Mariah Carey Struggles Through Her New Year's Eve Performances — What Happened?

As the star attraction of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" this year, Mariah Carey planned to perform the traditional "Auld Lang Syne" and her big hits "Emotions" and "We Belong Together."

What she didn't plan on was not being able to hear herself, which led to some very awkward moments for the superstar.

People magazine reports that during "Auld Lang Syne," it became obvious Mariah could not hear the backup vocals, "causing her to get flustered" and revealing she was relying on lip-syncing.

Right from the beginning of her second song, "Emotions," things really fell apart. Mariah had to instruct her backup dancers how to escort her down a few steps ("Just walk me down!") and she never wound up being able to hear herself properly, leading to Carey declaring, "Well, happy New Year! We can't hear, but I'll just get through the moment."

"Getting through the moment" translated to Mariah standing onstage saying, "We didn't have a [sound-] check for this song, so we'll just say it went to number one, and that's what it is," as her song played in the background.

She started to sing, only to give up, saying, "We're missin' some of this vocal, but it is what it is... I'ma say let the audience sing, okay?" The rest of the performance consisted of Carey's vocal track playing while she spoke over it, including the command, "Get these monitors on, please." She did gamely manage one leggy pose "just for laughs."

Sensing the song was about to end, she joked, "I want a holiday, too — can I not have one? I'm tryin' to be a good sport here."

"That was... uh-mazing," she said afterward, laying the sarcasm on thick.

For "We Belong Together," anticipating more trouble, Mariah said, "This is the album version, so I'm just gonna let you put this skirt on me... sing along with it. Well, not sing, but just have a moment." As she predicted, her lip-sync was noticeably off. She ended that one by quipping, "You just don't get any better." She was as visibly frustrated as any diva has ever been.

The New York Times referred to is as a "rare meltdown on national television by one of the top-selling recording artists of all time."

The Hollywood Reporter writes that Mariah's problems began with a "tight and difficult rehearsal schedule" that came immediately before the show began, giving her little time to iron out any issues.

Mariah's rep, Nicole Perna, told Billboard, "Unfortunately there was nothing she could do to continue with the performance given the circumstances."

Shockingly, TMZ reports that Mariah's team has accused Dick Clark Productions of "sabotage." The production company issued a formal statement, calling the accusation "absurd."

Watch lowlights of the performances here, or relive the whole thing here.

Just as many people have said they are happy to have 2016 behind them, it's a safe bet the belter is happy those performances are over, too. She later tweeted, "Sh*t happens😩 Have a happy and healthy new year everybody!🎉 Here's to making more headlines in 2017 😂".