Mariah shows why she remains the people’s diva Mariah Carey doesn’t have to be contemporary and she doesn’t have to be old school because she’s both. At the Chicago Theatre on Saturday, the first of two sold-out nights, she showed the fruits of a 20-year career: a sampling of crossover pop hits spanning R&B balladry to hip-hop soul. Of course, the former suited her natural inclinations more than the latter. Instead, her skills came to shine in her older material, which in her possession sounded as ferocious as ever.