Las Vegas Weekly

January 9, 2009 · 12:15 PM

Strip Scribbles: Monied moguls are circling on the Strip ready to wheel and deal to acquire casino resorts

By Robin Leach

Terry Fator and his puppet pals.

Photo: Kagan PR

At least two well-heeled financial figures are in Las Vegas plotting the maneuvers of a real-life Monopoly game on the Strip. Mysterious mogul James Packer, a billionaire and the third richest man Down Under, may be just 12 days away from winning his $1.8 billion bid for the Cannery casino resorts. Yesterday, Nevada’s Gaming Control board gave its nod to his all-cash purchase, and on Jan. 22, it’s expected that the Nevada Gaming commissioners will give the final thumbs-up.

For the Australian billionaire who is the largest shareholder and chairman of Crown Ltd., it would give him his long-wanted foothold in the Vegas gaming business. He’s already a small investor in both Harrah’s Entertainment and Station Casinos and has an almost 20 percent interest in the new Fontainebleau nearing construction completion alongside the Riviera on the north end of the Strip. Not much is known about the reclusive investor, except that he’s the son of the late billionaire media mogul Kerry Packer, who was a notorious, free-spending high roller here on the Strip. The media empire once controlled everything from newspapers to magazines to TV stations and telephone companies, but since his father’s death, James has steered the empire into worldwide gaming interests in Australia, Britain and Macau.

Meantime, Penthouse pontiff and multi-millionaire Marc Bell, who runs the world’s largest Internet social networks, arrived back on the Strip last night narrowing his search for the right Vegas resort casino to purchase.

In other gaming news, I can confirm that the new M resort will officially open March 1, although room reservations won’t begin until March 5. It’s located on the southernmost part of the Strip alongside the Henderson corporate airport at St. Rose Parkway. M also was approved for licensing by the Nevada Gaming Control Board yesterday, and the state’s gaming commissioners will approve that on Jan. 22, as well. The $700 million resort, with a total of 390 rooms and suites, features a 92,000-square-foot casino, nine restaurants, a super spa, plus waterfall and fountain pool areas. It’s the brainchild of Anthony Marnell Jr., the son of the famous Vegas builder who constructed many of the Strip complexes before building his own The Rio All-Suites Hotel, which he eventually sold to Harrah’s.

*I’m hearing the first rumblings about the glittering gala Mirage executives are planning for entertainer Terry Fator’s arrival there. His debut is on Valentine’s Day, with a celebrity-studded red carpet premiere in early March. Billboards are up all over Los Angeles, and advance ticket sales are already doing brisk business at the box office for the singing ventriloquist’s run. I’ve heard that the Grammy Award-winning sound engineer for The Eagles has revamped The Mirage Theater’s sound system to be the best on the Strip and with recording studio quality! I’ve also heard that performance artist David Garibaldi, who creates 6-foot portraits of pop icons in mere minutes to accompanying music, will be on hand for the opening night excitement with his show Rhythm & Hues. The Blue Man Group hired David as the opening act of their recent Canadian How to Be a Megastar Tour. Extraordinary to think that David was a rebel graffiti artist until his high school teacher challenged him to make something out of his amazing artistic skills!

*Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, head honcho at DreamWorks Animation, was in deep conversation with a guest at Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio, and both ordered -- and enjoyed -- Wolf’s signature lobster club sandwich. … Meantime, actor LeVar Burton and celebrity publicist Elliot Mintz were spotted at Victor Drai’s swank Tryst nightclub inside the Wynn. … Howard Stern’s producer Gary Della-Abate checked into Planet Hollywood last night in advance of his appearance tomorrow at the Adult Video Awards show.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Sony head honcho Sir Howard Stringer and Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg.

*The stars have been busy partying at the various Pure Management Group-owned nightclubs along the Strip, and Vegas DeLuxe has the photos to prove it. Cast members of Bravo’s hit reality TV series The Real Housewives of Orange County were dancing and drinking at Pure alongside professional boxer Zab Judah on the VIP stage. Also seen at Pure in recent days were mixed martial arts fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards -- and both guys happily mingled with fans and posed for photos with them. For two consecutive nights, recording artist Frankie J partied at Christian Audigier in Treasure Island -- and on both occasions gave spontaneous performances of his hits. Night One he entertained with “Obsession” and “That Girl” when he hopped into the DJ booth. Night Two he celebrated his birthday there, taking just one Belvedere Vodka and Red Bull and then sticking with Fiji water for the rest of the night, and he still entertained with his “Suga Suga” hit with Baby Bash for the fans.

Photo: Pure Management Group

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at Pure.

Photo: Pure Management Group

Braylon Edwards at Pure.

