Watch out world, the Diva is back! More than 160 million worldwide album sales... hey, it's all relative to Mariah as she hits us with new album 'E=MC²'

After bringing London to a standstill on her recent visit to the UK Mariah Carey's promotional rollercoaster hasn't paused.

From lighting up the Empire State Building in her favourite colous of pink and lavender (hey, if you're gonna promote a new album it doesn't get much better) to a live gig in Times Square on 'Good Morning America' (OK so that one didn't go quite as well – the backing track jumped!) she's back in the limelight big style. The native New Yorker was sent a proclamation of congratulation on her eighteenth number one by the mayor and they're even declared April 15 official Mariah Day in LA!

Her new album 'E=MC²' has been one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of the year. It's her eleventh studio album and is the follow-up to 'The Emancipation of Mimi,' Mariah's worldwide ten million selling number one album, which generated three Grammy awards, two number one singles and helped make her the most successful female recording artist in history.

Back in January 2007 Mariah attended the opening of 'Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls - South Africa' and of course was invited to the Oprah Winfrey show to discuss her phenomenal success. Much like Oprah, Mariah's fluctuating weight has been just as popular a topic as her huge recording success - "I think the whole body image thing and people expecting everybody to be this thin is ridiculous, it just isn't reality."

However, she is indeed back in fine physical form and has graced the cover of US Weekly revealing her diet and fitness routine which saw her lose 20lbs and drop three dress sizes. She told the Oprah audience that after a close friend made a comment about her weight, she was inspired to get into shape once and for all and turned to her nutrition and fitness coach, Patricia, "finally I just said, 'it has to be a life decision if you're going to really lose the weight,' So Patricia created a number of things for me... one is a workout regimen."

That means sixty to ninety minute workouts of combined cardio and resistance training. The biggie though is diet – lean protein, loads of veggies, all cooked with very little oil and no more cheese burgers – yep even the pop Diva likes her naughty feel-good snacks girls!

"That's the thing that I have difficulty letting go of," she confessed, "because that's comfort food."

Having achieved the seemingly impossible and slimming down to her teenage body shape, she still maintains it's not that much of a big deal.

"For me, it's not about a number on a scale. It's not about necessarily even a size. It's about feeling good and being comfortable in our own skin. Right now, I feel really great. I feel better than I've ever felt."

Mariah recently performed her latest single 'Bye Bye' on American Idol on which she mentored the final seven. It's just one of the songs she co-wrote on the new album and is an emotional song about the loss of her father. Although some of the lines are specifically about her dad, Mariah thinks everyone will be able to relate to her words - "A lot of people are saying it helps them get through the difficulty of maybe losing a loved one, a grandmother, a sister, a mother, and this is something that a lot of my friends and I have kind of gone through together. I almost feel like it's my job to write these kinds of songs for everybody who will go through it."





Thanks to Kerry for the scans!