Las Vegas Weekly

October 16, 2008 · 1 PM

Strip Scribbles: Ellen DeGeneres, Justin Timberlake in town; tonight’s tips

By Robin Leach

*TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres filmed segments for her upcoming Comedy festival show at Caesars Palace in November around town yesterday. She played a ‘lookalike double’ of herself in the "Legends in Concert" show at the Imperial Palace to really confuse the players. She also went golfing with Justin Timberlake at his celebrity tournament up at TPC Summerlin. The videos will be rolled into her live show at Caesars for the TBS broadcast.

*Three Hall of Fame Breeders Cup legendary jockeys will be in the Wynn sports book from noon till 3 p.m. today. You’ll get to meet Pat Day, Angel Cordero and Laffit Pincay and they’ll happily pose for photos. A 20 foot photographic exhibit of great moments from Breeders Cup history is accompanying the guys en route to Santa Anita for Saturday’s Living Legends Race featuring eight retired Hall of Fame jockeys!

*Follow-ups to Luxe Life stories: Janet Jackson did perform in the nation's capital last night. So D.C. became the first gig after a run of 10 cancellations following her hospitalization in Montreal. Janet’s camp also confirmed our tip yesterday that she’d been suffering from chronic migraines. Apparently they were so bad it brought on ‘vertigo, dizziness and balance loss’ that forced her doctor to demand she quit the live concerts until her medical condition improved. The tour is back on even though tonight’s show at Madison Square Garden was pushed back to Nov. 1. CLICK HERE for our story on Tuesday that Janet has been weighing offers for a permanent Strip residency instead of touring rigors.

DJ AM – Adam Goldstein - did play for Jay-Z’s tour launch in Los Angeles last evening and will perform for the first time in Vegas on Tuesday next week at Pure nightclub in Caesars Palace – just about 30 days after he was badly burned in a fiery private jet crash. Four people died in that wreckage and seatmate, drummer Travis Barker, is still recovering in a burn center. Adam is a partner in the LAX nightclub at the Luxor.

*The five-block-long downtown entertainment complex, the Fremont Street Experience, has now added a third Viva Vision premiere to the giant screen suspended 90 feet over the pedestrian mall. The 12.5 million lights of the screen now dazzle with A Tribute to Queen, Don McLean’s American Pie and the newest feature Born2B Wild.

Photo: Preferred PR

Born2BeWild

Photo: LAX Nightclub

Pittsburgh Slim.

*Star Surveillance: Luxor comedy headliner Carrot Top decided the new Rok Vegas club inside the New York New York resort casino was the perfect spot for his pal’s birthday celebration ... rapper Pittsburgh Slim gave an unexpected performance of his hit "Girls Kiss Girls" when he hit the LAX nightclub at the Luxor, where Olympic gold medalist and freestyle sprint swimmer Cullen Jones enjoyed the sexy scene … mixed martial arts star Frank Trigg dined at the Social House sushi spot in Treasure Island and then joined L.A. Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny for fun at LAX while next door at Company American Bistro my friend, choreographer Cris Judd, tucked into Blue Moon Beer battered rock shrimp, cheddar Kobe sliders and cucumber salad -- food he and I definitely didn’t get when we were trapped in the Australian rain jungle for I’m A Celebrity Get me Out Of Here … at Pure nightclub in Caesars Palace, Tennessee Titans players Keith Bulluck, Albert Haynesworth and Chris Henry enjoyed their Grey Goose Vodka cocktails and posed for photos with fans.

Photo: LAX Nightclub

Frank Trigg

*Advance diary dates as we plan for next weekend’s incredible invasion of star chefs arriving for the big James Beard Foundation dinners. My pal, Italian chef Luciano Pellegrini is planning a sensational six-course $350 per person dinner at his Valentino restaurant in the Venetian next Friday, and then the next-day (Oct 25) award-winning pastry chef Francois Payard will conduct a hands-on demonstration at his Payard Patisserie in Caesars Palace to show how to make a "Chocolate Ephiany, Cookies, Cakes and Confections." Buy a copy of his delicious desserts book and he’ll autograph it for you.

TONIGHT'S TIP:

Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton starts a seven-night run through next Wednesday at MGM’s 740-seat Hollywood theater. It was back in 1994 that he performed his 25,000th Vegas show and he’s still going strong 14 years on! ... Craig Beam, master distiller of the famous Bourbon family at Heaven Hill Distillery, hosts a unique three-course dinner paired with Beam’s bourbons at the newly redecorated and redesigned Twin Creek’s gem of a restaurant at the Silverton Casino Lodge ... starting tonight and every Thursday-thru-Sunday until Halloween there’s a Haunted Harvest ongoing at the Springs Preserve with family-friendly spooks and creepy characters plus a hay-ride ... Angels and Airwaves promote the group’s brand new album in concert at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay.

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

Wayne Newton.

TOMORROW’S TEASE:

It's an extraordinary weekend of superstar entertainment and activities with Justin Timberlake -- and inseparable girlfriend Jessica Biel -- kicking off all the excitement with Hollywood friends The Jonas Brothers and Rihanna to wrap up his week long visit to Vegas. Everybody from Cheech & Chong to Jimmy Buffet and Mary J. Blige are also coming to town -- plus the Food Network’s top TV chef bangs her pots and pans as 40 of our city chefs band together for the annual March of Dimes dine-around event.

COMING NOVEMBER 1: Our brand-new multimedia website, Vegas DeLuxe, is on its way with daily 24/7 breaking news updates for all the luxury lifestyle secrets of Vegas plus all the latest celebrity happenings all over the Strip.

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