I realize it's 2017 and facts are now officially passé, but here, nonetheless, are a few: Singers, even good ones, frequently lip-sync on TV. Singers, even good ones, frequently lip-sync at big outdoor spectacles. MARIAH CAREY in her prime was an extraordinary singer, with gifts both technical and artistic. Mariah Carey is not quite in her prime anymore. That's the circle of life, and it's a beautiful circle. Once she realized things weren't going according to plan in that big outdoor spectacle on live TV Saturday night, Mariah Carey probably could have handled it a little better. You—meaning you the person tweeting snarky and mean things about her and her career—probably would not have handled it better. "We're missing some of this vocal, but it is what it is" is a genuinely funny thing to say in such a situation. Accusing the event's producers of sabotage is an inappropriate and unfair thing to say in such a situation, but par for the course in the social and political climate in which we now exist. "EMOTIONS" is a fantastic song. Attempting to sing it live circa midnight in 45-degree weather in Times Square on New Year's Eve in front of a worldwide audience, as Mariah Carey apparently had planned to do, is a genuinely bizarre choice (the NY TIMES' JON PARELES explains why). If it's true that Mariah Carey's inner circle didn't know when exactly the ball drops in Times Square on New Year's Eve, then that's the single weirdest thing about this whole affair. If you really feel the need to make fun of Mariah Carey, make fun of her for that... This also happened New Year's Eve. We are PARIS. We are ORLANDO. We are ISTANBUL... British singer REBECCA FERGUSON says she will accept DONALD TRUMP's invitation to sing at his inaugural if he lets her sing "STRANGE FRUIT"... A member of the MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR quit to protest the choir's acceptance of that invitation... 2017 music from SINKANE, LITTLE SIMZ, TINARIWEN and more... BILLY JOEL welcomed 2017 by playing "MIAMI 2017" in (an arena about a 30-minute drive from) MIAMI, because of course he did... You can now call RAY DAVIES sir... RIP ALLAN WILLIAMS... And, finally, the happiest correction I will ever make: In my year-end "in memoriam" newsetter, I included BAD BRAINS' DR. KNOW among those who died in 2016. He is, in fact, very much alive.