Mariah Carey is determined to reclaim her position at the top of the charts and thanks to a new collaboration with Justin Bieber, she might get it. The diva has announced that she has reworked her ubiquitous ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ for a duet with the young superstar on his upcoming album, ‘Under the Mistletoe’.

Clearly focusing on widening her target audience to match the massive fanbase she commanded in the 1990s, Carey also worked with Jazz legend Tony Bennett on the song ‘When Do The Bells Ring For Me’ from his chart-topping ‘Duets II’ LP. Additionally, Carey has launched the recording process of her own new studio album alongside Jermaine Dupri who helped her craft her classic ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’ and ‘Daydream’ records.

Watch Carey break the news about her work with Bieber below:

This is undoubtedly the best approach that Carey could take toward rebranding herself for the next era of her career. Although ‘Butterfly’ was her breakthrough album and earned her the recognition from the critics, that record was actually the release that sparked a downturn in her commercial success because she almost completely abandoned her Adult Contemporary audience in an effort to remain current.

Indeed, as her sound became more geared toward the Urban market with her subsequent projects, Carey’s market dramatically dwindled and the ‘Mimi’ album was the only record that helped her to get close to recapturing the widespread popularity that she had with ‘Daydream’. However, by working with Bennett and Bieber, she is demonstrating that she is once again targeting a borad spectrum of listeners beyond the R&B field in which she was pigeonholed with ‘Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel’.

Thus, Carey appears to be looking beyond the 18-30 age bracket for success. If that is really the case, and she records the right material, then we may not have truly seen the best of the diva yet!

Check out the cover of Bieber’s ‘Under the Mistletoe’ below:

Other acts featured on the album include Busta Rhymes, Usher and Boyz II Men. ‘Under the Mistletoe’ will debut on November 1st.

Thoughts?