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Fans waited all day on Saturday, Halloween, for Mariah Carey finally go down and say, “It’s time!” and it finally happened late in the day. Carey, the Queen of Christmas, continued her tradition of announcing the official start of the holiday season with another highly anticipated one. TikTok a video that quickly garnered millions of views.
This year’s video was posted shortly before midnight ET on Saturday and has a different vibe than previous year’s holiday defrost videos.
Mariah Carey is officially spoiled!
Carey’s 2026 vacation defrost video begins with a black screen that says, “New York City,” which turns to “October 31st.” A countdown will then appear, starting at 11:58:13 pm. The camera then pans into your typical NYC dive bar.
On the stage hosting the full bar, the diva herself, but with a very different look than usual. She has a punk look with red and blonde hair and cat ears, black lipstick, and deep, dark eye makeup.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Carey is performing the song “Hermit,” something she wrote, produced and performed as a backing vocalist in the 1990s. The album, “Someone’s Ugly Daughter,” was released under the band name Chick in collaboration with her friend Clarissa Dane.
After the performance clip, the black screen appears again flashing 11:59:59 PM, marking the moment Carey’s decompression begins. When the countdown comes to midnight, she lets out her signature, “It’s about time” and immediately transforms into the holiday version of herself that everyone has been waiting for. As the camera pans out, we see that Carey is the star on top of the Christmas tree.
This video is a partnership with the Sol de Janeiro brand.
Fans were ready for this video all day
It didn’t take long after the video was posted for the comments to start piling up. In just 12 hours, it already had over 18 million views and 85,000 comments.
Comments like, “Nothing can stop her now,” “How this has become an annual tradition,” “I’ve been expecting this for 2 months nowww,” and “It’s timeeee” filled the comments section.
Coca-Cola’s official TikTok page shared a photo of Vanilla Coke Creamy Holiday being poured into a glass, with 292,000 likes so far. Some viewers are wondering if a holiday Coke will be released soon. “It says holiday cream vanilla I’m so excited,” one person replied. Another said, “And they will write his disciple-time on him.”
Last year’s video got 154 million views
Every year, Carey’s “It’s time” videos have people gagging. They wait patiently all day on Halloween for Carey’s iconic way to ring in the holiday season to release.
By 2025, her video quickly received over 150 million views and her comment section was on fire with 251,000 comments. The video was a partnership with Sephora featuring actor Billy Eichner.
“Bad news, Mariah Carey, the elves are striking this year,” Eichner said while portraying an elf who steals Carey’s Sephora boat. “An elf’s revenge for putting us through holiday hell. Santa’s helper quit.”
He then said, “Christmas is off. No bells, no confidence, no glam.” When he asked Carey if she had any last words, she merely muttered, “It’s timeeee!!!” Then the scene transitions into a joyful Christmas vibe, with Eichner now a snowman.
One person said “This is better than 2026” after watching the video released last night. Another agreed, saying, “This one was much better.”
Mariah Carey’s 2024 video named ‘Best of Time’
The 2024 video attracted the attention of 59.6 million viewers. One viewer said “this was his best time,” after seeing the 2026 video.
The video has a real “Addams Family” vibe. After a dance scene with a man also dressed up, a door opens and the holiday season arrives. It wouldn’t be complete without the iconic, “It’s Time” sign that we’ve transitioned from Halloween fun to holiday cheer.
Get Ready To Hear A Lot Of ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ Now Is The Time’
If Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” isn’t on loop in your head by the end of November 1, are you even paying attention? As soon as she belts out “It’s time” and then immediately starts singing the hit song, it’s sure to be playing everywhere until the holiday season is officially over.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the hit holiday song became the single with the most weeks at No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history last year, reaching 22 non-consecutive weeks at the top of the list. Earlier this year, it was destroyed by Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” with 25 total weeks at the top.
Carey’s hit holiday song spent four weeks in the No. 1 spot in 2024 and 2025, so we’ll see what happens in 2026 now that she’s broken up and ready for another holiday season.
