Mariah Carey

Pop superstar Mariah Carey stunned Sandringham into silence with a glamorous performance on the second night of the Heritage Live festival.

Over 30,000 people are estimated to have attended the concert at Sandringham Estate, up tens of thousands from The Pet Shop Boys, who opened the festival the previous night.

Masses of Mariah fans gathered around the ‘gold circle’, with some standing for seven hours before she hit the stage to perform a list of iconic hits and newer tracks.

One fan, who’d been able to find a place near the front row, brought a lifesize cardboard cut-out of Mariah Carey which occasionally appeared on the screens at either side of the stage.

Mariah opened with three frenetic numbers, opening to an adoring crowd with her newest release ‘Type Dangerous.’

Her performance was layered with intervals of breath-taking choreography by Mariah’s dance troupe, as archive footage of Mariah played in the background.

Over the set, which lasted longer than 90 minutes, Mariah changed outfit four times, each one more dazzling than the last.

Her internationally-recognised vocal range mesmerised the crowd - at times leading to gasps from concertgoers around me.

She was able to seamlessly fade from up-tempo hit to graceful ballad without missing a note.

Mariah did not perform her iconic Christmas hit ‘All I Want For Christmas’, despite the endless joking requests from the audience throughout the set.

However, she did perform ‘Sugar Sweet’ - the second lead single from her upcoming sixteenth album ‘Here For It All’.

One concertgoer said that the main nagging point of the concert was how long it took Mariah to change between outfits, which led to drawn out choreography segments:

“It took a bit too long for me,” he said.

Others were muttering about how quick Mariah was to leave the stage, ending an otherwise magnificent spectacle rather abruptly.

The night opened with R&B group Eternal, who received a warm reception from the audience.

Nile Rodgers & Chic followed, performing a ‘my life in music’ concert that explored Rodger’s history of songwriting and chart hits, including ‘Material Girl’ and ‘Everybody Dance’.

The set kept the energy high, showing Sandringham just how timeless a performer Nile Rodgers is.

It was an unbelievable and successful night. Mariah clearly showed she still has the magic that brought her to global fame.

The festival continues, with Michael Buble and Stereophonics headlining this weekend.