Promotion
Following the song's digital release, Carey promoted the song on several live televised appearances and programs throughout the world. Only days prior to being released digitally, the singer was announced as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live, taking over for Janet Jackson who caught the flu and was unable to perform. Hosted by Jonah Hill, Carey performed both "Touch My Body", as well as live rendition of "Migrate" alongside T-Pain. Following the set, Carey and her manager at the time, Benny Medina, met with Lee Daniels, who then offered her a role in his film adaptation of Precious (2008), in which Carey would later star and earn acclaim for her acting. After reaching the top of the Billboard charts, the Empire State Building was lit up in Carey's motif colors, white, pink and lavender, for the entire week. On March 25, 2008, Carey was featured as the special guest performer at The Hills season premiere party, an event marking the start of a span of ten episodes airing in between season three and four. Carey performed "Touch My Body", "I'm That Chick" and "We Belong Together", before exiting the stage to a standing ovation. After the performance, Carey received strong praise from the program's cast members, with Lauren Conrad saying "I've always been a huge Mariah fan, and she's just so beautiful and talented'. Whitney Port and Audrina Patridge referred to Carey as "an amazing singer", while claiming to have listened to her music from a young age. On April 12, 2008, Carey made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey interviewed the singer on her weight loss, E=MC², and even showed footage of Carey in her New York apartment, showing off her lingerie closet. Following the interview, Carey performed a live rendition of "Bye Bye" for the audience, with three background vocalists assisting her. Kevin Johnson from St. Louis Post-Dispatch described the performance as "touching", and complimented the song's appeal.
On the seventh season of the talent competition American Idol, Carey was featured as a mentor for the top-seven week. Titled "Mariah Carey Week" and airing live on April 14, 2008, the contestants were to perform a song from the singer's catalog. After all seven contestants sang their individual songs, they all came together for a live rendition of Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men, "One Sweet Day". Overall, critics noted how a Carey themed week would be extremely difficult for the performers, due to their vocally strenuous nature. Following their joint performance, Carey emerged onto the stage and performed "Bye Bye" live, while backed by a trio of supporting vocalists. Tamara Jones of The Washington Post jokingly commented on Carey's flailing hand movements during the performance, writing how she was "waving like a malevolent homecoming queen". Gil Kaufman from MTV News complimented Carey's performance, commenting on her "barely there micro-dress" and writing how she "serenaded the audience with her homage to lost ones." The Calgary Sun's Lindsey Ward described it as a "less-than-fab performance", although complimenting on Carey's leaner figure, "Oh, who am I kidding? She would look hot in a paper bag." On April 25, 2008, Carey opened the Good Morning America "Summer Concert Series" with a live performance in Times Square. Carey, wearing a pink mini-skirt, began the set with "Touch My Body" in front of thousands of fans. During the song, her backing vocals began to malfunction, causing it to repeat phrases and play during her main vocal moments. In order to let the sound engineer know of the problem, she substituted part of the lyrics for "stop singing my part now baby", and completed the final chorus. She continued on with "I'm That Chick", and completed the three-song set-list with her follow-up single, "Bye Bye". After marking the album's stateside launch with her appearance on Good Morning America, Carey took to Europe to perform on several programs. She began with an interview on the British radio station, BBC Radio 1, and continued onto a live rendition of "Touch My Body" on both The Sunday Night Project and The Paul O'Grady Show.
Similarly, Carey performed the song live on the German talent show, Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Germany searches for the superstar), in April 2008. On August 8, 2008, Carey performed a mash-up of the song at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards. She began with her single at the time, "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time", and worked into the bridge of "Touch My Body", before reverting back to the former song. At the Fashion Rocks ceremony in 2009, Carey performed "Touch My Body" and her current single, "Obsessed", as well as the remix to her 1995 song "Fantasy". During the set-list, Carey was accompanied by six men in black ties, who hoisted her into the air in front of over 6,000 people during "Obsessed", and rigorous dance routines throughout "Touch My Body". In promotion for E=MC² and the single, Carey was featured as a guest judge and musical act on the fifth season of the British talent competition, The X Factor. During that week, all the contestants would have to sing songs from Carey's catalog. Prior to her arrival, one of the show's judges Dannii Minogue said "Could it get any more nerve-wracking for the contestants?", due to the general strenuous nature of Carey's songs. After several performances by the finalists, Carey performed "I Stay in Love", accompanied by three background vocalists. She received a standing ovation from the audience and judges, and continued backstage for a taped session with the contestants. At the end of the program, she performed her classic "Hero" (1993), and was eventually joined by the finalists for the finale of the song. "Hero" was re-recorded by the 2008 UK X Factor finalists and released as a single, becoming the best-selling single of 2008. According to reports, the episode gained a large increase in viewers due to Carey's presence, and was able to surpass its long-time rival program, Strictly Come Dancing, in the ratings. Carey made an appearance at the American Music Awards, held on November 23, 2008 at the Nokia Theatre. Wearing a long black gown, she performed the song after receiving an honorary award for her achievements in music. Chris Harris from MTV News described it as a "riveting performance".
Read more about this topic: Mariah Carey's 11th Studio Album
Famous quotes containing the word promotion:
“Parents can fail to cheer your successes as wildly as you expected, pointing out that you are sharing your Nobel Prize with a couple of other people, or that your Oscar was for supporting actress, not really for a starring role. More subtly, they can cheer your successes too wildly, forcing you into the awkward realization that your achievement of merely graduating or getting the promotion did not warrant the fireworks and brass band.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“I am asked if I would not be gratified if my friends would procure me promotion to a brigadier-generalship. My feeling is that I would rather be one of the good colonels than one of the poor generals. The colonel of a regiment has one of the most agreeable positions in the service, and one of the most useful. “A good colonel makes a good regiment,” is an axiom.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)