On Stage Meltdown Prompts Early New Year's Exit For Mariah Carey

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- 2016 could not end fast enough for Mariah Carey as jaws dropped ahead of the ball drop in Times Square Saturday night.

After wowing fans with her vocal acrobatics for more than a quarter of a century, the legendary singer plodded around stage unable to sing her own songs.

Carey's New Year's Eve musical meltdown stunned the millions of people who witnessed it live in person and on television.

"She was not happy," said one woman.

"There was definitely some sort of mishap going on there," said another.

The world famous diva tweeted a picture of her rehearsal New Year's Eve afternoon, but her representatives told Billboard Magazine that audio equipment failures later that night lead to the disastrous spectacle during her live televised performance.

Carey -- clearly upset and frustrated -- awkwardly milled around the stage without singing as a pre-recorded track played on.

"We're missing some of the vocal," she could be heard saying. "But it is what it is."

The pop icon's reps say she told production and stage managers her ear piece wasn't working, but they assured her it would work when she hit the stage.

Maryland Sound International handled the production and defended it's team on Facebook, saying "Gear was flawless and sound was very good on stage. What was the problem? Only 1 person can answer that question and that wouldn't be one of us."

Security quickly whisked Carey off the stage. She hit social media shortly after, posting to Twitter "(expletive) happens. Have a happy and healthy new year everybody. Here's to making more headlines in 2017."

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