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Mariah Carey has blamed the fact she "hadn't eaten" for a merry awards speech at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (5 January).

The singer and actress picked up an award for breakthrough actress from director Lee Daniels for their forthcoming film Precious.

Speaking at the Peoples' Choice Awards last night she said: "We'd been sitting there celebrating this whole time, we had splashes of champagne. I hadn't eaten.

"It was fun. If people don't understand me and think I'm just this girl who stands by a microphone and sings Hero then they're definitely not going to get me.

"If people knew me they would understand I have a sense of humour and basically that's what gets me through life."

Precious, a film based on the novel by Sapphire, is set for release in the UK on 29 January.