Review of MC

Some are good...some are not so good...But who really listens to critics anyways, hello this is AMERICA...base YOUR likes and dislikes on what YOU actually do like or dislike...25 days baby..MC in ALBANY!! HOLLAA!!!
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Miami Herald Review: Mariah Carey shines as tour opens in Miami // 12:10 PM EST Updated by Lynn

The Mariah Carey saga is one of the most intriguing stories in pop-music history: After riding her five-octave voice to become the best-selling female performer of the 1990s, she suffered a spectacular public meltdown in 2001.

The songbird signed an $80 million deal with Virgin Records, but quickly sabotaged her success by posting suicidal messages on her website, appearing on MTV's Total Request Live dressed in a T-shirt and nothing else, and starring in the universally ridiculed movie Glitter. Virgin ended up eating $28 million of her contract just so she'd go away.

Carey's personal life never dipped so low as that of her diva rival Whitney Houston, but until last year's chart-topping comeback album The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey had become a laughingstock in the music business.

Saturday night at downtown Miami's American Airlines Arena, Carey showed a near sellout crowd that she and superstardom definitely still belong together. This kick-off date of her Adventures of Mimi tour had plenty of glitter, but only the good kind.

The only negative was the hourlong wait after opening act Busta Rhymes energized the already packed house -- but Carey's fans didn't seem to mind. Just before 10 p.m., the crowd roared as a radiant Carey, classy, composed and in complete control, kicked things off with her lively new hit It's Like That.

Unlike her 2000 tour, which opened with a 10-minute video featuring Carey's evil twin Bianca, who tries to hurt the ''good Mariah,'' her Mimi show emphasizes substance over inane skits. The sequined singer -- even her microphone was decked out in matching sequins -- took her adoring fans on a tour through all her biggest hits, including Dreamlover, Honey, My All, Shake It Off, Fly Like A Bird, Fantasy (during which she ventured out into the crowd), Thank God I Found You, Hero and her soaring cover of The Jackson 5's I'll Be There.

But she wasn't done: For her encore, Carey came out in a sparkling ''Miami blue'' dress she said she bought especially for the Magic City and closed with a bang, singing her monster hit We Belong Together and Butterfly -- a fitting ending that represented her metamorphosis from washed-up diva to reborn superstar.

Busta Rhymes was a fitting warm-up, performing Give It To Me (his duet with Mariah) and peppering his rapid-fire rap set with shout-outs to Don't Cha (his hit with the Pussycat Dolls) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Give It Away.