Photo: Courtesy

Frankie J at Christian Audigier.

*A bevy of bikini beauties hit the Hawaiian Tropic Zone catwalk at Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile in hopes of becoming the next great MMA ring girl. The judges narrowed them down to five finalists, and then the crowd of onlookers got to determine the top three winners. First prize went to Denai Thompson in a brown bikini, second place to Alicia Mazzaferro wearing a striped bikini and third place to Cristina Robles-Lee in a blue bikini. All three will now be the featured ring girls for the MMA fight at Planet Hollywood tomorrow night.

Photo: J. Ludwig/Night Vissions

The three winners (from left): Alicia Mazzaferro, Denai Thompson Cristina Robles-Lee.

*I promised my pal Vince Neil we’d give him another shout-out for his “Off the STRIP POKER Tournament” set for Jan. 17 at the Hard Rock Hotel. Stars, poker pros, topless dancers and porn princesses will all attend the fundraiser, which benefits the Skylar Neil Foundation honoring his daughter who died from cancer in 1995. It will feature a no-limit Texas Hold’ Em poker tournament and both silent and live charity auctions of amazing and unique rock music memorabilia.

Photo: Hard Rock Hotel

Vince Neil.

*Celebrity chef Bobby Flay, who runs his Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace, has taken to the airwaves in addition to his Food Network TV shows. He premiered a men’s advice show on Sirius XM satellite radio yesterday in which he served up advice on dating, dining and dressing. Bobby says food will still be his focus but also wants to include sports and current events on the call-in program. He has a five-week tryout of the 2-hour daily show, and he says if successful, he wants to do more. His sexy sidekick is actress Stephanie March, who in real life is Bobby’s wife and who he admits can correct him any time he’s wrong.

*A gentle reminder as the 52 Miss America contestants pack their bags this weekend and head into Las Vegas for their pageant preliminaries mid-week. They’ll check into Planet Hollywood starting Wednesday, and on Thursday they’ll be introduced in a rose-gifting ceremony to all of us ink-stained wretches. Next Sunday night, they’ll get one night off from the pageant rigors to go electric kart racing at Pole Position Raceway opposite the Palms Place condo-tel tower. TLC’s four-part reality series Countdown to the Crown continues tonight as the 52 state titleholders vie for a chance to win a spot in the Miss America Pageant’s coveted Top 15. They will compete in a team challenge facing off in a Fitness First Obstacle Course. The contestants also will compete individually in a Runway Photo Shoot to discover which contestant has best mastered her poise and confidence on the runway. Throughout the series, viewers at home get to know the girls, and America is ultimately given a hand in voting four contestants into the Top 15 of the Miss America Pageant. The series airs every Friday at 10 p.m. this month, leading up to the live Miss America Pageant telecast from the Strip on Jan. 24.

Photo: TLC

Miss America contestants.

*I told you I’d keep my eyes open for super-specials during these trying economic times, and my friend Iron Chef food star Kerry Simon has cooked up an amazing offer. His Simon restaurant at George Maloof’s Palm Place has a $159-a-night special: You get a studio suite for the price and dine in Kerry’s hip, hot hangout, and he’ll take $50 off the bill, give you VIP passes after dinner for the Playboy, Moon, Rain and Ghostbar nightclubs and $25 to play slots or match your table game bets. In all, it’s $265 of savings, plus discounts at the Drift Spa there, too. Spring for just $75 more, and George will upgrade you to a one-bedroom suite! Now that’s a suite deal!

*Dancing With the Stars winner Brooke Burke is a special guest tonight for Intel’s CES party at LAX in the Luxor that will also feature the Counting Crows in concert. The party is not open to the public and is invitation-only for the CES convention crowd, but the celebs will walk the red carpet before the fun gets underway at 7:30 p.m. The model and E! Entertainment host of Wild On is promoting the online destination PC.com that lets consumers get answers to technology questions as they watch “Celebrity Techovers” with everybody from Rob Lowe, Mario Lopez, Paula Abdul, Tori Spelling and Josh Duhamel as they re-configure their homes for the PC world of Intel.

Photo: ABC TV

Brooke Burke and Derek Hough.

*It’s a star-studded celebrity event tonight to benefit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Camera and copier conglomerate Canon USA uses its CES presence each year for a customer appreciation reception and turns the gala night into a super fundraiser for the prevention of abducted, endangered and sexually exploited children. Among the stars expected to attend are rock legend Alice Cooper, Hercules actor Kevin Sorbo, my Growing Pains pal Alan Thicke, Muhammad Ali’s daughter Rasheda Ali, Monkees pop star Davy Jones, actor Joe Regalbuto from Murphy Brown and Knots Landing, plus Richard Burgi from Desperate Housewives and 24. Kudos to Canon for supporting such a worthy cause at the same time as celebrating sales successes! The red carpet gets underway at 7 tonight in the Grand Ballroom at the Bellagio.

