Jennifer Lopez performed her catchy new single “I Luh Ya Papi” live for the first time on “American Idol” during the results show on March 20, 2014. Special guest French Montana was there to rap his verse near the end of the song.
Unlike the music video that was released about a week earlier, which showed J.Lo living it up in a mansion and on a yacht, the live version was performed in a set depicting a city street, complete with a stoop for hanging out, colorful graffiti on the walls, and girls jumping double dutch. Also unlike the video, the live version did not have lots of nearly naked dancing men. And where the video opened with Jennifer and her back-up singers talking about how they were going to shoot the video, here Jennifer and three former American Idol contestants — Jessica Sanchez, Pia Toscano, and Allison Iraheta — chatted about which of the guys in A.I.’s current season was the cutest.
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J.Lo wore a sparkly blue top and short shorts, a silver belt, and high-heeled sneakers, and she had her hair pinned on the top of her head. The high-cut outfit made her legs look like they were a million miles long. J.Lo and her two back-up dancers had lots of great moves, including some with them hanging onto their microphone stands and a repeated hand to the head motion done in the chorus.
The chorus of the song was a repetition of the song’s title — “I luh ya papi I luh ya luh ya papi” — until French Montana came out and started singing, “I luh ya mami I luh ya luh ya mami.”
The performance was a huge hit with the American Idol audience. Later in the broadcast, contestant M.K. Nobilette, who received the fewest votes, sang for her life, hoping the judges would save her. But the judge’s decision had to be unanimous, and it wasn’t. Judging by J.Lo’s expression, she had wanted M.K. to stay. So it was a good and bad night for J.Lo. She lost one of her favorite contestants, but she had a fantastic live debut of her new song, which should help push it to the top of the charts.
