2024-11-02 03:15:02
Originally appeared on E! Online
Mariah Carey is shaking off spooky season.
The Grammy winner officially rang in the holiday season with her annual social media announcement declaring that “it’s time” to celebrate at midnight Nov. 1—and this year, she did it with a little help from “The Addams Family.”
In the black-and-white clip, which was sponsored by Kay Jewelers, Carey is dressed as Morticia Addams from the classic film as she ballroom dances with a man dressed as the character’s husband, Gomez Addams.
And after sharing a few saucy moments together, Carey pushes him aside, throws a dagger at him and then looks towards a wardrobe that opens to reveal her signature red Christmas ensemble as the clock strikes midnight.
The screen then shatters into color as Carey says “it’s tiiiime!” as the opening notes of her record-breaking holiday hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” start playing and Gomez actually turns into a snowman.
Carey’s announcement doesn’t just officially ring in the holiday season or signal that it’s time to start listening to her 1994 album “Merry Christmas”—it also means she’s about to hit the road. The “Heartbreaker” singer’s 21-date holiday tour kicks off in Highland, Calif., on Nov. 6.
In fact, in addition to the annual declaration, Carey also teased its arrival with a couple of cheeky videos that teased that it wasn’t time quite yet.
The singer appeared on a private jet in a clip she shared to Instagram on Oct. 2 during which the pilot says they’re headed to the North Pole as the beginning of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” plays. Carey then responds, “Not yet! They’re always trying to rush me.”
And in another video shared Oct. 30, Carey starts to sing the song before she’s interrupted by Kerry Washington who tells her, “It’s not your season yet, Mariah; it’s voting season!”
To which she tells the “Scandal” actress, “Yes, I am registered. Yes, I made a plan, and I executed it.”
The 55-year-old, who began posting her elaborate “it’s time” videos about five years ago, said that the announcements came about organically.
“[At first], it wasn’t even really like an announcement,” Carey told The New York Times in an interview published Nov. 1. “People would say, ‘Hey, when is it OK to put our lights up and put our tree up?’ and ‘When do you do it?’ People would ask me that because I guess they thought I was very Christmassy.”
Sooner or later, a catchphrase was born.
“I love ‘it’s time,'” she added. “It’s so fun.”
The “Glitter” actress shared that, while she encourages others to get in the holiday spirit as early as Nov. 1 every year, she doesn’t actually decorate herself until much closer to Christmas.
“There’s so much decoration on the tour, on the stage,” she explained, “that get you into the spirit,” so she doesn’t put up decorations until her family—which includes 13-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe, whose dad is Nick Cannon—travels to Aspen, Colo., to celebrate the holiday each year.
“It’s something that I look forward to all year,” Carey shared. “Maybe people think it’s something that I put on, but it’s really my favorite time of year.”
