"She can't hold a candle to Whitney, and she knows it." --Witness to the recent recording of "When You Believe," the Prince of Egypt duet Whitney Houston sings with Mariah Carey.

Diva showdown?

No way. You see, M.C. knew her overproduced (according to those who do the producing) lungs were going to take a beating, so she didn't give ol' Whit a whit of attitude.

She just gave it to everybody else.

"She thinks she's so smart," said a member of the taping ceremony. "But, she's not. She was really unbelievable. Giving orders. Marching around like she owned the place. She's just like a bratty little girl. She's horrible."

(I hope you've logged off by now, Mariah Pariah.)

And what of Houston, who's not exactly known for her retiring ways?

"Look," said the source, "Whitney may have had the bigger entourage, and she may have been a little out of it, but, man, can she sing! And she was serious about it, too. She really did the job. She was focused. Unlike Mariah, who I think was just scared of Whitney."

Listen, folks, I've listened to the fab song in question, and my source is right: Whitney somehow manages to pull her dubious act together on this one and really deliver a throat-lumping, heart-pulling performance. (Don't know how she pulled this one out of her always-askew wig.)

Mariah just sounds like some sort of church-choir backup singer.