Better than last year: Mariah Carey's triumphant return to New Year's eve

After last year's disastrous live performance, Mariah Carey returned to the 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' stage for redemption.

The 47-year-old wowed with the stirring medley of two of her hit songs, 'Vision of Love' and 'Hero' and even made a joke at her own expense, saying to the audience that the night was a 'disaster' because she didn't have her hot tea.

"Happy New Year!" Carey said, as she addressed the crowd. "Just want to take a sip of tea if they'll let me. They told me there would be tea. Oh! It's a disaster. O.K. Well, we'll just have to rough it. I'm going to be just like everybody else with no hot tea. But we're going to try and do this one for you."

When show host Ryan Seacrest, later asked Carey about her performance, she replied, "I'm feeling better than last year."

Last year, the singer had a performance that was marked by problems - at one point, she stopped singing - and it led to a public spat between the best-selling singer and Dick Clark Productions over who was at fault.