Jennifer Lopez’s Yerevan concert funding comes from Armenia’s state budget. On July 31, the government decided to allocate the $6 million originally earmarked for Snoop Dogg’s cancelled 2023 concert to Lopez’s performance. No public notice or posters disclosed government or Doping Space sponsorship.
In the government decision, Lopez’s Yerevan concert is vaguely assigned to “during 2025”, without specifying the August 3 date, according to RFE/RL.
The congressional estimate includes 1 billion Armenian drams (over $2.5 million) as Lopez’s fee. Since concert duration and details are unclear, it’s hard to assess whether the amount aligns with typical artist fees.
More questionable is the food catering budget of 14.4 million drams (~$37,000): 6 million for team meals, plus 3.8 million drams for dressing-room staff.
Government documents show Lopez will stay at the Dvin Hotel (Seven Visions Hotels 5‑star), costing ~4 million drams for two nights. The estimate budgeted over 71.5 million drams (around $185,000) for lodging Lopez and her team across Yerevan.
The executive show producer’s salary is set at 2.5 million drams, plus 5.8 million drams for the program producer. Technical direction costs amount to 29.4 million drams. 6 million drams allocated for procurement consulting, 4.4 million for legal services, and similarly for accounting. Doping Space support personnel fee is 1.32 million drams; transport manager 2.5 million; catering manager 2.3 million; operations manager 3.5 million; generator manager 3 million; car rental and transport costs amount to 8.5 million drams.
Despite changes in stars, genres, and fees over the two years, the total estimate equals the $6 million that Snoop Dogg’s concert cost in 2023.
The show date August 3 was announced in spring, months before the government decision. Lopez is arriving as part of her “Up All Night” tour; tickets range from 25,000 to 180,000 drams. The concert will take place at the Republican Stadium. Following the government decision, questions arose whether the state-funded Doping Space concert actually is the August 3 concert or another date. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports confirmed to RFE/RL that the decision applies to the August 3 event.
This raises two main concerns. First, the 2023 government decision required sponsorship to be disclosed in all domestic and international promotional materials. However, no ads mention government backing or Doping Space as organizer. Second, the July 31 amendments still name the concert as occurring “during the year,” not on August 3. In early July, when RFE/RL inquired whom to replace Snoop Dogg with, the ministry responded that the star’s name “may be announced shortly before the concert in coordination with the artist’s production team.”
In summer 2023, the government allocated about $6 million to Doping Space for Snoop Dogg’s concert, which never happened due to the Azerbaijani attack on Karabakh and resulting displacement.
RFE/RL had been in correspondence since March with the Ministry about the failed 2023 concert. The ministry never clarified whether they sought to recover the $6 million from Doping Space or pursued legal action, despite contractual provisions permitting such action.
