Mariah Carey Croons About Christmas, Stays Silent on Pregnancy Reports

Oct. 21, 2010 — -- Mariah Carey opened up Wednesday night, but only to talk about her new Christmas album -- not to comment on whether she's pregnant with her first child.

The 40-year-old diva spoke at a listening party for "Merry Christmas II You" in New York City. Though Halloween hasn't yet passed, Carey's event was dripping with snowy trees and twinkling lights, spiced eggnog and candy canes.

Carey didn't stretch her signature vocal chords. Instead, she addressed friends, colleagues and media after Def Jam CEO L.A. Reid played her album (and a slideshow of Carey's personal photographs from Christmases past) for the crowd.

"Just to be working on this particular album right now is extremely special to me," she said, with husband Nick Cannon by her side.

Apparently, the Carey-Cannon household does Christmas big. Decorations include real, live reindeer. Photos showed her playing by a larger-than-life tree with an army of dogs. Her album reflects her flashy style with hip-hop riffs on old favorites ("Auld Lang Syne," "Here Comes Santa Claus") and booming Christmas ballads, one of which features the operatic voice of her mother, Patricia Carey.

Carey wore a navy blue, knit, empire waist dress adorned with matching sequins and ruffles that revealed little of her mid section. A podium conveniently concealed her stomach while she spoke.

The crowd perked up when Carey said "I've got to reveal," but collectively slumped back as she finished her sentence -- "the rest of this album to you. If I missed something, let me know." Cannon ushered her backstage before anyone could ask the million-dollar question.

Mariah Carey: Pregnant or Not?

Photos from the past few months have chronicled the singer's ballooning figure and fueled reports that she's got a baby on board. Those reports intensified last week, when Cannon, 30, gushed to OK! Magazine about Carey's maternal instinct and revealed that the couple has already picked out baby names.

"She's going to be amazing!," Cannon said about Carey's potential as a mother at his 30th birthday party Friday night. "I will be a good dad too, but she's such a nurturing spirit, she'll be good."

"We've been naming our kids since the day we met," he added. "I can't give you that though, you're trying to get me in trouble with my wife!"

Carey recently filmed an episode of the ABC reality show "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" clad in a oversized t-shirt and black tights -- a much more casual look than her usual skin-tight ensembles. She caused a stir when she tumbled on stage at a concert in Singapore in September and raised a question: Could the fall have harmed the maybe, could-be Carey-Cannon baby?

The singer assured fans she was all good with an exclamation point-laden tweet:

"TY SO much to my fans in Singapore!!!," she wrote on her Twitter account. "Yeah, several hectic moments, (lol!)but I tried to swirl them into festive!.Love+ God Bless!."

Carey made a more direct attempt to quell speculation about her physical state in August by releasing a statement through her publicist, Cindi Berger: "I appreciate everyone's well wishes, but I am very superstitious. When the time is right, everyone will know -- even Cindi Berger."

Cannon also took up his wife's cause.

"I've said it before and I'll say it time and time again," he said on his radio show, "Rollin' With Nick Cannon" in August. "When my wife feels like talking about whatever she wants to talk about, you will hear it directly from her."

Wednesday night, all Carey wanted to talk about was Christmas -- no other special occasion.