Britney Spears who? Mariah Carey confirms multimillion dollar Caesars Palace residency deal

Following weeks of speculation, Maria Carey has announced that she is heading to Caesars Palace.

The 44-year-old diva confirmed her new gig at the Las Vegas hotspot during a pre-recorded appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show, admitting that she was nervous.

"I'm going to do my first ever residency in Vegas at Caesars. This is a special event for me," she told DeGeneres.

"And again, I have to hope that the fans will enjoy this, 'cause I'm gonna be performing, which was kind of inspired by my album number ones, and this is now the updated version, with 18 of them."

"And hopefully other people will enjoy this," the songstress added.

Sir Elton John, Rod Stewart and Celine Dion are just a few of the names Caesars Palace has hosted.

New York Post's Page Six previously reported that although bosses at the resort and casino had offered her mega-millions to headline the Colosseum, the Hero hitmaker still had her reservations about the deal.

"Mariah doesn't want to go to Vegas. She put out feelers to the Borgata in Atlantic City and the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut about a mini residency," the source said.

"She wants a stable, high-paying gig that will keep her close to her New York home. Mariah is crossing her fingers that she can figure out a way to make money on her own turf."

But it looks like the Grammy winner has had a change of heart.

"I've never done this before. Some of these songs I'm like "really, I'm gonna do this again, okay?"' she said.

Although details of Carey's payday have not be disclosed, it is believed that she stands to earn more than the $30m (£19.7m) Britney Spears is receiving for her two-year performing stint at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

Dion was forced to bow out indefinitely in 2014 to look after her cancer-stricken husband René Angélil.