Las Vegas Weekly

October 31, 2008 · 3:02 PM

Strip Scribbles: Christmas shopping suggestions courtesy of Cher

By Robin Leach

Cher as Barbie.

Photo: Caesars Palace

*I can’t “Believe” there are just 54 shopping days until Christmas and Caesars Palace singing headline star Cher has come up with an early suggestion for gift-giving! Her boutique alongside the Colosseum there features several unforgettable items for the Cher-ry season! How about the Loree Rodkin bondage ring that Cher often wears herself? It’s a gothic, 2.4-carat black diamond at just $18,500! Seeking cheaper in these economic hard times? How about handmade chrome angel (you just can’t escape his name today) candles finished with rock ’n’ roll designs outlined in Swarovski candles for just $400! Incidentally CLICK HERE for our breaking news alert yesterday of her next resumed set of 35 concerts in early spring at Caesars.

Photo: Caesars Palace

A Cher chrome angel candle.

Photo: Caesars Palace

Cher flip-flops.

Photo: Caesars Palace

A Cher bondage ring.

*Clarification: Sometimes in the speed at which I round up and write all the heavy volume of postings for this Luxe Life blog, I unintentionally err or convey a wrong impression -- and I did exactly just that with my fine English friend Jane Seymour, who it turns out is a regular reader of Luxe Life! After her backstage visit to a Cirque du Soleil show here recently, I reported that she’d told the dancers there that she’d been one herself before she turned to acting. That prompted me to recall a long-ago interview I had when she told me about the physical trials of becoming a ballet dancer. I conveyed the incorrect impression that it had left her with a foot problem. Always wishing to right a wrong, I happily point out that Jane doesn’t and hasn’t had any discomfort since she traded in her ballet shoes!

*Comedy star and actor Tom Arnold told me he’s accepted an invitation to be one of the jokesters at the Cheech & Chong roast being planned for the November Comedy Festival at Caesars Palace. While here in Vegas, Tom will be our special comedy correspondent for our new VegasDeluxe.com Web site. He’ll file a daily audio podcast for us and take our video cameras backstage and into the dressing rooms of his cut-up compatriots!

Star surveillance: Oscar winner Adrien Brody dined at Lavo inside The Palazzo with actor Simon Rex and two other male friends. Out in the Lavo lounge, movie superstar Dan Aykroyd passed out taste samplings of his new Crystal Head pure vodka to friends talking about its launch. Upstairs in the nightclub, Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh enjoyed his Grey Goose vodka at a dance-floor table with a large group of cast and crew here filming his unscripted improv flick titled The Girlfriend Experience. Father-son poker princes Doyle and Todd Brunson work in the new Real Deal poker show at The Venetian where insult comic Vinny Favorino hosts, so when they had time off, they went to see his main show in Bugsy’s Theater club in the Flamingo.

Photo: Harrah's

Doyle and Todd Brunson.

*Believe it or not, but in the magic world, it’s not all about Criss Angel today! But what do Criss, Penn & Teller, David Copperfield and Siegfried & Roy now have in common with new Princess of Magic, Scarlett, who stars at The V Theater in Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile? This afternoon, Scarlett, who is the only female magician headlining on the Strip, joins the illustrious group of male magicians when she is presented with the prestigious Merlin Award. Tony Hassini, president of the International Magicians Society, the world's largest magic organization, will make the presentation. Scarlett, who has mastered some of legendary Harry Houdini’s feats, performs her illusions dressed as Hollywood stars including Marilyn Monroe, Betty Boop and Michael Jackson. … Vegas resident magician Jason Latimer, who was magic’s Grand Prix winner in 2003, will perform his Laser Fiction act on Ellen DeGeneres’ Halloween talk show today (Friday) to demonstrate what would happen if light was solid! … Ellen has signed new Planet Hollywood hypno-magician Keith Barry, who opened there this week, as the first guest for her Big Variety Show broadcasting from the upcoming Caesars Palace Comedy festival in late November. It will be Keith’s third appearance this year on her shows.

Photo: Keith Barry

Keith Barry, heading to the gallows.

*Now it’s time for me to wave the wand and conjure up all the remaining tricks and treats of this magical weekend with some sleight-of-hand distractions that illusionists affectionately refer to as the ROYAL ROBIN RUNDOWN:

Friday, Oct. 31

*“King of the Mountains” Rodney Carrington brings his combo comedy and sassy songs to start a run at MGM’s Hollywood Theater through Nov. 9. You don’t have to be a country fan to laugh along at his observations on sex, fighting and drinking. You’ll remember his hit “Today’s the Day My Wife Met My Girlfriend,” which will have you LOL on the floor when he highlights it in the lineup.

*Fight fans get the first of two nights of holiday boxing when lightweight Fernando Trejo battles former IBF champion Julio Diaz in the main event at Top Rank’s boxing card at the Hard Rock Hotel. Super featherweight Travis “The Animal” Thompson takes on local Vegas fighter Diego Magdaleno, who fought in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Go early because the first bell rings at 4:15 p.m.

