The woman has pipes.bat shit crazy but she has pipes.
More like a "whistle," rather than pipes.
Carey's never had the instrument to sustain mezzo or soprano high notes (she's a husky contralto). Her own super high notes are the product of a mic'ed up "whistle register" (think, amplified high-pitch child screams). Carey's pipes work fine for her bubblegum music career; however, in addition to being bat-shit crazy, outside her pop songs, her voice is actually a sticky heap of guano as far as pure female singing is concerned (especially, in comparison to trained coloratura mezzos and sopranos, who have no need for the mic'ed up "whistle," and out-talent Carey by a factor of ten while never hoping to earn a tenth of what she has -- oh well,
de gustibus non disputandum est).
Knew a guy who had a thing for Carey and her music. He lacked discriminating taste (get this, the poor chap didn't know the difference between Die schöne Müllerin and Der schöne Ralf Möller. Imagine that?!).
