Las Vegas Weekly

December 1, 2009 · 2:26 PM

Six big days in town: CityCenter, NFR, NASCAR, Great Santa Run, marathon

By Robin Leach

From left, Vdara General Manager Angela Lester, CityCenter President Bobby Baldwin, MGM Chairman and CEO Jim Murren, Infinity World Development President William Grounds and Aria President William McBeath cut the ribbon and officially open Vdara at CityCenter on Dec. 1, 2009.

Photo: Darrin Bush/Las Vegas News Bureau

The next 144 hours go into the record books as the biggest, the brightest, the best and the most glittering and glamorous in the history of Las Vegas. It’s highly doubtful that this spectacular week of gala events and openings will ever be repeated in Las Vegas history.

It all started this morning at 10, as MGM’s head honcho Jim Murren cut the red ribbon on the new 57-story, nonsmoking, nongaming, 1,495 all-suite Vdara Hotel and Spa at CityCenter. It marks the completion of a five-year development and $8.5 billion undertaking. We posted a special spotlight story on Vdara here this morning, and our contributing photographer Erik Kabik was onsite for our Vdara opening photo gallery.

Tonight is the Vanity Fair gala opening with Orlando Bloom and Rosario Dawson headlining the soiree for adventurer explorer Sebastian Copeland. Tonight also marks Cher’s 100th performance at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace, as we reported earlier today.

Tomorrow, Las Vegas welcomes both NASCAR superstar racers and the leading National Finals Rodeo stars as they arrive in town simultaneously. The Chasers for Charity Fanfest takes place tomorrow at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a roast of NASCAR’s four-time consecutive champion Jimmie Johnson. Luxor comedy headliner Carrot Top was due to host, but because of a family emergency, Defending the Caveman star Kevin Burke will now be the emcee.

Thursday for me will be the day that can’t be done! MGM will open its jaw-dropping half-a-billion square-foot Crystals, a palatial promenade of retail and dining outlets, at CityCenter with Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker hosting the official party at her Beso restaurant and Eve nightclub. The day starts with a Breakfast at Tiffany in celebration of the first retail outlets opening.

Then there’s the NASCAR award winners show in The Venetian Showroom with a reception for all the NASCAR stars. At 3:30 p.m., the Top 12 drivers’ Victory Lap Parade led by Jimmie in his racecar starts at MGM Grand on the Strip, which will be closed for the parade. The cars traveling at just under 15 mph will loop back from the Palazzo/Wynn/T.I./Fashion Show mall intersection after an official “burnout” rev it up to the max pit stop there. Fans will get the opportunity for a Q&A in MGM’s Hollywood theater after the lap.

I’ve pre-recorded all the major voiceover celebrity host announcements for the Tony Stewart and Matt Yocum awards show to be broadcast live on Sirius and will make it to The Rio for the last 30 minutes of the two-hour show onstage at Masquerade Village. We will welcome 2009 champion Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards and Brian Vickers.

The pace doesn’t slow down on Friday. There’s the black-tie gala opening of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at CityCenter, plus Sammy Hagar officially opens his Cabo Wabo restaurant at Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile after giving me a personally guided sneak peek tour. The black-tie formal Sprint Cup Series Award Ceremony will take place at the Wynn with the Top 12 drivers.

Saturday morning, bright and early, I’ll be at Town Square with our Opportunity Village friends to help get the Great Santa Run challenge underway. Please support us, as we really want to wrest the Guinness World Record back to Las Vegas and away from our competitors in Liverpool, England, Ireland, Tasmania and a first-ever French attempt. Then in the afternoon, I’ll host the runners in their pre-Las Vegas Marathon pasta bulk-up dinner and karaoke session. Before the night ends, I’ll meet up with comedy king Robin Williams at the MGM Grand for his rescheduled performance after undergoing heart surgery earlier this year.

While it’s still dark on Sunday morning, I’ll be at the Mandalay Bay starting line with the anticipated 15,000-plus runners for the inaugural Las Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon, which will include full and half marathons.

Somehow throughout this extraordinary schedule, we will be filing stories and posting photo galleries so you are with us every step of the way at Vegas DeLuxe. No other city on Earth can possibly lay claim to such a series of gala openings, star-studded events and sporting attractions in the short span of just six days. As I said earlier, it’s the biggest-ever 144 hours in Las Vegas and never to be repeated!

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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