When the Guinness World Records anoints you the “songbird supreme” it’s fair to say that you’ve had a pretty major career (not to mention that you possess a particularly major instrument).  Such is the case with Mariah Carey – now starring in the ultimate sign of being a mega-selling artist, her own show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace; where she joins an elite clique of legendary entertainers that includes Celine Dion, Sir Elton John, Cher, Bette Midler, Shania Twain, Rod Stewart, Reba McEntire with Brooks & Dunn, and Jerry Seinfeld.

Credit where credit is due, Carey is the winner of a quintet of Grammy Awards, 11 American Music Awards, 14 Billboard Music Awards, and 19 World Music Awards.  And between 1990 and 2008, 18 of Carey’s singles reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – more than any other solo artist, and second only to The Beatles (with 20).  All told, Mariah Carey has sat in that number-one spot for 79 weeks (that’s a year-and-a-half, btw; and longer than any artist in US chart history…).

Her show at Caesars, #1 to Infinity (also the name of Carey’s third compilation album – dropping this week), is more than a show of her hits – as the title implies, it features only her songs that hit #1, from 1990’s “Vision of Love” to 2008’s “Touch My Body” - with her latest single, “Infinity” as a look to the future .

Carey is no amateur when it comes to performing, and keeps the audience in the palm of her hand, from the get-go.  Ably backed by a trio of singers, including two fabulous ladies, and the sensational Trey Lorenz – who’s been collaborating with Carey since her first promo-tour in 1990, and is perhaps best known as Carey’s duet partner in their cover-version of The Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” that they performed on MTV: Unplugged in 1992, and that they reprised at the Staples Center in 2009, for Michael Jackson’s memorial service.

At various times in the show, Mariah emerges not just wearing different dresses and wigs, but on a bright yellow Jet Ski, and on the back of a pink Cadillac.  Her band is completely on-point, while the sets arrange themselves seamlessly, and are both charming and technologically-advanced.  And her dancers (both the boys and the men) are a delight.

The show is so well-staged, in fact, that a wardrobe malfunction was halfway repaired before most of us realized it had occurred.  After which Carey looked at the audience; made a joke about how much she and the audience had been through, together; and got right back to singing.  Frankly, I’m still not sure it wasn’t part of the show – which I think would be a particularly clever nod to the fact that she’s been known to have more than one dress split-up-the-back, during a live performance.

With only ten more shows in her Las Vegas residency, it would behoove any fan of ‘90s pop, r&b, and/or dance music to buy their tickets, tout de suite.  That Carey received Billboard’s Legend Award as “Artist of the Decade” (1990s), as well as the World Music Award for “World’s Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium” should be all the motivation you need.  But if not, there’s no debating her sweeping five-octave range, those powerful pipes, and her mastery of both the whistle-register and melisma; nor her sense of humor – all of which are on full display, here.  Carry on, Ms. Carey!  Carry on.

Mariah Carey: #1 to Infinity
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
Click HERE for tickets and info

Get into it!

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