“Waiting for Tonight” is a song written by Maria Christensen, Michael Garvin, and Phil Temple. It was originally recorded by Christensen’s girl group 3rd Party for their debut studio album, Alive (1997). Two years after the group disbanded, American singer Jennifer Lopez recorded her own version of the song for her debut studio album, On the 6 (1999). Ric Wake and Richie Jones produced Lopez’s Hispanic house version of “Waiting for Tonight”, which differs from the German-sounding Europop version that was recorded by 3rd Party. A Spanish version of the song, entitled “Una Noche Más”, was adapted by Manny Benito and also recorded for the album. “Waiting for Tonight” was released on September 7, 1999, by the Work Group, as the third single from On the 6.
Music critics have credited “Waiting for Tonight”, along with several other Lopez dance songs, for making her one of the leading artists in the dance-pop genre. The single reached the top ten in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. “Waiting for Tonight” became Lopez’s first song to top the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart. The song also went number one on European radio. It earned her a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.
The music video for the song was directed by Francis Lawrence and depicts a New Years theme-party celebrating the upcoming millennium, as well as a potential Y2K problem. The song was nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards, where it received the MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance Video. Lopez has performed the song on television programs such as Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and the 11th Billboard Music Awards.
