Does Mariah Carey have a NY accent?

I've read that Mariah Carey has a NY/Long Island accent. But listening to her speak, I don't find her accent difficult to understand. So I doubt if she really has that accent. If she does, how strong is her accent? Can you please point out any features in her speech that are typical of NY accent or different from General American?

Here are the videos of her interview on Larry King Live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy48fngLMRo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UvA7dkdS7Q&feature=related

just because someone has an accent doesnt mean understandability will instantly decrease. an article talking about her accent i found called it "unvarnished", which sounds right. its fairly light

in the 1st vid @ 3:40, her "yeah yeah yeah, take whatever" is lightly accented, even dropping her "r" it seems

2nd vid, @0:26 it sounds like dropped "r" in "oscar winning", and in the clip they play from precious @2:30, it sounds like she 'strengthened' her accent, with a noticeable glide and dropped 'r' in "daughter" and a clearly dropped 'r' in "her", didnt get to watch all the vid though

<<just because someone has an accent doesnt mean understandability will instantly decrease. an article talking about her accent i found called it "unvarnished", which sounds right. its fairly light>>


I don't know about that. Apparently, it is very hard to understand Mariah Carey for some:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTLEVC-sfQ&feature=related

that was more of a language thing than accent one in that vid.

but i get having difficult to understand the lyrics with certain singers. there are songs i know are in english, but have no idea what they are saying without looking up the lyrics online.

<<that was more of a language thing than accent one in that vid.

but i get having difficult to understand the lyrics with certain singers. there are songs i know are in english, but have no idea what they are saying without looking up the lyrics online.>>

I was posting it as a joke.

so was i, thanks for playing

MC accent can vary a lot, I've heard her pronounce the word SONG with an unrounded /A/ vowel, which is typical of American West (California).

I prefer Lady Gaga's accent, 100% Western ;)
with /A/ in ''ball, song, caught'' (''[kAt] in a bad romance'') ;)

She does what alotta younger New Yorkers do and try to diminish the features of her New York accent in public speaking, but its clear her native dialect is New York/Long Island English. She pronounces song and talk with rounded (less rounded than myself but rounded regardless) vowels, which is a feature of New York English and she does occasionally drop the R

but her /V/ like in "love" or "ugly" and /o/ in "horror" sound more like /A/, which is not really a western thing, but possible in the east for either vowels...though it could just be she's being strange in the song