Daydream (Mariah Carey Album) - Promotion

Promotion

For more details on this topic, see Daydream World Tour.

In order to promote the album, Carey embarked on her second head-lining tour. Originally, she had not planned to tour, due to the long travel times and hassle, however, after many requests from fans, Carey agreed to tour. The tour reached Japan and select European countries, not visiting the United States. This was possibly due to the mixed reception Carey's 1993 North American Music Box Tour received three years prior. The shows were all spaced apart, giving Carey time to rest her vocals, "It's very strenuous to sing all my songs back to back, but I'm actually really looking forward to it." Many musicians joined Carey for the tour, including Randy Jackson who served as the musical director and played the bass, Dan Shea on the keyboards, Vernon Black playing the guitar, Gigi Conway on the drums, and percussion and music sequencing by Peter Michael and Gary Cirimelli. All of the musicians and background vocalists were under the supervision of Walter Afanasieff, who played the piano and guided the production. Before embarking on her world tour in 1996, Carey performed a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden in 1995. The performance was filmed, and released as a DVD titled Fantasy: Mariah Carey at Madison Square Garden. It became Carey's second DVD, the first being filmed prior to her "Music Box Tour".

When the three Japanese shows at the Tokyo Dome went on sale, Carey set a record after all 150,000 tickets sold out under three hours. The shows became the fastest sellout in the stadium's history, breaking the previous record held by The Rolling Stones. The shows in Japan were a critical and commercial success, with critics and fans raving about the show and Carey's vocals. Carey's presence in Asia in the 90s was unparalleled to any other international artist. Her international success and anticipation was even compared to the "Beatlemania" in the 1960s. In an interview with MTV, Carey spoke of how she felt performing in Asia:

"First of all, you're in front of so many people that basically don't speak your language. It took a little getting used to, but I think by the end of the show, you know, everybody started to kind of relax."

For the show, Carey sang fourteen original songs, including many of her biggest hits up until that point, as well as many songs from Daydream. They included "Fantasy", "One Sweet Day", "Open Arms", "Always Be My Baby", "Forever" and "Underneath the Stars" as well as hits from her previous studio efforts. Carey's following shows in France, Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom were all sold-out as well, receiving warm critical response. During the span of the tour's seven short dates, Carey had already begun working on concepts for her new album Butterfly. According to author Marc Shapiro, Carey's European tour was truly a success, in many aspects:

"The European tour mirrored the success of her shows in Japan. Mariah's appearances overseas were heartening experiences for the singer. The popularity – indeed, mania – surrounding her shows in these countries reached massive proportions. The reception the concerts received reflected the fact that Mariah's music cut through race and language barriers and had struck at a universal, emotional core with fans. The tour cemented the fact that Mariah Carey had arrived as the performing centerpiece on the world stage."

In addition to touring the world, Carey performed on a variety of television programs and award shows. After "Fantasy" was released in September throughout Europe, Carey performed the song on the popular British chart show Top of the Pops, which aired live via satellite on Asian television. Carey performed "Fantasy" in France and at the 23rd Annual American Music Awards on January 29, 1996. "One Sweet Day" was performed at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, Princess Diana's memorial service in September 1997, and at Carey's Black Entertainment Television Christmas special in 2001. During her European promotional tour for the album, Carey performed "Open Arms" on various television programs, including Wetten, dass..? in Germany, Top of the Pops and Des O'Connor in the United Kingdom and on Swedish television.