Mariah Carey falters during New Year's Eve performance in Times Square

What happens when a diva's performance goes awry?

You stop singing.

That was exactly what pop diva Mariah Carey did.

Mariah brought her big, high-pitched tune to the Times Square stage, when she 'powered' through a performance, which was unfortunately, was mired with glitchy audio issues.

Mariah ushered in 2017 with a bungled performance on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on ABC in front of one million merrymakers at Times Square, New York City on Dec 31.

Decked in a sheer tight top, Mariah opened her segment with class befitting to her diva stature -- faux pas white feathers resembling an arch revealed an hour-glass Mariah as she sashayed down the stage belting her chart-topping tune, 'Emotions'.

The 46-year-old octave-jumping diva failed to hit several notes during her rendition of 'Emotions', which made for uneasy viewing and cringing listening as she struggled to sync to the lyrics and music.

The shudder-inducing performance illuminated how bad the Grammy-winning singer looked like on stage as she gestured to the audience that 'I'm just being a good sport here'.

She stopped singing and told the audience, ''All right, we didn't have a check on this song' and went on to say, "it went to Number One!".

Then, as the next number, "We Belong Together," began to play, Carey attempted a sing-a-long but appeared to be out of sync with the backing track.

Mariah seemed to give up on that song too, telling her dancers to "Bring the feathers" as the tune ended.

"It just don't get any better," said a flustered Mariah, before walking off stage, sans wishing Happy New Year to the cheering crowd.

Over a million revellers, many from overseas, witnessed the descent of the kaleidoscopic New Year's Eve ball in Times Square at midnight Dec 31, celebrating a century-old New York tradition under an unprecedented umbrella of security.

Security was mega-tight with some 7,000 police on 24-hour watch and 40-ton sand trucks gathered in the "Crossroads of the World" to watch the glittering sphere complete its minute-long drop, marking the beginning of 2017.

With the throng counting down the seconds, the crystal-paned ball slid with smooth precision down its pole, mounted on a tower at the head of the plaza. At the stroke of midnight, it touched home, illuminating a giant "2017" sign and sending a shower of fireworks into the sky.

Millions of others around the world watched the spectacle on television and the internet.

And yep, they saw Mariah's botched performance too. The live performances also showcased other acts including Thomas Rhett and Gloria Estefan.