JOHN: So how is this going first of all? Everyone wants to put this you know -- the titans coming together superstar thing -- is it going well?

MARIAH CAREY: It's going really well! I mean, we're having a good time. People are gonna see, when they see the video, that there's no drama, there's no catfighting, there's no ridiculousness goin' on. We're having a good time.

JOHN: People love to buy into that idea that there must be some friction, right?

MARIAH: Well, I think if it were a situation with a different type of female singer or celebrity, we might be having problems, but Whitney and I are both singers, we both respect music and love music and really come from a place of loving music and it's not like about being catty or being competitive right now. We're just doing a project that we were both into.

JOHN: How did this song come about? Did one of you say yes first or yes if she does it?

MARIAH: I don't even know! See, what happened was, when I was in L.A., Jeffrey Katzenberg invited me to come to the studio and look at, you know, view the movie. And we had dinner. It was very grand and elaborate, very Hollywood! And so he was like, you know, 'Would you like to do this duet with Whitney?' And I was like, 'Did she say that was cool?' 'Cuz I was surprised too, you know? I don't know if they were simultaneously doing this to both us, but whatever it just happened! I mean it was a great opportunity 'cuz she's obviously an amazing singer and I think the fans -- we have real fans in the audience -- they seem to be very into the chemistry and just listening to the vocals and stuff like that. It was funny 'cuz last night we were like, 'Okay, whose part is that?' And trying to remember who was doin' what. So it was cool.

JOHN: You've said before that you think you can tell the difference in the voices when you listen to the song.

MARIAH: Oh I can definitely tell. I mean, we have distinctly different voices if you really listen. You really can tell the differences. But I'm talking about when we harmonize certain things that we're doing, we're blending together really well. So we're kinda like 'Who did that?' I mean, after 20 takes, it all blends into one. I started singing her line and I was like, 'Ooops!'

JOHN: Do you remember back in the day, the first Whitney Houston record you ever heard? Or did you grow up listening to "How Will I Know?"

MARIAH: I remember, yeah. The first thing I ever heard Whitney on was when she was singing for Kashif and it's a song called "Thinking About You." I was like, at Jones Beach with my friends. I remember my friend going, 'Listen to this girl sing!' And I was like, 'Wow, she's really amazing!'

JOHN: Do you have a favorite song of hers?

MARIAH: Um, I don't know, she's done so many great songs. I like "You Give Good Love."