Mariah Carey Las Vegas Debut: Train Wreck Or Return To Form?

On Wednesday evening, Mariah Carey made her Las Vegas debut to an almost sold-out crowd of about 4,000. She looked happier than she has looked in years. However, whether the show was a success or not is up for debate, as it has received wildly mixed reviews.

Jon Caramanica of the New York Times gave Mariah’s show one of the worst reviews the newspaper has ever given, starting the review with a paragraph comparing Carey to a “crash.”

“On Wednesday night, Ms. Carey performed for a largely difficult two hours at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace here, the first show in what’s to be a two-year residency totaling more than 50 concerts. That she’s embarking upon something like this is already a sign of defeat… When it came to the notes, though, the struggle was real. From the beginning of the night, she was tentative and inconsistent. She sang parts of several songs an octave lower than the recordings. Often she appeared to be holding back as if to build up to a big moment, only to shy away from it. As she’s aged, her voice has gotten huskier, but sometimes the rasp felt like a glitch, not a goal.”

However, Yahoo News had a completely different take on the show and said that for the most part, Mariah Carey was a hit with the audience.

“One of Carey’s characteristically piercing high notes was about to be unleashed. For each, and there were many, the pop icon received cheers and applause from the crowd gathered for the singer’s opening night of ‘Mariah #1 to Infinity,’ her Las Vegas Strip residency…Carey’s voice wasn’t always up for hitting the highest notes, opting for a deeper sound at times that wasn’t there when she came to fame in the 1990s… High notes or not, the fans in the crowd were almost always on their feet.”

Fans who actually attended the show took to Twitter and other social media sites to express their enjoyment. Mariah Carey performed all her number one hits plus a new song called “Infinity,” which despite flopping on iTunes, made a debut on Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 82 this week. This would be bad news at any other point in Mariah’s career, but fans are nevertheless celebrating. Mariah Carey is expected to perform “Infinity” at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards on May 17. Let’s hope Mariah Carey can hit the high notes that the song requires and help sales of her upcoming album, #1 to Infinity.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]