Photo: Dianna Morrison

Kevin Sorbo.

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

Alan Thicke.

Now it’s time for the f-stop edition of the weekend entertainment highlights that we capture in the click-happy, freeze-frame package we affectionately refer to around here as the ROYAL ROBIN RUNDOWN:

Allison Duck

Interim heavyweight champ Frank Mir shows off his new belt following his win over Antonio Nogueira.

Friday, Jan. 9

*The future stars of mixed martial arts go fist-to-fist in the Tuff-N-Uff Fighting Championships at The Orleans, and I’ve promised to go ringside with UFC’s Frank Mir to help me understand the experience. I might even give into the request to announce a couple of the fight card contests -- just because I’m intrigued to see Maria Witt go against Megan Thomas, Jessica Halverson fight April Penrod and Christy Tada battle Sarah Weeks. Can you believe three female fights in what has to be the roughest, toughest sport inside a ring? The male fighters hail from XTreme Couture, Throwdown and Warrior Training. Check back here next week for my ringside and backstage report of the mayhem!

*Later this year, when all the late-night TV talk show comics are shuffled when Jay Leno moves to 10 p.m. prime time nightly, comedian Jimmy Fallon is set to replace Conan O’Brien as host of NBC’s Late Show when Conan grabs Jay’s post-news slot. Jimmy, who began his career 12 years ago on Saturday Night Live, is at the Hard Rock Hotel with his special stamp on comedy.

*Country artist Bucky Covington, who shot to stardom after his American Idol run, starts two nights up at the Suncoast. … Comedian Ralphie May entertains for two nights at the South Point. … And 1990s rockers Firehouse plead “Don’t Treat Me Bad” and promise “Love for a Lifetime” with their Club Madrid show at the Sunset Station.

*It’s boxing’s Friday Night Fights season premiere on ESPN from the Star of the Desert Arena down I-15 in Primm. Bernard Hopkins tackles commentary from the studio, while the fighters include a 10-round heavyweight battle between Odlanier Solis and Kevin Burnett and a four-round heavyweight contest between Avaro Morales and Jonte Thomas Willis. In addition, there are five other match-ups in the featherweight, welterweight and super middleweight classes.

Saturday, Jan. 10

*His name lives up to his reputation. Pianist and R&B soul singer John Legend appears in concert at The Pearl Concert Theater in the Palms, and he has Estelle as his opening act. John has collaborated with superstar Kanye West, and his own three albums have earned him five Grammy Awards. In addition to being a star in his own right, he happily works behind the scenes in the recording studios on hit albums by the Black Eyed Peas and John Mayer. … Incidentally, tickets go on sale today for Ne-Yo’s Year of the Gentleman Tour, which brings him to The Pearl on Feb. 5 with special guest Jazmine Sullivan.

*It’s a super dance music lineup of stars led by The Village People out at the Star of the Desert Arena on the state line border at Primm. With Sister Sledge and Rose Royce as the supporting acts, it’s well worth the 20-minute drive down to Buffalo Bill’s to wave your arms to “YMCA,” flex your muscles to be a “Macho Man” and even take a sailor hat to get “ In the Navy.” Rose Royce promises a reprise of its smash “Car Wash,” and the four sisters will rip the roof off with the disco anthem “We Are Family.” Oh, such happy memories from 30 years ago!

*The stars of E! Entertainment’s Daily 10 restart their Smashtime weekly party at Body English in the Hard Rock Hotel. Movie expert Ben Lyons and music guru Clinton Sparks team with co-host Sal Masekela for the fun.

Sunday, Jan. 11

*Thirty of our city’s most influential nightlife femme fatales, including hosts, servers, managers and media members, are honored as “Women of the Night” at the Bank in the Bellagio.

*At George Maloof’s Fantasy Tower in the Palms, his Playboy Club calls it the “After Dark” party, and international Playmate turned DJ Miss Lisa spins the wheels of steel for those mixes and mashes!

Photo: Tom Donoghue

Miss America 2008 Kirsten Haglund was crowned at the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts.

Monday’s tease

We’ll have the full eye-popping report from the porn world’s red carpet, with as many dangerously decadent photos as we can possibly and appropriately post -- watch for our video interviews with the busty bombshells, as well. … For something completely different and a little more wholesome, we’ll get ready to welcome the 52 Miss America contestants as they arrive midweek for 10 days of competition leading up to the crowning of the 2009 winner when Kirsten Haglund hands over the crown.

— From Vegas Deluxe

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