Las Vegas Weekly

March 20, 2009 · 9:47 AM

Strip Scribbles: ShoWest’s Female Star of Tomorrow Award goes to 6 actresses

By Robin Leach

Not one but six! For the first time in the history of ShoWest, six young actresses will receive the Female Star of Tomorrow Award! The female cast of the upcoming film Sorority Row will attend the presentation at the final-night banquet April 2 at Bally’s and Paris. Briana Evigan, Leah Pipes, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Audrina Patridge and Margo Harshman will attend the convention that draws 5,000 movie industry delegates from 50 countries starting March 30.

Audrina is a regular Las Vegas visitor and has hosted numerous nightclub parties here, so she’ll be able to take her five co-winners to celebrate! Their film is set for release in October. “Yes, this is certainly a first, in being able to honor not one but an ensemble group of extremely talented and promising young actresses,” said Mitch Neuhauser, co-chair of the convention. Sorority Row is based on the original screenplay Seven Sisters, which was developed into the 1983 horror film The House on Sorority Row.

*Sexy supermodel Amber Smith, who has now turned her skills to acting, enjoyed her dinner of Tropic Nachos and a Diet Pepsi at Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Planet Hollywood before she hosted her celebration soiree. Fans mobbed the striking beauty, and she obliged them with photos all night long.

*The Zero Gravity weightless-experience flights return to Vegas this weekend, and, due to popular demand, a second weightless flight has been added to the schedule out at our McCarran Airport. Martha Stewart, Buzz Aldrin, Joey Fatone, cast members of The Apprentice and The Biggest Loser, Professor Stephen Hawking and Princess Beatrice of York are just a few of the passengers who have experienced the total absence of gravity. It’s the identical flight used by NASA to train its astronauts and was used by Tom Hanks and Ron Howard in Apollo 13. Check it out at www.gozerog.com.

The two-hour flight mission heads out to the ocean off California, where passengers enjoy 15 separate 30-second weightless experiences enabling them to fly or flip the entire length of the cabin while chasing floating M&Ms or water drops! It took 10 years for the Vegas-based company to create the marvel, and, since launching in 2004, there have been more than 175 weightless flights with more than 5,000 passengers. It’s not a simulation! It’s as if you were on the moon or Mars!

*Songwriter, singer and record producer Ron Dante performed a 1960s oldies music revue here at the Cannery, which was a total sell-out. He came in a day early to catch up with his longtime friend Barry Manilow at the Hilton. Ron was Barry’s record producer for several years and captured that special sound of “Mandy” and “I Write The Songs,” among many others.

*Brentina, the only U.S. dressage horse to win the FEI World Cup Finals, will appear at the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Finals for her official retirement ceremony April 17. Hosted by Las Vegas Events, the World Cup Finals are April 15-19 at Thomas & Mack Center. Riders will compete for the title of World Cup champion in show jumping and dressage. With rider Debbie McDonald, owners Peggy and Parry Thomas, for whom the Thomas & Mack Center is named, and thousands of fans and worldwide equestrian enthusiasts watching, Brentina will be honored for her illustrious career in dressage.

“I cannot think of a more appropriate venue at which to honor Brentina than right here in Las Vegas,” said Pat Christenson, Las Vegas Events president. “It was six years ago that Brentina and Debbie McDonald earned the United States its first and only World Cup Final Championship, so it is only appropriate that they return here to Las Vegas to celebrate a career that is one of the all-time best in the sport of dressage.”

*The figures just came in from our week-ago St. Baldrick’s Foundation head-and-beard-shaving fundraiser. I was an honorary emcee at McMullan's Irish Pub for part of the event where 316 heads -- plus some beards and mustaches -- were shaved bald. It raised $190,000, and donations are still coming in for children coping with cancer. I hope it will reach $200,000, which would nearly double last year’s effort.

Star surveillance

UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn, also known as “The Prodigy,” ordered beer to go with his dinner at N9NE Steakhouse in the Palms, and then he and two friends stuck to the brew upstairs in Ghostbar. … Retired New York Giants great Michael Strahan and Fox Sports writer and commentator Jay Glazer were at The Beatles Revolution Lounge in The Mirage and enjoyed cocktails while creating artwork on the interactive tables. … Retired NFL greats Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk enjoyed lunch at Iron Chef Kerry Simon’s restaurant in Palms Place, ordering sushi first, followed by creme brulee for dessert. … Proving that even the manliest of men like to be pampered, NFL’s legendary linebacker Dick Butkus and NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace visited Michael Boychuck’s Primp Salon at Palms Place for a cut and style and mani/pedi. Dick made it a morning treatment, while Rusty had an afternoon appointment complete with Chardonnay and chatter with the trendy salon’s clients.

*I’ve got a great tip for you if you’re heading to England on vacation this summer and you’re a Beatles fan and you’ve seen the Cirque du Soleil musical Love at The Mirage enough times and want something new! A new photo gallery space has opened at the Movieum of London. The exclusive exhibition has rare and unseen images of The Fab Four, including their original Vegas concert. The launch of the collection marks the 40th anniversary of their last performance atop the roof of the Apple building in London’s Savile Row. Photos date back to 1963 and include shots while filming Help and A Hard Day’s Night. Beatles memorabilia including John Lennon’s own Rickenbacker guitars have been donated for the permanent showcase.

