“I am NOT a diva!”

If Mariah Carey said it once, she said it a dozen times during her New York concert gig the other night. Mariah, honey, we believe you. But guess what — your fanatically devoted fans don’t care. They love you as a diva. They love you breaking down. They love you coming back. They love you hitting those stratospheric notes. Mariah, whose hair is pretty stratospheric too, wore her usual selection of bodacious body revealing get-ups, which can lead one to miss some of those big notes. Questions? Will that bodice burst? Will we see (BEGIN ITALICS) all (END ITALICS) the junk in the trunk?

Mariah is very laid-back, and talks to her audience as if they are sitting next to her at a table in a restaurant. Some people think that’s too casual an approach. But, yes, the fans love her intimate chatting. She is a sweet girl who had a rough childhood, adolescence and young adulthood — including a tempestuous marriage to Tommy Mottola. Her stardom and those fans mean everything to her, and it’s obvious in every breath she takes.

SPEAKING OF divas — though like Mariah, I’m sure she’d renounce that word — I had to love Shannen Doherty’s encounter with a Newsweek reporter last week. Seconds into a phoner to publicize Doherty’s new reality show, “Breaking Up,” the interviewer asked Shannen about an old scandal. She said: “If that’s the way you’re going with this, then I’d rather not even do this interview.”

“But. . .” sputtered the reporter.

“I’m not going to rehash things from 15 years ago . . . let me hang up and call my publicist and we’ll reconvene, because I’m not going down that path.” She never called back. One has to hand it to Doherty to set a guideline. These days reporters feel the need to ask anything, and actors now seem compelled to spill their guts, either out of basic exhibitionism, or fear of not being interesting. One person Doherty will probably never sit with is Vanity Fair’s George Wayne; he seldom leaves a humiliating query unturned.

MORE DIVAS? Well, Arianna Huffington is no shrinking violet, and she does have a new book coming, titled “On Becoming Fearless.” This is a guide for women on how to be “bold, bulletproof and bullish when it comes to people and issues that matter most to them.” Arianna, whose Huffington Post Web site is one of the most read and talked about in the country, and who successfully morphed from conservative to “kinda liberal” is all of those things, and more. Other powers who contribute essays to this book include Nora Ephron, Diane Keaton and Sherry Lansing.

On Sept. 23, Viacom chief Tom Freston and his writer wife Kathy will celebrate Arianna at their New York home. On Oct. 3 in L.A., Lynda and Stewart Resnick will fete Huffington. (Lynda, head of the Pom Wonderful juice company is known as “The Pomegranate Queen.”)

THAT CYCLONIC force of nature, Elaine Stritch, opens at the Cafe Carlyle with her brand-new bombshell of a show. It runs from Sept. 12 through Nov. 4. At this point, La Stritch is downright legendary, and if you don’t avail yourself of this icon’s generously offered talents, you are just plain foolish.

Stritch called me from L.A. to announce that “something happened to me the other day that made me realize I am finally a grown-up! There I was by the pool, talking to Warren Beatty — I had no makeup, ratty clothes, in the early light of day. Not glamorous,” she emphasized wryly. “And I just didn’t give a damn how I looked.”

I told Elaine this was no doubt admirable adult behavior, but I had to add, “You know, Warren probably wasn’t wearing his makeup, either. You met as equals.”

THE HISTORY INTERNATIONAL Channel is full to overflowing with religiosity these days — lots of debunking the “Da Vinci Code,” examining the reality of Jesus, his family, Mary, her family, Judas, that big louse (or was he?), the Exodus, biblical prophecies, Heaven, Hell and the Antichrist.

Oh, there are still enough nifty specials on the vices of the ancient Romans, archaeological treasures and the terrible wages of war through the centuries, but the history folks seem to be taking a higher path. (Its latest faith-based program is “Drive Thru History,” which inevitably veers toward proselytizing. This is fine, as long as one is (BEGIN ITALICS) prepared (END ITALICS) for it. Some people say they’ve felt “mugged” by this particular show!) So, if you want the inside scoop on the Antichrist, the Rapture, Armageddon, the very curious origins of evangelicalism, and other matters of the spirit, History International is your spot.

AND WHILE we muse on history, a recent column here about a visit to Rome, elicited much comment. Bill Higgins of Literacy Partners writes: “Reading about the Colosseum’s tenting, which was pulled over the crowd by the emperor’s marines tugging on ropes, I thought you’d enjoy knowing I once visited a Roman arena in Syria. This was an exceptionally hot place where the Romans constructed piping that sprayed a fine perfumed water mist over the 20,000 spectators on torrid days, in addition to tenting!”