Jennifer Lopez Is The Queen Of Las Vegas: Sorry, Britney Spears And Mariah Carey

Move over, Mariah Carey and Britney Spears. Well, at least that’s what a lot of people who have been attending Ms. Lopez’s shows in Las Vegas have been saying. The All I Have show has been getting universally acclaimed reviews. Gerrick Kennedy from the Los Angeles Times is one of the critics who was thoroughly impressed with J.Lo’s performance.

“Vegas, there’s a new girl in town,” Jennifer Lopez announced during a sold-out show at Planet Hollywood’s Axis Theater on Friday. Judging from the dazzling two-hour spectacle the multi-hyphenate entertainer has produced for her debut Vegas residency, Lopez’s proclamation felt more like a warning to the other pop divas that have mounted high-profile shows on the Strip.”

Kennedy added that with all the razzle dazzle, Lopez easily outdoes all of her competitors with her show. Katy Atkinson from Billboard seemed to agree.

“The only question after seeing Jennifer Lopez’s All I Have residency in Las Vegas is: What took her so long?” Atkinson asked at the very beginning of the article.

Atkinson noted that Jennifer Lopez’s show is very much like a walk through her life. Ms. Lopez brought out special guests Ja Rule and Ne-Yo and kept the crowd seduced for the entire evening.

The initial reviews Jennifer Lopez received are much better than the reviews Mariah Carey received when she kicked off her Las Vegas residency. 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.”

The review went on to note that Carey often appeared to be holding back in order to build up to a big moment, only to shy away from it. Overall, the New York Times wasn’t impressed with what had become of Carey’s voice — at least not as impressed as Yahoo News was.

Before Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey, Britney Spears arrived in Vegas at the very end of 2013. Rolling Stone said the show launched with mixed results.

“Viewed through a lens of diminished expectations (Britney’s bar for success was reset in 2007 after her well-publicized breakdown), Britney: Piece of Me is an entertaining tour through the 32-year-old star’s nearly 15-year recording career.”

The reviewer, Caryn Ganz, then said that compared to other pop stars such as Madonna and Beyoncé, Spears definitely displayed her weaknesses. Ganz said that there was no evidence that Spears sang a note during the show live. She believed the best part of the show was the performance of “Work B***h,” where Spears emerged from a metal cage suspended in the air.

Both Britney Spears and Mariah Carey will finish up their residencies early this year. However, their shows will probably go unnoticed now that Jennifer Lopez is there. However, fans are hoping that Lopez, Spears, and Carey will somehow get together for a magical performance, but reality says that most likely won’t happen.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]