Mariah Carey has swept into Las Vegas in style to begin a residency at one of the city’s most famous casinos.

The singing superstar arrived in the gambling mecca ahead of her first concert at Caesars Palace on May 6, declaring she was starting the shows with “a clean slate”.

Mariah, 45, was driven into the casino in a classic pale pink 1936 Auburn Boattail, behind 18 mobile billboards on trucks, marking each of her 18 number one singles.

Dressed in a flesh coloured sequinned gown, she was mobbed by screaming fans desperate to take photographs before being carried through the casino to the Colosseum concert venue by men dressed as Roman centurions.

Afterwards, she said that the concerts – as well as the accompanying album of chart-topping hits and a new single – would mark a fresh start.

Speaking backstage at the concert hall, she told the Press Association: “It’s about a clean slate and starting anew and really being open to any and everything. The fans have got me here and it’s about embracing all fans from all over the world, welcoming them to come and visit us here.”

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon at the 2010 Academy Awards
Mariah and Nick in happier times (Matt Sayles/AP)

The singer separated from her husband Nick Cannon last year but said their three-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe have been enjoying spending time with her in Las Vegas.

“They have been here with me, having fun and going sightseeing, doing things and playing at home and enjoying the pool and all that kind of stuff.

“We had a really rough winter that never wanted to leave in New York but they had fun. We were making snow angels on the roof. It’s all about making it happen wherever we are.”

However, she said she has not been serenading the children with her latest single Infinity: “They hear it and they start singing, when they don’t like it they don’t sing along and when they like it they do.

“They love movies and singing along with different movies and it’s great to see them respond to something because that’s the most pure, they just like the melody.”

The Grammy winner said she hopes fans will flock from all over the world to see her perform each of her 18 number one hits, including Heartbreaker, Dreamlover and Touch My Body, but admitted she doesn’t know why her ardent admirers feel so connected to her.

She said: “I’m just me, I have no idea. I just try to be who I am and it’s not always easy because people want me to be a specific way, like some people say ‘I like the Mariah that sings this sort of a song’ and ‘I like her when she sings this’ and that is why I love this new record because it encapsulates a lot of, not all, the different styles of singing and performing and writing that I’ve done over the years.”

With tickets already available for concerts up until July 26, Mariah said she does not know what her future holds but she will be focusing on taking care of herself.

“I don’t know what is in the future. I think it starts with the message behind the song, love yourself first to infinity and then you can love other people or do your career or do you, but you have to make sure you know where you’re coming from.”

Mariah’s album #1 To Infinity will be released in the UK on May 18. Her single Infinity is out now.