Showbiz411

Last week I reported that Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber would be performing on “X Factor.” They were scheduled to sing “All I Want for Christmas Is You” on December 15th. But now I’m told that Carey’s set up — band, dancers, back up singers, make up, lighting, not to mention nannies (just kidding!) etc– was just too rich for the “X Factor” budget. The price would have come in around $300,000. Hey, it’s tough times for everyone!

“Mariah hasn’t performed live in about a year,” says a source. “She wanted to make sure everything was perfect. She certainly doesn’t sing to a track.”  And so a dream dies. But the possibility still exists of Carey singing on next year’s premiere, Meantime, I am told also that Mariah’s album with under-the-radar manager Randy Jackson is proceeding well. This could be her last album for Universal Music Group if she decides to join L.A. Reid at Epic/Sony. And Justin Bieber? Despite his enormous teen popularity, his Christmas album is being outsold by Michael Buble at a rate of 2 to 1.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.