Twin cheeks
With two enormous egos in the same room, we were bracing ourselves for the battle of the divas. But there was only one who deserved the true superstar treatment at the Capital FM Awards - Mariah Carey. Wannabe diva Geri Halliwell, 32, tried to outshine Mariah by hounding organisers to let her bring along her pet pal, Harry the shih-tzu - to no avail.
And the cheeky singer was left in the doghouse by the world's biggest-selling female artist, who showed Geri how to really make an entrance. Mariah, 34, swept into London's Royal Lancaster Hotel over an hour late - even though her hotel was nearby - with an entourage of 11 people, including two burly bodyguards.
And as she picked up a special award for Outstanding Contribution To Music, watched by the likes of Rachel Stevens and Natalie Imbruglia, she poked fun at her reputation as a diva, saying, "I nearly didn't get here because there wasn't a red carpet for me." Later, Mariah - whose new album The Emancipation Of Mimi is out on April 4 - told 3am about the last-minute crisis that had delayed her arrival.
"I had my nails done by this wonderful company when I arrived in London two days ago," she said. "Today I got a little chip, so some lovely girl fixed it for me. I feel so under-dressed! When I got here and saw everyone looking glitzy and Geri Halliwell in her amazing dress, I thought I hadn't made enough of an effort."
Mariah, who also posed for snaps with fans flanked by her minders, added: "I am absolutely loving being in London. But as I've been busy shooting my video I haven't had chance to go shopping yet."
Meanwhile, Geri was still smarting about not being allowed to bring Harry. Our spy says: "Given his past form of s****ing in posh designer store Joseph and misbehaving in a gym, it was hardly surprising that she was told under no circumstances could he accompany her."
To make matters worse, when Geri presented the award for London's favourite West End show, she gushed about Mariah and mock-worshipped her. An onlooker said: "It was pretty embarrassing. Maybe Geri was trying to engineer a meeting, but it didn't go down too well with the audience." Maybe you'll be top dog next time, Geri.
At the ceremony, Mariah Carey only had eyes for Blue boy Simon Webbe, who was four tables away. And when he got up to present an award, she began clapping furiously. "It was hilarious," says an onlooker. "Mariah kept looking over at him, shyly. And he's single, so who knows?" Afterwards, when 3am told Simon about his famous fan, he said: "Seriously? She's fantastic. It's a shame I have to leave early!" (The Mirror)
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