During filming, tracks using backup singer Marianne Tatum were used in place of Mariah Carey's voice to avoid bootlegging. Carey recorded her vocals close to the release date of the soundtrack, and all lead vocals used in the film are hers.
The movie is based on an idea by Mariah Carey that kept bouncing back from studio to studio starting in 1997, and the singer began writing songs for the soundtrack album prior to the movie even getting a green light. Carey admits that when the project was approved for production (2000), she found songs for the movie that she had written and forgotten about. She was only supposed to do six songs, however many collaborations with current and 1980s producers, writers, and artists including Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and the late Rick James led to growth for her track listing, which became the entire soundtrack. A song by her and Prince was also in development, but it did not make the deadline in time for soundtrack reproduction, packaging, and distribution.
Release of the movie was postponed for three weeks when star Mariah Carey was hospitalized as a result of an "emotional and physical breakdown".
[Lying in med after making love]
Billie:
You know, I don't usually do this.
Dice:
I can tell.
Video Director:
We ask ourselves, is she black? Is she white? We don't care. She's exotic. I want to see more of her breasts.
Billie:
[looking at her plate of escargot in a fancy restaurant] So somebody went all the way to France for this?
[after seeing Sylk's lip synched performance which featured Billie's voice]
Dice:
Man, Sylk. That was amazing.
Sylk:
Really? Did you like it?
Dice:
I had no idea you could blow like that.
[Sylk puts her arms around Dice]
Sylk:
[suggestively] I didn't know you were so interested in how good I could blow.
Dice:
I like hanging out wit you, Billie.
Billie:
"Woe is me?" What the hell is that?
Dice:
[to Billie] Do you really think inside your mind that because you swing your ass around on stage and you hit a couple of high notes here and there, that you are some colossal success?
Errors in geography: Set in New York City, there are obvious Toronto landmarks (most noticeably the CN Tower and The Sky Dome) visible in the background of several shots.
Continuity: When Billie kisses the music sheet, she is wearing pink lipstick, but the lip print is red.
Continuity: After Billie kisses the music sheet, the pencil in front of it is lying so that you can see the brand name on the side of it. When Dice goes back later, the pencil is yellow and the writing isn't visible on it any more.
Continuity: When Billie enters the apartment, she finds the song Dice wrote for her. Between shots before she picks up the sheet, the amount written on it changes.
Continuity: After Billie slaps Dice, then leaves, her handbag swaps shoulders.
Plot holes: When Billie and Dice are in the limo, Dice mimics what Rafael said to Billie at the party. However at that point Dice was not with them to hear this - he was off in the crowds at the party.
Continuity: When Billie is sitting at the keyboard, and she puts a pad down, and lays a pen on top. Between shots the pen rotates - note the direction which the pen nib faces.
Continuity: When Billie sings "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" on stage for the first time, the microphone cord wrapped around her hand and arm, and her hands on the microphone pole change position in every shot.
Continuity: When Billie, Roxie and Louise dance under the silver glitter, Roxie has two pieces of glitter stuck under her neck, which both fall off. In the next shot one piece is back.
Anachronisms: Dice covers "Spin" in 1983. "Spin" wasn't published until 1985.
Anachronisms: In 1983, Billie covers "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On" which was not released until 1984.
Anachronisms: Shots of the public walking on the street reveals people using modern cellular phones (only visible in Fullscreen format.) Shots of the road reveal modern cars.
Continuity: When Mariah, is on the "not a date" with Dice, and they're having dinner, the amount of wine in the glasses changes in every shot.
Continuity: When Dice is talking to Billie about his future as her producer, he has a drink in his hand. During the conversation, he takes a sip, and lays it down in a position on his chest where, if there truly was liquid in the cup, it would have spilled out; then proceeds to keep drinking as if there still was liquid in the cup.
References
Funny Girl (1968)
A Star Is Born (1976)
The Rose (1979)
Purple Rain (1984)
Referenced in
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)
- used in a Mariah Carey diss
Features
"Second City TV" (1976)
Featured in
Panic Room with Will Ferrell (2002) (TV)
2003 MTV Movie Awards (2003) (TV)
101 Biggest Celebrity Oops (2004) (TV)
- Mariah Carey: Actress