Las Vegas Weekly

November 23, 2008 · 10:18 AM

A galaxy of stars party hearty at nightclubs up and down the Strip

By Robin Leach

Jamie Foxx on open-mic night at Tao.

Photo: Al Powers

Celebrities including American Idol’s Paula Abdul, movie superstar Jamie Foxx, music super-singers Usher and Tyrese, Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere and comedy talk-show host Bill Maher were still partying pre-dawn here this morning. Even lovebirds Criss Angel and blonde beauty Holly Madison were on the town, continuing their commuter romance for the sixth consecutive weekend.

It all proved that Hollywood headliners know the best place for fun is in their backyard platinum playground and that Strip nightclubs are alive and well despite the difficult economic climate.

Here’s our through-the-night roundup of the stars at play:

*Grammy Award-winning singer and dazzling dance diva Paula met with fans at Steve Wynn and Victor Drai’s Tryst in the Wynn. She even posed for photos with the Mindfreak magician and his The Girls Next Door girlfriend. Criss and Holly were seen openly holding hands and kissing constantly in their VIP dance-floor booth. Singer-actor Tyrese was also in the owner’s VIP section with movie director Michael Bay of Transformers and Armageddon fame, plus Playboy Playmate Raquel Gibson (Miss October 2005)

*R&B smooth soul king Usher, with two female friends and his security guards, ordered up a post-midnight snack at Victor’s other Strip hotspot, Drai’s After Hours at Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall at center Strip. At a private VIP table in the hip-hop room, Usher ordered up french fries and chicken fingers to snack on in between dancing. Usher had stayed in town to party after his earlier concert at The Pearl in the Palms.

*It was a jam-packed night for Heroes star Hayden Panettiere. After hitting the stores of the Palazzo, she dined at the new Yellowtail sushi restaurant in the Bellagio before seeing Cirque du Soleil’s water-themed show O -- and then high-tailed it down to the Sahara to catch Nicole Durr’s music and dance spectacular Fuego Raw Talent. Afterwards, Hayden hung out with the cast backstage!

*For the second consecutive night, comedy king Jamie Foxx held court at Tao restaurant and nightclub in the Palazzo. He had dinner for his entourage of 20 family and friends celebrating two friends’ birthdays. After two cakes were delivered to his table, the Oscar winner took everybody up to his usual favorite VIP table on the nightclub’s dance floor. It didn’t take too long before he had the mic and bantered back and forth with DJ Vice. Jamie had the Cristal flowing as he emceed the party until the wee early hours this morning.

*When The Comedy Festival wrapped at Caesars Palace, many of the comics moved over to Tao, where comedian Pauly Shore hosted the after-party. His guests included comedy talk-show host Bill Maher after his standup gigs at The Orleans and Nick Thune, B.J. Porter, Brett Gelman, Rob Riggle of The Daily Show, plus the cast of MTV’s sketch comedy show Human Giant Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer and Jason Woliner. Also there was Mad Men actor and one of GQ’s Men of the Year Jon Hamm with five friends, and they took a table stocked with Grey Goose vodka.

*Actor and comedian Nick Cannon may have been solo for his two-hour guest DJ set at Pure early yesterday, but new wife superstar singer Mariah Carey was right by his side later in the day at the Caesars Palace Comedy Festival.

We wanted to get you this stars party photo feature first and fast this morning, but Vegas DeLuxe has a host of other star surveillance reports. We’ll save those for tomorrow’s postings, so check back then for our wild weekend wrap-up!

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