Las Vegas Weekly

October 17, 2008 · 4:32 PM

Strip Scribbles: Celeb sightings and the weekend rundown

By Robin Leach

*When Bette Midler starts her run of shows in November after a brief break, it looks as if the Caesars Palace run will be a permanent gig! Look at this: November 25, 26, 28, 29, 30; December 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 30, 31; January 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25.

Makes you wonder if its because she’s the top selling ticket on the Strip -- or if it's because Cher isn’t returning as soon as had been hoped for.

*Emmy-award winning talk show host and sexy Victorias' Secret supermodel Tyra Banks, along with her sister and a friend, challenged the ups-and-downs of the high-speed roller coaster ride at New York New York Hotel and Casino yesterday. Tyra, who had filmed here three weeks ago for her own talk show has returned to film for her other TV series, "America’s Next Top Model." Last night, she hit back-to-back shows on the Strip. First stop was at the Venetian for the "Phantom of the Opera" musical. Then she ran across the Strip with her "Model" producer Brad Sisk for the late performance of The Beatles' "LOVE" musical by Cirque du Soleil. With no time for dinner between shows, Tyra ordered up a large-sized popcorn and a Diet Coke! However, she did get in a great meal with her sister the day before while taking over a private, poolside patio cabana at Paul Bartolotta’s sensational seafood restaurant at Wynn.

*All weekend long, don't miss a mega-million dollar car auction at Mandalay Bay. Memorabillia exhibits are also on display. One highlight is the limited-edition Barrett-Jackson Shelby GT that will be auctioned to benefit our Vegas based Lili Claire children’s charity. The car has been signed by the host and judges of "American Idol."

Photo: Barrett-Jackson

Photo: Barrett-Jackson

*Edgy magician Jeff McBride, who stars at Palace Station, is encouraging would-be magicians to grab a video camera and upload their tricks online so he can show them off around the world. He said one viral sensation called "Chocolate Rain" garnered more than 36 million views! So, in tandem with Monster Soft Drinks, he’s created a "Monster Magic" contest.

You can submit a minute-long magic video to www.streetofcards.tv, but make sure to do so before Halloween. After the audience has picked the top three finalists, McBride will announce the winner at midnight on his show, Wonderground, which broadcasts from his Sound Trax Showroom around the world on the Web. There are prizes galore, but best is that the winner gets a free seven-day extended master class at his Las Vegas Magic & Mystery School.

*Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis has a two-hour meet-and-greet this afternoon. The event starts at 5 p.m. in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. You have to purchase a copy of her new Italian favorites cookbook, "Giada’s Kitchen," to get a ticket for the event and she will autograph it for you. The star of "Everyday Italian" and "Weekend Getaways" offers 100 new, hearty, modern, Italian recipes. The book focuses on fresh ingredients, simple techniques and healthful food preparation.

Photo: Courtesy photo

Giada De Laurentiis

*Incredible illusionists Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn team up with our Metro Police Department in support of the 18th annual K-9 trials at the Orleans Arena on Sunday. More than 40 K-9 officers and their four-legged partners will compete in a series of trials and maneuvers to display their skills. The event, the largest benefit for the K-9’s is FREE and open to the public. Since the animals risk their lives to protect our city, it's only right we support them in turn. Now it's time for me to cuff all the other weekend highlights and tighten the leash to present them in one top-dog package that we refer to around here affectionately as the ROYAL ROBIN RUNDOWN:

Friday

Stunning and regal, Mary J. Blige, queen of hip-hop soul, sings her songs of hardship and triumph at the Pearl in the Palms with David Young as her special guest. Mary has "No More Drama" with "Growing Pains" since, as reigning royal, she’s racked up eight Grammy-award wins ... Long-time hitmaker Johnny Mathis is still making the music of love and romance -- and his magical voice that just oozes buttery silk will thrill for two nights at the Hilton ... Gifted singer-songwriter Katey Sagal is better known as the very funny actress on "Married with Children" and "8 Simple Rules," but she’ll show the musical talents at the Henderson Pavilion ... Randy Travis brings the sound of country to Texas Station.

Photo: Scott Doctor

Mary J. Blige with her husband.

Comedy is king with "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno, who is starring two nights in the Danny Gans theater at the Mirage ... Veteran comedy actors and writers, husband-and-wife team Renee Taylor and Joe Bologna, star in their laugh-a-lot play, "If You Ever Leave Me ... I’m Going with You." Renee confides even after 46 years of marriage, they still hold hands with each other to go to sleep! ... Over at the Orleans, former "Saturday Night Live" alumnus, funnyman Jay Mohr, who hosted "Last Comic Standing," starts a three-night run of laugh-out-loud shows.

Singing impressionist and ventriloquist Terry Fator really put Simon Cowell’s created "America’s Got Talent" on the map when he (PHOTO) won the first series and landed a $100-million gig at our Mirage resort-casino, which starts February. Now, Neal E. Boyd has just won the second 2008 series, this time hosted by Jerry Springer, and we get to look at both of them teamed up with semi-finalists Nuttin But Stringz, Queen Emily, Eli Mattson and Donald Braswell in a first-ever live show at the MGM Grand. Jerry will also introduce Paul Salos, Joseph Hall, Jessica Price and Jonathan Burkin -- all unknowns to me and maybe you but adored by the NBC-TV show audience!

