WINNIPEG - Even sans the lime-garnished Cosmos, Mariah Carey knows how to put on a helluva girls' night.

The main ingredient? Herself, of course. Because everyone knows tabloid queens (hate 'em if you will) make the best -- if not, most interesting -- party hosts. Especially when they have a past as gossip-worthy as R&B diva Carey, whose wardrobe malfunctions, marital decisions and hospitalization for "exhaustion" have made her the curvaceous butt of many headlines.

But the diva gave her 10,000 mostly-female fans little opportunity to whisper snidely about Mimi's less-than-perfect past at the MTS Centre last night, thanks to a little something called The Voice.

Gliding from a hole in the stage a fashionable 20 minutes late, Carey opened with It's Like That off her much-lauded triple Grammy-winner The Emancipation of Mimi.

Not that it mattered what she was singing. The honey-skinned hottie exposed less Voice and more of herself in her first track, where she sexily sauntered around in a sparkly black bikini top, boy shorts and cape. Finally, she's found a good use for glitter.

Carey kept the tempo up for the next track, 1999's Heartbreaker, but kept down her stage pace, strutting her stilettos down a flight of stairs while a group of backup dancers did the sweaty work.

Music Box smash Dreamlover called for more octaves, and Carey -- and her three backup singers -- delivered.

But even so, The Voice was often overruled by the excessive stage show. At times, Mimi was a mere speck on the multi-level platform with black and gold decor, surrounded by three large screens.

Carey's first spoken words were about Winnie the Pooh. Turns out she hadn't heard of the beloved Disney's bear's Winnipeg origins until yesterday (Like, who in Hollywood has?) and would be honoured if anyone passed on any Pooh memorabilia they had on hand.

At press time, the word "Mimi" was glowing across centre stage in flashy, illuminated letters, and Carey had nabbed a chic pair of shades backstage for current club pumper, Shake It Off. According to a setlist, she was still expected to run through her hefty catalogue of No. 1 monster hits, including Fantasy, Always Be My Baby and Honey as well as Mimi ballad We Belong Together and several costume changes.

Earlier, rapper Busta Rhymes courted Carey's fans with a 40-minute set of danceable hip-hop appropriately aimed at his headliner's female following. A cover of the Pussycat Dolls' Don't Cha, a censored version of radio rotator I Love My B**** off this year's The Big Bang and endless praising of the 'Peg's "sexy ladies" got Rhymes and sidekick Spliff Star in the girly good books, while past hits Break Ya Neck, Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See and plenty of (OK, too much) between-tune gibber jabber filled out the set.