Mariah Carey made her sparkling return to to the 96th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday after a seven-year absence – but fans quickly called her out for lip-syncing.

The songstress, 52, who has branded herself the ‘Queen of Christmas’ was in her element as she performed All I Want For Christmas Is You to crowds in Manhattan, while clad in a red dress and sparkling tiara. 

Mariah pulled off an elaborate festive performance  surrounded by dancers in matching marching attire – which officially rang in the holiday season in New York and across the US.

However, the star, who has landed herself in hot water before for dodgy miming, was again accused of ‘blatant lip-syncing’ as fans noticed her flawless vocals sounded extremely similar to the recorded version of the 1994 track.

One fan wrote: ‘Mariah Carey lip syncing always SENDS me cuz it’s so blatant. Like she doesn’t even try to hide it.’

Another typed: ‘So @MariahCarey don’t sing foreal anymore? Smh’ while a third typed: ‘I wish I could get paid to stand and look cute lip syncing like Mariah Carey … that chick sang not one note.’

Another fan penned: ‘And here she is ladies and gentlemen! The self proclaimed Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey. …and yeah, I think she’s lip synching.’

One fan added: ‘Mariah Carey is lip syncing. What a shock’ while another typed: What a great performance from #MariahCarey , totally live!! Lol’.

Back on NYE 2016 Mariah suffered through a nightmare train wreck performance in Times Square as technical problems left her completely out-of-sync with her lip syncing track – causing her to storm off stage.

The megastar diva was supposed to herald in 2017 and say good riddance to 2016 before the traditional ball drop by performing two hits, Emotions and We Belong Together.

However, on stage in New York City she appeared unable to hear any backing track, so stopped pretending to sing and put a hand on her hip while the vocal track of her voice carried on without her.

Furious with the unfolding disaster in front of millions inside Times Square and watching at home, Carey, who was dressed in a stunning pink bodysuit, began pacing in frustration across the stage.

Trying to keep calm, she stopped and told the crowd that despite the performance falling apart at the seams, ‘I’m trying to be a good sport here’.

Her backup dancers bravely carried on, but quickly became confused leading Mariah to say, ‘It is what it is. It just don’t get any better’ – at which point she walked off the stage.

Letting emotion get the better of her, the star also said, ‘I wanted a holiday too. Can’t I just have one?’ 

Mariah later tried to brush off the huge blunder, writing ‘s*** happens’ in an Instagram post after the set   

‘We didn’t have a check for this song… we’re missing some of the vocals, but it is what it is. I’m just going to let the audience sing,’ said the singer before her fit of pique.

‘We didn’t have a sound check for this New Year’s baby, it is what it is.’

‘Get these monitors on please.’

At that point, Carey appeared to give up, and went over to one of her dancers and said: ‘just for laughs, do the lift.’ The dancer then lifted Carey’s leg in the air, as she sang a few notes.

‘I wanted a holiday too, can’t I just have one,’ she said as the first song wrapped up.’

After the second song wrapped up, Mariah sarcastically said,’bring the feathers, it just don’t get any better,’ before walking off.     

A crowd of 3 million people gathered on Manhattan’s streets to catch the 96th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

With temperatures rising to a high of 50 on Thursday along with clear skies, spectators should have had a clear view of the 16 giant balloon characters and plethora of performers taking the streets.

While all eyes were on the parade, viewers may have noticed the absence of The Today Show’s Al Roker who missed the event for the first time in 27 years after being hospitalized for blood clots.

Among those wishing Roker a speedy recovery was President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who called into the show as they also thanked first responders and the troops.

Tweeting on Thursday morning, Roker shared a picture of himself watching the parade from the hospital, enjoying the show on TV like more than 20 million viewers as he noted he will be discharged in time to have dinner with his family.

‘So much to be #thankful for on the #thanksgiving day. Leaving the hospital and home for #thanksgivingdinner,’ Roker wrote.

Despite Roker’s absence, the show went on without the popular host as Broadway singer Lea Michele kicked off the festivities with a performance of ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ from her Broadway Show ‘Funny Girl.’

Following other Broadway performances, spectators were fixed on Abdul’s energetic performance of her hit, ‘Straight Up,’ as the 60-year-old proved she can still awe audiences.

Along with the iconic balloons, the parade also featured 28 floats, 12 marching bands, 700 clowns and several music stars who made their way through on Thanksgiving Day.

Organizers said the parade would begin in the city’s Upper West Side and end at Macy’s iconic store at Herald Square.

The attendance was predicted to include 500,000 more people than last year. The 2020 parade was a TV-only festival due to the pandemic.