There are two ways of looking at Mariah Carey’s biggest tour in years, the one that didn’t quite pack ‘em in at San Diego’s ipayOne Center at the Sports Arena Wednesday night but which is guaranteed sellouts at Staples Center and the newly christened Honda Center (formerly the Pond) this weekend.

Which view you prefer, however, depends on how charitable you wish to be toward the street diva and her predictable “Adventures of Mimi” outing.

Those who insist it’s high time Mariah got her due – those thrilled that her wildly overvalued album “The Emancipation of Mimi” was both last year’s sales champ and an inexplicable Grammy darling – surely have already determined these shows are the culmination of her comeback: a well-earned victory lap for a show-biz survivor.

That it is in more ways than one, and only a jealous hater would deny that she isn’t deserving of this celebration. Five years ago, when Mariah’s sudden and erratic descent into tabloid purgatory began, it seemed unthinkable that she’d ever crawl back to a stature half as significant as she has now.

Her record-contract woes, the catastrophe of “Glitter,” her frequent canceled shows, hospital stays and too-public temper tantrums – plus what very recently appeared to be the premature deterioration of her unearthly five-octave vocal range – all seemed to spell the end of her days as an omnipresent powerhouse. Everyone loves a comeback, but the reality is that they’re increasingly rare. Just look at Whitney Houston, the still-suffering giant Mariah was once modeled after.

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