Pop, hip-hop and R&B diva Mariah Carey performed her first-ever Detroit concert Saturday night, and proved to a crowd of more than 13,000 fans that it was well worth the wait.

Carey's 90-minute concert featured wall-to-wall hits from nearly every era of her career (unsurprisingly, her disappointing "Glitter" and "Charmbracelet" CDs were overlooked entirely), and aside from a number of tacky wardrobe choices and abbreviated versions of some of her hits, the show was pretty close to magical.

Carey is not a dancer like Janet Jackson, nor is her stage show as elaborate or metaphorical as Madonna's.

Carey's strength is her voice, and that amazing, soaring instrument was what took center stage Saturday night - there was no lip-syncing to be had - and it towered in songs such as the gospel-flavored "Fly Like a Bird" and her first-ever hit, "Vision of Love."

Carey - who took the stage wearing a black bikini-type number, accented by a flowing sheer cape and with black stilettos on her feet - was joined on stage by a band, three backup singers, a half-dozen dancers and a smattering of well-placed wind machines.

She opened with "It's Like That," the opening track from her 2005 career-resuscitating "The Emancipation of Mimi" CD, and assertively rolled through a number of hits such as "My All," "Shake It Off" and "Fantasy."

She made room for a number of spontaneous moments in the show, reacting to a fan holding up a fan asking for her to sing "Melt Away" by belting out the song's chorus a capella, and even took time to plug her "Mimi" lip gloss on stage by applying it between songs.

"I can't wait until you review this, 'She was so ridiculous she pulled out her lip gloss on stage,' and I don't really care!" she said.

Carey's curvy body was in full display Saturday, as she slipped into a number of skin-baring gowns which featured more slits than fabric.

Though her choice of attire may earn her a spot on Mr. Blackwell's worst-dressed list, she was confident in her body and that confidence shone through in her performance.