The Celebration of Mimi: Inside Sold-Out Opening Night of Mariah Carey’s Las Vegas Residency

When news broke in early February that Mariah Carey had booked a return ticket to Las Vegas to mount another residency, it was revealed that she would design the set list as a celebration of her 2005 blockbuster album, The Emancipation of Mimi.

It inspired the title of the exclusive run — The Celebration of Mimi — as well as the timing. Carey took the stage at Park MGM’s Dolby Live to launch the 16-date residency on April 12, 2024, exactly 19 years to the day after the album was released. It’s no surprise Carey wanted to commemorate the 14-track effort, which sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and brought the elusive chanteuse back into familiar territory at the top of the charts. The success of Emancipation of Mimi was fueled by the No. 1 smash “We Belong Together” and punctuated by singles “It’s Like That,” “Shake It Off,” “Get Your Number,” “Don’t Forget About Us,” “Fly Like a Bird” and “Say Somethin’.” The ultra platinum edition of the album, released on Oct. 10, 2005, delivered another major No. 1 with “Don’t Forget About Us.”

Needless to say, Carey had plenty of options to choose from when putting the pieces together for her newest Vegas party. The Hollywood Reporter was seated inside Dolby Live on Friday as Carey unveiled The Celebration of Mimi, and the biggest surprise of night one came as it took nearly one hour to get to Emancipation.

Carey offered up her own version of a Taylor Swift-style Eras Tour by chronicling her life story and musical career with a flurry of hit songs interwoven by videos and voiceover pulled from her New York Times best-selling memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey. It opened with Carey’s voice describing the emotions and perspective of “little Mariah,” as a way to dedicate the show to her.

“She’s been scared and alone for so long, and yet, through the darkness, she’s never lost her light,” Carey says in the voiceover that played as the venue went dark save for light shimmering behind a floor-to-stage curtain with a cutout spelling Mimi in giant lettering. “She’s made herself known through my songs, her yearning heard over the airwaves or seen on screens. Millions of people know her, but have never known her. She is little Mariah and much of this is her vision as she saw it.”

The curtains opened to reveal Carey standing at center stage as she dove into her debut single, “Vision of Love.” What followed was a set list in chronological order as Carey powered through the early days of her record-breaking career with “Emotions,” “Make It Happen” and the remake of Michael Jackson’s “I’ll Be There” with duet partner Trey Lorenz, a single that rocketed off her MTV Unplugged episode.

“We’re making our way to Mimi, OK,” Carey explained to the capacity crowd, hundreds of whom came dressed for the occasion in Mimi-inspired ensembles, some of which were adorned with sequins, butterflies or rainbows. Nobody seemed to mind as she then touched on memorable “moments” of her career, some shared with brief anecdotes or introductions. “Just for the nostalgia,” she said at one point before retelling a story shared first in her memoir about the behind-the-scenes drama from VH1’s Divas Live with Aretha Franklin. Apparently, the legendary singer told Carey that she was a fan of “Dreamlover,” so she dedicated the track to her.

The pre-Mimi part of the show also featured performances of “Can’t Let Go,” “Hero,” “Without You,” “Fantasy,” “Always Be My Baby,” “Looking In,” a “Butterfly” interlude, “Babydoll,” “Breakdown,” “Close My Eyes,” and a “Heartbreaker” and “Honey” mashup. When it came time to dive into Mimi, Carey had changed outfits a handful of times and admitted that she messed up the choreography for one of her dance routines. “It was better in rehearsal,” quipped Carey, who seemed at her most relaxed, confident self. (“I’m feeling good,” she told the crowd toward the top of the night, an audience that included Brazilian superstar Anitta.)

The show was classic Carey in other ways, too. At one point, her longtime makeup artist Kristofer Buckle came out to do onstage touch-ups. She had a little help getting to center stage at another point when she was flanked by two men who carried the train of her dress. “It’s bejeweled, darling, and we gotta keep it the way it is — bejeweled,” she said. The ensembles, styled by Wilfredo Rosado, paid homage to moments in her career with looks by Gaurav Gupta, Sophie Couture, Falguni Shane, Laura Basci, Robert Wun and more.

Alongside The Emancipation of Mimi’s biggest hits like “We Belong Together,” “Shake it Off” and “Say Something,” Carey also performed “deep cuts” like the fan favorite “Circles,” a track that she said she wrote with “the late, great Big Jim White,” and “Your Girl.” She credited her longtime musical director Daniel Moore with encouraging her to perform “Don’t Forget About Us,” a track that she said she almost skipped over because “I didn’t know if people remembered it anymore.”

Nobody at the Dolby needed to be reminded as they responded with cheers and a standing ovation. The Celebration of Mimi Live continued with another sold-out show on Saturday. Carey continues on through the end of April, with additional dates lined up for July and August. She closed the show with the triumphant power ballad “Fly Like a Bird.” She exited the rear of the stage and offered gestures of gratitude to the dancers, band, singers and her fans on the way out. “I love you profusely,” she said as she walked out, not a moment too soon. “These shoes hurt!”