The Shoes, Throne and Dog Chauffeur

Mariah Carey has got to be this planet's most demanding - and annoying - diva. The singer's outrageously narcissistic demands and occasionally absurd pretensions - which she never hesitates to put on display wherever she goes - have turned her into one of the most feared showbiz divas of the day. Although she admitted she often exaggerates, amazingly Carey believes she's quite a lenient, good-natured lady. "I guess I am a diva in many ways. I can be difficult and a little bit rigid about what I want. I don't think I'm demanding enough," she once stated. To prove to the world that she's not going soft, Mariah turned her current promo visit to Britain into a display of strange, often embarrassing demands including a �1,000 throne, a �10,000 gym and a chauffeur for her dog.

When Mariah decides to lower herself to the level of mere mortals on the street (who buy her albums and put enough money in her pocket to spend on selfish whims) and concedes to sign autographs for her besotted fans, there are still a lot of demands that need to be fulfilled. Mariah was at the Selfridges department store in London to sign autographs and meet her fans, but refused to sign anything unless she had a �50,000 antique table at her disposal, covered with silk cloth. She also requested to sit on a �1,000 throne, surrounded by roses and butterflies, as always.

Among Mariah's other whims are canceled or postponed interviews, one with London's Capital Radio Breakfast Show (which she backed out because "she's not a morning person") and one with BBC Radio 1 (postponed because she was delayed traveling by car from her hotel to the BBC studio, which are - gasp - less than half a mile away one from the other). At the hotel, Carey's rented all the penthouse suites available to ensure that nobody else was around to disturb her, brought along her entourage made up of no less than 15 people (bodyguards, stylists, hairdressers, publicists and managers included) and demanded that a �10,000 gym be fitted next to her own suite. The singer was also rumored to have brought along 100 pairs of shoes.