After Mariah Carey saw her career and personal life crash in 2014, many were hoping that an announcement for a residency in Las Vegas would turn things around. According to Rolling Stone , Mariah Carey wants to celebrate her collection of number one hits.
“Although the show will center around Carey’s unprecedented 18 Billboard Hot 100 number ones — the most for any solo artist in history — the Caesars Palace website says she will also perform fan-favorite album cuts, never-before-performed selections and many more musical surprises.”
Perhaps one of the main problems with Mariah Carey basing a show on her number one hits is that some of those songs weren’t actually hits; the chart positions were manipulated by her record company through dirt-cheap discounts. Fox News reported on Mariah Carey ‘s chart manipulation tactics back in 2001.
“In October 1999, when Carey’s ‘Heartbreaker’ was released commercially and zoomed up the charts, this column spoke with Vinnie Berbeglia, the buyer for Trans World Entertainment, who conceded that this was a regular part of their marketing. They account for more than 1000 record stores. At the time a survey of Trans World stores showed that they were selling ‘Heartbreaker’ for 49 cents.”
Other number one hits such as “Thank God I Found You,” and “My All” weren’t actually huge hits, but topped Billboard’s charts by being discounted to one-fourth the price of regular singles. Mariah Carey tried the same tactic with her poorly-received song “ Loverboy ” from Glitter . At first, nobody cared about the song. However, the single zoomed up the charts when it was reduced to 49 cents and displayed at the front of record store checkout counters. However, Mariah Carey has had several legit number one hits such as “We Belong Together” and “Fantasy.”
Number one or not, Mariah’s hits aren’t moving people to the box office. As of Saturday morning, several thousand tickets remain for Mariah Carey’s residency . One can easily verify this by going to the website that sells tickets. Her first show, May 6, only shows the $55 tickets as sold out. A search for tickets in other levels shows many seats available. Subsequent shows reveal many tickets available as well.
However, one shouldn’t count out Mariah’s Vegas residency just yet. Although Britney Spears tickets sold better months before her dates, Mariah Carey still has time to build up hype. If the reviews of her show on May 6 are good, perhaps more people will be inspired to buy tickets. Are you going to see Mariah Carey in Las Vegas? Tell us in the comments section.
[Photo Credit: AXS ]