The cold and snow couldn’t keep thousands of fans from seeing the best-selling female artist of all time Wednesday night at the Schottenstein Center. As the diva herself said on stage, “the show must go on” — and it certainly did.

As Mariah Carey was lowered onto the stage from a swing, the atmosphere was electric. Audiences waited more than an hour and a half for her to come on, but when she did, their anticipation turned into pure excitement.

“She was absolutely amazing,” Anthony Patton said. “When she came on stage I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe how awesome this is.'”

Patton said Carey’s performance was worth driving an hour and 20 minutes to see. Coming from Dayton, he was worried about making the trip in such harsh conditions.

“I had to scrape sheets of ice from my car and was worried the roads would be really bad,” Patton said. “I didn’t care though — I wasn’t going to miss this.”

Carey performed many of her hit songs that have kept her in the business for 20 years. During her career, she has racked up 18 No. 1 Hot 100 hits, and is the only artist with the potential to surpass The Beatles’ all-time record of 20.

The “Angels Advocate” tour marked Carey’s first tour appearance in Columbus. The eight-week, 19-city trip promotes Carey’s 13th studio release, “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.”

“Memoirs” was released back in September and reached number one on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The first single from the album, “Obsessed,” was definitely a crowd favorite. As Carey sashayed onto the stage in her floor length black ball gown, cheers and screams erupted from the audience. Some people even got out of their seats to go dance in the aisles.

“Obsessed,” rumored to be about rapper Eminem, is an up-tempo song with catchy lyrics denying claims that Carey and Eminem were in a relationship. “Obsessed” debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Others reacted strongly to her gospel hit “Fly Like a Bird,” from her 2005 Grammy Award-winning album, “The Emancipation of Mimi.”

“That was so moving,” said fan Jennifer Pruitt. “I felt like I was at church.”

Carey’s record-breaking high notes wowed audiences the most. Every time “The Voice” dipped down to belt one out, the crowd was in awe.

“She hit every note perfectly,” said Patton. “Since she’s getting older I didn’t know if she was able to sing like that again but the girl’s still got it.”