You can still enjoy “Yesterday” all weekend long and visit Cirque du Soleil’s spectacular Love production here on the Strip, but we’ve also rounded up several other delicious bites of the apple that around here we affectionately refer to as the ROYAL ROBIN RUNDOWN:

Friday, March 20

*David Hasselhoff and Justin Bruening are just two of the Knight Rider stars kicking off the downtown Fremont Street Festival saluting the TV series. The KITT car will be on display starting at 5 p.m., and our Merry Mayor of Mirth Oscar Goodman will perform a ski stunt with it at 6! The Knight Rider festival continues all day with autograph signings, VIP Q&A sessions, plus entertainment by Paul Casey. Do not be surprised if The Hoff takes the mic!

*For more than 50 years, comedy king Don Rickles has delivered impromptu insults and savage one-liners in the name of laughter. Known as “Mr. Warmth” for his lovable slicing and dicing, Don’s got a three-night run at The Orleans. He started out as an actor in 1958 co-starring with Clark Gable in Run Silent Run Deep, but turned to comedy in between acting. His verbal assault on Frank Sinatra in a Hollywood nightclub -- “Go ahead, Frank, feel at home. Hit somebody!” -- jumpstarted his comedy career.

*Tonight Show host Jay Leno is back commuting between Hollywood and Vegas for two nights of comedy shows in the Terry Fator Theatre at The Mirage.

*Good friend and Vegas hero Clint Holmes sings Broadway hits, other favorites and his own compositions in a musical evening with his orchestra director and pianist Bill Fayne at the Suncoast through Sunday night.

*Seven ex-Vegas showgirls have turned into naughty punk-rock princesses not afraid to flash the flesh in wild torn outfits and fishnets. Known as Deadly Seven, they will headline at the House of Blues, playing with Rule of Thumb, Evil Beaver and Broken End. If you email the girls at D7sucks@aol.com and mention Vegas DeLuxe, they’ll leave you a free pass at the Mandalay Bay venue.

*Comedienne Vicki Lawrence plays dual roles with Mama in her comedy show at the South Point for three nights through Sunday.

Party patrol

America’s Next Top Model winner CariDee English hosts at Prive in Planet Hollywood. CariDee won Cycle 7 of Tyra Banks’ hit CW show. … Take two coconuts and turn them into a bra with a strategic string holding them together. Then throw on a hula skirt and head to Blush in the Wynn for the second annual Spring Luau. It’s the ultimate beach party, so beach attire is encouraged!

Saturday, March 21

*Tickets go on sale today for Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction when they perform together at The Pearl in the Palms on May 18; for Yanni’s upcoming Voices tour stop at Mandalay Bay on June 27; for Crue Fest 2 with Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Drowning Pool, Charm City Devils and, of course, our hometown hero Vince Neil with Motley Crue at the Hard Rock on Aug. 1; and for Rod Stewart’s tour stop at MGM Grand Garden Arena also on Aug. 1.

*Congratulations to the House of Blues as it celebrates its 10th anniversary with a special performance by the Prince tribute band Purple Reign. Proceeds will benefit the International HOB Foundation. Party like it’s 1999, and there’s free admission to listen to the Willie Jaye Laws Band in the HOB courtyard beforehand.

*Puddle of Mudd has a few surprises up their sleeves when they perform their hits at Pure in Caesars Palace.

*New Orleans musicians Better Than Ezra, who formed back in 1990, are at the Silverton.

*It’s a unique double header at Star of the Desert Arena in Primm Valley. Babyface and Jordin Sparks make the zip trip south down I-15 worthwhile.

*Don’t forget The Girls Next Door starlet Holly Madison’s party at Prive in Planet Hollywood that we reported up top, while downstairs American Idol contestant Katrina Darrell, aka Bikini Girl, hosts a sexy soiree at Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Planet Hollywood.

*If you prefer something more salubrious -- that means to benefit one’s health! – might I suggest an entire afternoon sharing Nove Italiano chef Geno Bernardo’s talents in the Palms as he teaches the cooking of a four-course meal and wine pairings. He will reveal the step-by-step secrets of preparing the finest sushi-grade fish for an Italian Crudo appetizer, the panzarella salad, lamb chops, gnocchi mint pesto and Victor Solano’s surprise dessert. Learn, cook, taste, drink and then stay for dinner all for $120 per person.

Sunday, March 22

*Carey Hart hosts The Aggrolites in a special concert performance at his Wasted Space in the Hard Rock Hotel.

Monday’s teases

We’ll have our exclusive interview and full photo report with Holly Madison on her triumphant return to the Vegas party scene and her weekend rehearsals with pro partner Dmitry Chaplin and Kelly Monaco’s advice in advance of yet another Dancing With the Stars showdown. … We’ll also exclusively reveal the saucy secrets and the pin-up princess behind the controversy as headlines scream “sex sells” about her touring hard-body sports event headed for a Vegas summer stop. … Plus, we get ready for Monday’s grand VIP opening of the wild and crazy Rockhouse bar and nightclub at Imperial Palace and, later in the week, Andrew Dice Clay and Kim Kardashian fly in to shake up the Strip.

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