*Grammy nominee and one-named soul singer Maxwell adds elements of jazz, funk, hip-hop and R&B to his one man sex-symbol show at The Pearl in The Palms. His fourth album Black Summer’s Night is due for release early next year, and his hit single “Fortunate” was at the top of the R&B charts for eight weeks and was on the soundtrack of the 1999 movie Life.

*Back in the ’50s, the Platters were one of the biggest-selling record groups and were the first doo-wop group inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Now former lead singer Sonny Turner strikes out on his own with a return to the Suncoast showroom through Sunday night. … Hitmakers Sha Na Na, with their strange suits and thin ties, bop along to The South Point for three nights of shows. … When the end does come, it will be with a fiery explosion, and that sums up Apocalyptica’s performance at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay.

Saturday, Nov. 1

*You can meet and greet Venetian headliner and improv funnyman Wayne Brady when he celebrates the release of his new CD A Long Time Coming. He will sign copies of the CD and give a two-song sampling at the ZIA Records outlet on West Sahara starting at 1 p.m. He’s reinvented some classics, from The Beatles “Can’t Buy Me Love,” Stevie Wonder’s “All I Do” and Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.”

*My neighbor Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil keeps the Halloween festivities rolling along when he guest hosts at Prive in The Planet Hollywood casino resort. … Showman Jeff Beacher and his Madhouse crew throw their 2nd annual insanity ball at Tao nightclub in The Venetian. … Meanwhile next door at the sister Lavo nightclub in The Palazzo, Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am will be guest DJ for actress Amy Smart as she hosts a Get Out the Vote party.

*Fight fans have a second night of boxing and get to witness the Final Impact when Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. takes on Matt Vanda. Also on the card are Nonito Donaire fighting Moruti Mthalane and Jorge Arce battling Isidro “El Chino” Garcia.

*Veteran songstress Patti LaBelle, who has been solo since 1976, won her first Grammy as best R&B female vocal performer in 1991. Now she shows her wide vocal range and distinctive high-octave beltings in concert at The Star of the Desert Arena down the I-15 on the stateline border.

*The six-person instrumental group Hiroshima, formed back in 1979, fuse jazz, R&B and world music for the unique sounds from their flute, saxophone, piano and Japanese stringed combination playing at Santa Fe Station. … Country ballad singer Mark Willis, who won the Academy of Country Music award for top new male vocalist in 1999, says “Wish You Were Here” at Sunset Station. … Free-spirited rebel girl Jenni Rivera sings her unique styling of contemporary regional Mexican music in a special one-night-only concert at the Pavilion in The Rio casino hotel.

*It might be the largest-ever nightlife dance music event in Vegas. The Fabulous party at The Orleans Arena stars Mstrkrft, Mobius 8, Bad Boy Bill, Armin Van Buuren, Deadmaus and another dozen DJs and performers for the tie-in official Ed Banger party.

Sunday, Nov. 2

*Three special parties on tap tonight, with Nelly, world champion bull rider Justin McBride and Saved by the Bell’s Mr. Belding! Rapper, hit singer and now actor Nelly will play host when he celebrates his birthday and blows out the candles at the new Lavo boutique nightspot in the Palazzo. … Two-time $1 million winner Justin McBride will celebrate his retirement from the all-action sport at the Silverton with modern country music group Sterns County 17. Justin was the first pro bull rider to earn more than $5 million in winnings over his successful 10-year career. Now the former UNLV student who won a rodeo scholarship will retire to his working ranch with 250 heads of cattle in Oklahoma. The Silverton is being transformed into a modern-day Wild West saloon for the thousands of bull-riding fans pouring into Vegas for the two-weekend-long 15th annual World Championships events. … My pal actor Dennis Haskins, who played headmaster Belding on the hit TV series Saved by the Bell for five years, will host a wrap-it-up Halloween party at Body English nightclub in The Hard Rock after his costumed dinner at Robert De Niro’s AGO restaurant there.

*Don’t pass out when The Faint comes to play House of Blues in Mandalay Bay with Mika Mike and Dr. Doom.

*UNLV students, plus past and future alumni, from the Nightclub Management course will celebrate democracy in America with a Rebel the Vote party at Tryst nightclub inside The Wynn.

Weekend tease; It’s the premiere of our all-new VegasDeluxe.com interactive 24/7 Web site, and we launch with full coverage of the Criss Angel Believe world premiere. We’ll have exclusive video interviews with Criss, Cirque and Luxor officials, along with scenes from the amazing show and photos from the “black carpet” celebrity arrivals and the star-studded poolside after-party. Start checking on the nonstop coverage beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday. Then Monday it’s Halloween at its most bizarre! We’ll have video and photo coverage at VegasDeluxe.com of all the parties, costumes and crazy characters in a frenzied festival of flash and flesh that only Vegas could showcase for the world’s provocative platinum parties in the ultimate pleasure playground.

Starting tomorrow: Our brand-new state-of-technology multimedia Web site, www.VegasDeluxe.com arrives with 24/7 breaking news updates for all the luxury lifestyle secrets of Vegas, plus all the latest celebrity happenings all over the Strip.

— From Vegas Deluxe

Link Share This