It’s a different kind of "Dancing with the Stars" when "American Idol’s" Randy Jackson presents his "America’s Best Dance Crew Live" show at the Orleans Arena. Season 1 winners, the masked men of Jabbawockeez, and Season 2 winners, SuperCr3w, will be joined by A.S.I.D., the b-boys on wheels BreakSk8, and Fanny Pak dance teams for the all-action, high-energy, electrifying dance show. No wonder the last episode of their MTV show garnered more than six million fan votes.

Photo: FirmPR

Jabbawockeez

Next door, at the main Orleans hotel, the future stars of mixed martial arts show they are "Tuff-N-Uff" for action ... The clock gets turned back in time when Righteous Brother Bill Medley joins with Paul Revere and the Raiders for some of the 1960s and 1970s blasts from the past.

Cutting-edge magician Jeff McBride hosts the "Wonderground," a magical, interactive club experience, following two nights of his show “Magic at the Edge” in the Sound Trax showroom at Palace Station. Special guests this week include close-up magic by Greg Gleason, illusionist duo Roland Sarlot and Susan Eyed, who combine dance, illusion, world music and humor for "Dance of Illusion" and the unique magic of Bizarro, who recently starred on "America’s Got Talent."

"Family Guy" star Seth MacFarlane, who also created the sassy cartoon show, celebrates his birthday at Tao nightclub in the Venetian. Please note that the Robin Thicke show, originally scheduled for tonight at the House of Blues, has been moved to Nov. 8 and tickets for the original date will be honored then.

Saturday

Two smoking "Light Up America" comedy shows tonight for Cheech & Chong on their reunion tour at the Palms -- their first in 25-years! Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong made nine comedy albums and eight movies together, including their debut, "Up In Smoke," which earned more than $100 million at the box office. The infamous comedians light up the big bamboo at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Raucous revelers with parrots atop their head will be making a mob scene at the MGM Grand for the first of two back-to-back weekend shows for the footloose and fancy-free titan of the tropics, Jimmy Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band. The 60-year-old-plus entertainer still makes the sun shine with his albums and top-of-the-chart books about "getting away from it all."

It’s a double-header of country stars, with singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert opening for crooner Blake Shelton down the I-15 to the Star of the Desert Arena on the California border. Miranda will fire some "Gunfire and Lead" and Blake will make it "Home" -- just one of his 13 top singles.

Coolio, Naughty by Nature, Tone Loc and Young MC bring the Freestyle Old School Explosion tour to the Orleans Arena with rap and hip-hop sounds galore ... Joe Jackson, the one who isn’t Michael’s dad, makes the music scene at Green Valley Ranch ... And WAR breaks out at the Eastside Cannery.

Congratulations to the cast of "Mamma Mia!" at Mandalay Bay as they wish their Broadway showmates best wishes on the seventh anniversary of the ABBA musical on the Great White Way. "Mamma Mia!" ends its four-year run in Las Vegas the first week of January to make way for the "Lion King" musical from Disney in April.

It was exactly one year ago that Blush boutique nightclub opened its doors at the Wynn. To celebrate the first anniversary, expect to see Mena Suvari, Neil Patrick Harris, Jenna Fischer and Olivia Wade, plus others, as they party through the night at the Dom Perignon champagne-fueled fiesta ... Singer Chris Willis hosts at Prive nightclub inside Planet Hollywood and will perform with his disco/house music hit songs, "Love Don't Let Me Go" and "Love Is Gone."

Party Patrol: Playboy model Tabitha Taylor will host the kick-off for the search of Miss Caribbean Tan 2009 at MGM’s Studio 54 nightspot by leading the bikini model contest. About 20 gorgeous contestants will strut their stuff until the judges decide which three lucky ladies will advance to the next stage of the competition, getting them one step closer to becoming Miss Caribbean Tan 2009 ... DJ Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto at RAIN in the Palms features Starkillers and Austin Leeds ... At Carey Hart’s Wasted Space rock lounge in the Hard Rock, The Head Cat purrs onstage at 10 p.m. ... It’s the 11th-annual Night Carnival gala for the Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow (FIT) charity at Paris. The event honors my good friend, Jenna Morton, from the N9NE Group at the Palms ... Local sensations Mason Dixons Band celebrate the release of Steve Dixon’s new song by entertaining at Bugsy’s Supper Club to benefit the Foundation for Positively Kids.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the UFC "Ultimate Fighter" team showdown. After 13-weeks of intense rivalry, Team Nogueira stares down Team Adir in the fight for the ultimate prize on TV, live from the Palms Dec. 13. One fighter will win a multi-year, six-figure UFC contract. You can follow the progress of the two teams each Wednesday on SPIKE TV leading up to the live battle.

Sunday

*It’s a triple-threat knockout at the House of Blues as Gym Class Heroes and The Roots team up to introduce special guest Estelle at Mandalay Bay. Don’t forget tomorrow our local heroes, The Killers, have a special homecoming show there. Following the show, Gym Class, featuring Travis McCoy, will throw its afterparty at the world’s only Playboy Club in the Palms.

MONDAY’S TEASE:

Our hometown hitmakers The Killers return home for a very special night on the Strip, while Vegas singing star Toni Braxton dances off to Los Angeles to kickup her heels on round five of "Dancing with the Stars." The "All Together Now" feature-length documentary about the making of the Beatles "LOVE" spectacular at the Mirage gets its premiere screening here at the IMAX 3D theaters in the Palms and at Town Square with all the behind-the-scenes secrets -- blemishes and all -- of the Cirque du Soleil hit.

COMING NOV. 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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