Top American city loses power to the women taking centre stage (7,6)

I believe the answer is:

leading ladies

'the women taking centre stage' is the definition.

'top american city loses power' is the wordplay.
'top' becomes 'leading'.
'american city' becomes 'la' (abbreviation for Los Angeles).
'loses power' becomes 'dies'.
'leading'+'la'+'dies'='LEADING LADIES'

'to' is the link.

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times.

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