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Puppy love: Mariah, Cha Cha and Jasmine

Jas jetted to ‘sin city’ for Mariah and Nick’s anniversary

I RECENTLY flew out to Vegas to attend my Christmas cousin Mariah Carey Cannon and her hubby Mr Nick Cannons’s first wedding

anniversary celebrations. That first night in Vegas, myself, Mrs Cannon and a couple of other girl friends stayed up until 7am, catching up and splashing around in the pool. And it wasn’t a regular hotel rooftop jacuzzi/pool. Oh no! We were on another level – literally!

The pool protruded from the side of the building in mid-air, overlooking the magically colourful Vegas strip, and was made of glass so you felt as if you were swimming in the middle of the airspace. It was amazing! That night, Mariah asked a

couple of us to say a few words at the pre-anniversary party dinner the next night. Normally, it’s hard to shut me up.

However, the thought of speaking to a room of VVVIP’S was at the very least, daunting! I had my mate put it into perspective for me. I was advised to just talk about Mariah and Nick and why their love was meant to be from my perspective. I decided that after all the blessed moments I’ve had courtesy of MC over the years of our friendship, the least I could do was step up.

The next night, 40 very privileged people, including members of both Mariah and Nick’s families, head of Def Jam L.A. Reid, music legend Andre Harrell, singer Tyrese and myself arrived at a beautiful cocktail reception, followed by an amazingly

scrumptious three-course dinner. The main was a mouthwatering surf and turf prime filet mignon, butter poached marine lobster, spring asparagus, red wine demi glace and macaroni and cheese. The dessert was a trio of creme brulee, molten chocolate cake, as well as ‘lovey dovey white wedding cake’.

I was so caught up in the breathtaking visuals of the evening, that when Mr C suddenly clinked his champagne glass and announced that a couple of people had a few words to say, I nearly passed out. It was my moment! I warned them that my speech would take at least 10 minutes, but asked them to bear with me. So I threw caution to the wind and just went for it, telling the room my favourite anecdotes about the couple and why they were soul mates. Every couple of lines, L.A. Reid heckled me,

but by the end everyone was laughing and looking entertained, so I guess it went ok!

Then we were shooed down to the Moon Club where a lot more people like Floyd Mayweather and Sanaa Lathan were waiting for us;

the party was about to go down! Nick began with a surprise for his wife: he projected a personalised version of the

video for MC’s song, Love Story onto a huge screen. It was a documentary of their lovey dovey moments. As we all gulped with emotion, Mrs C actually cried. Really emotional big tears of joy! It was the first time I’ve ever seen her so choked up. It was a beautiful moment and she told the crowd she had the best man in the world.

Then, to kick off the party, Nick had the nightclub roof slide away (really), and thousands of pink and lavender balloons were released into the tropical Vegas night. Next, the couple cut their second giant white wedding cake of the night, before Nick took over the decks and played a hot party set with a rock moment, a grown and sexy set, and all the classics you’d expect, as well as Mrs C’s favourite song, Ante Up. At 4am, after the party, a few of us departed to the Cannons’ suite where Mariah played her soon-to-bereleased new album. (Can’t tell you title or I’m dead!) Then, I was formally introduced to the Canonns’ new puppy, Cha Cha. Next, we Twittered a bit, and then we slipped into our bikinis to float in the once in a lifetime pool again until 7am when we called it a night – or should that be day? Whatever!

The next day was filled with power naps, shopping, picture taking around the Vegas Strip and the odd dalliance with the slot

machines!

The following evening, Vegas was on fire as every flossy celeb flew in for the Ricky Hatton fight. P Diddy, Jay-Z, Denzel

Washington, Jack Nicholson, Cedric the Entertainer, Christian Bale and many others were in the house, along with myself and

a load of initially hopeful Brits who were supporting Ricky!

The next morning, we jumped on the Cannons’ jet and it was wheels up, outta Vegas! Happy Anniversary Mr and Mrs C – you are

blessed!

Jasmine Dotiwala is the head of MTV Base. Email her at: jasmine@hiphop.com

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Published: 18 May 2009
Issue: 1372

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