Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 02/04/2013 at 10:19 AM News

The Popdust Files: comebacks, mariah carey, tournaments

Mariah Carey is no stranger to the comeback, having staged at least one or two big-scale comebacks already in her 20-plus-year career. It looks like she’s in for at least one more in 2013, however, having been voted by you guys as the artist most likely to return in a big way this year. Mariah won our finals in a never-in-doubt landslide victory, her Lambs coming out in full force to vote her over opponent Justin Timberlake by a ratio of nearly nine to one, with over 135,000 votes being cast for MC in all.

Carey has enjoyed one of the most successful careers in the history of pop music to this point, with 18 number-one singles, more than any other solo artist in chart history, including “One Sweet Day,” the longest-running number-one single of all-time. She’s also sold over 63 million albums in the States alone, more than any other female artist besides Madonna and Barbra Streisand, including two diamond-certified albums in Daydream and Music Box. However, Mariah has been absent from the scene for most of the 2010s, mostly devoted to her recently born twin children, Moroccan and Monroe.

This year, however, not only has Mariah returned to national TV as a judge on American Idol, making all sorts of headlines for her contentious relationship with fellow judge Nicki Minaj, but she has a new album on the way, to be her first since 2009. A big comeback seems all but inevitable, and now that you guys have deemed it so, we’re sure it’ll be coming sooner rather than later. We certainly won’t be complaining about it.

Thanks again to everyone who voted, and Mariah Carey goodies are now here for all you loyal Lambs that voted her to the status of our Comeback Star of 2013—click here to download Mariah wallpaper for your phone!

Flip through our slideshow of Mariah Carey stroking her gorgeous hair!

See what our expert predicts for Mariah and the rest of the gang on this season of American Idol!