothing else.

      • Gypsey says:

        🙂 🙂
        Perhaps they know that women will try to be nice and above it all, but men will confront them and call them to their Media face.

      • Jaderu says:

        It’s the classic misogynist labeling of women. Any two women sharing the same career path must certainly be in competition. And women are not supposed to be competitive, so logically it means that they are nasty, catty, and out to get each other.
        Plus lederhosen.

  8. Kaya says:

    I don’t see how Mariah threw shade. It sounded like a diplomatic answer. And it was sweet what Ariana said. It must be annoying to be compared to someone the entire time. But to be honest, no-one’s that original in pop anymore, including Ariana.

  9. Josefa says:

    Mariah is the queen of shade period.

    I think since that list of hilarious demands by her leaked they are trying to sell her as more humble. See, she can talk about Mariah. Saw her performance in SNL? She does show the right side of her face.

    And during teenage years you go through a million phases. Maybe she was punkish one year, goth the other and then liked ’90s R&B, or maybe all at the same time. My tastes sure didn’t make any sense when I was in high school.

  10. word says:

    Ariana doesn’t drink Coke or Pepsi. She said she refuses to put anything processed or unhealthy in her mouth. She used to be a junk food junkie but a few years ago went vegan. At least she’s promoting something that goes a long with her lifestyle. When she was on the show Victorious, they had musical numbers all the time and she never sounded like Mariah to me. It was only once her first single off her first album came out that she reminded me of her…wondering if it was all a marketing ploy by her record company?

    • otaku fairy says:

      I think it’s a combination of practice, the nose job, and maybe even the weight loss that have altered her voice.

      • word says:

        Ariana is very good at doing impersonations…she can make her voice literally sound like ANYONE. She used to put out videos showcasing this great talent. So, who knows, maybe it was a marketing ploy to sound like Mariah in her first single?

  11. Gypsey says:

    @Kaya – I totally agree with everything you said.
    Can you imagine if you did 30 interviews over the course of 2 months and every time the interviewer would ask “are you trying to sound like Mariah?” – After awhile of being nice you would say “enough already”.
    Put yourself in that space and if every time you dressed yourself someone would ask if you were trying to dress like your sister.

  12. Joh says:

    Tried to listen to her on SNL, but like Mariah, the vocal gymnastics come across as showing off and make them unpleasant to listen to.
    Minnie Riperton had a wide vocal range also but she used it to the benefit of the song, not to distract from it.

  13. CharmmyKitty says:

    God, I can’t stand this child. That smug little face!

  14. Steph says:

    I just love to see snark between two Divas…..too funny. Ariana seems like a spoiled brat,but the girl can sing.

  15. Catriona says:

    She just brought up that comment about Mariah to try to negate the flood of bad press she’s been getting (one of which was that she instructed interviewers, journalists, etc not to mention Mariah in her interviews.) so I’m thinking it is again a PR move in an attempt to cancel out her bad behaviour.