Las Vegas Weekly

May 15, 2009 · 2:34 PM

Strip Scribbles: 50 Cent to work with Bette Midler on jazz album

By Robin Leach

50 Cent and Ciara at Screamfest 2007 at New York City's Madison Square Garden on Aug. 22, 2007.

Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images

Rapper 50 Cent, who is starring in a movie remake of the 1886 book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is set to team up with our Caesars Palace headliner Bette Midler on a new jazz album! 50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, will co-star in the film with Forest Whitaker, which will start shooting late summer, according to Daily Variety. Producer Luc Roeg says: “The combination of such formidable talent will turn this wonderful gothic story into a modern classic for a whole new generation.”

Photo: Firooz Zahed

Bette Midler.

Bette says she first met 50 Cent in New York City while doing environmental work with her New York Restoration Project, restoring a public garden in his Queens childhood neighborhood. Bette said they talked about working together on a 1920s jazz project, saying: “Little Jewish lady and the great big rapper. He’s such a doll. He’s gorgeous. I was hoping we’d sing songs from the Depression, but he’s so young that I don’t think he knows any of them.”

Meantime, Fiddy’s long-awaited album Before I Self-Destruct that he previewed here at the Red Rock Casino is now set for release next month.

*After my lengthy chat with Barry Manilow, before he was presented with three Clio Awards for advertising, at the Hard Rock Hotel, he went for drinks with friends to the bar of the new poker lounge there. Actor Christopher Knight, who hosted last night’s Clio Awards, enjoyed corned beef hash and eggs at Mr. Lucky’s coffee shop there before starting rehearsals. We’ll have Barry’s candid views on retirement, his current Hilton contract and two more albums he wants to record this summer right here at Vegas DeLuxe next week.

Photo: Hard Rock Hotel

Pink and Carey Hart at Wasted Space on New Year's Eve 2008.

*While at the Hard Rock Hotel, I dropped by Carey Hart’s new Hart & Huntington Tattoo Parlor and learned that he was in Australia with wife and singer Pink, who is touring Down Under.

Photo: www.elkshelldorado.com

*Helldorado Days are under way downtown, and there’s a rodeo arena set up on the corner of the Strip and downtown’s Stewart Avenue. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association is in competition starting today through Sunday. The annual Helldorado parade will be led by our Mayor Oscar Goodman, dressed appropriately in a 1900s costume. He will oversee the doughnut-eating contest, introduce live music acts and stroll the carnival as we go back in time to the founding days of our fabulous city.

*Supermodel Katarina Van Derham was as pretty as a picture when she posed for our contributing photographer Scott Harrison as she hosted her party at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone in Planet Hollywood. There’s nothing like a set of sexy photos to start the weekend right!

*Please note for your calendar that due to a change in Bob Saget’s film production schedule, he has had to cancel his June 6 comedy appearance at the Palms.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Holly Madison.

Photo: The Light Group

Bradley Cooper at the Bank.

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

Katie Rees.

Star surveillance

Holly Madison was at Michael Boychuck’s Primp salon inside Palms Place for a trim and highlights touch up on her signature platinum blonde hair before her bikini parade on the Strip. … Welterweight champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley enjoyed dinner with friends at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Caesars Palace. … Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio, who has been filming episodes of the Bravo show here, ordered a Mexican feast at Dos Caminos in the Palazzo, while comedian Eddie Griffin was munching on the asada tacos in the lounge. … Former Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees, still angry at Donald Trump for letting Miss California USA keep her crown when she was stripped of her own for posing for risque photos, let loose at the Cathouse in the Luxor with Las Vegas nightlife queen Tiffany Masters. Former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson also was there canoodling with a gorgeous female companion and sipping cocktails at the bar. Spywitnesses said “they were flirting endlessly.” Vegas nightlife workers Cage and ToolBox were at Cathouse talking about their roles as two of the potential suitors on VH1’s Daisy of Love. … The stars and filmmakers of the new film Hangover are returning to Caesars Palace tonight for a two-hour celebrity poker tournament that will benefit our beloved Opportunity Village. Many of the film’s sequences were shot in and around Caesars. Expect to see Heather Graham, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha and director Todd Phillips on the red carpet outside the poker room at 9 p.m. The check presentation is set for 11 p.m.

Now it’s time for me to play the aces and deal you a winning hand of all the other highlights going on in town this weekend. We’ve put it all together in a deck we refer to affectionately around here as the Royal Robin Rundown:

Photo: NBC TV

Jay Leno.

Friday, May 15

*Now that he’s fully recovered from that bout with food poisoning, The Tonight Show host Jay Leno returns to the Terry Fator Theatre at The Mirage for two nights of standup comedy. … Dennis Miller starts a three-night run at The Orleans. … And veteran comedian Shecky Greene has a three-night run at the Suncoast, while joke master Alonzo Bodden is at the South Point for two nights.

*Eek-a-Mouse plays the first of the outdoor Hard Rock Hotel pool concerts, and Seven Mary Three performs at Carey Hart’s Wasted Space. … Everclear will perform a mini-concert of their hits at LAX in the Luxor. … Mac McAnally takes over at the Ovation Lounge in Green Valley Ranch. … Three Dog Night rocks out at the Star of the Desert Arena in Primm. … And Staind is joined by Wes Scantlin of Puddle of Mudd at the Sunset Station.

*Tickets go on sale today for the Jay-Z and Ciara concerts at The Pearl in the Palms July 3-4.

*CineVegas continues with its “Under the Stars” outdoor movie screenings at the Springs Preserve with a Wolfgang Puck dinner before Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Party Patrol

Jacklyn and Taylor of VH1’s Tough Love host a wild party at Jet in The Mirage.

Photo: Ana Dobrijevic

Gwen Stefani and son Kingston at Love in The Mirage.

Saturday, May 16

*Tiger Woods rocks out with Gwen Stefani and No Doubt, as the band kicks off its first tour in five years as part of Tiger Jam with Paramore and The Sounds at Mandalay Bay.

*The lazy, hazy days of summer with Jimmy Buffett and Coral Reefer thrill the parrot heads at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

*There’s a huge rock ’n’ roll three-pack at Thomas & Mack Center with REO Speedwagon, Styx and .38 Special.

*Comedian Jeff Foxworthy brings his special brand of Southern blue-collar humor to The Orleans Arena.

*Legendary veteran blues guitarist B.B. King shows why he’s still a royal winner at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. … Herman’s Hermits play their yesteryear hits with my long-ago Manchester friend Peter Noone at Aliante. … Helmet and Shatterance are at Carey Hart’s Wasted Space. … America is at The Cannery. … Singer Johnny Gill sings for his supper at the Silverton. … And Las Vegas singer Brian Evans opens for sassy comedienne Joan Rivers at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe.

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

Pussycat Dolls: Melody Thornton, Jessica Sutta, Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberly Wyatt and Ashley Roberts.

Concert ticket sales alert

Tickets go on sale today for the Pussycat Dolls at The Pearl in the Palms on June 27, Steely Dan at The Pearl on Aug. 28, Chelsea Handler at The Joint on June 20, Luis Miguel at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace for the Mexican Independence Day weekend celebrations Sept. 12-15, and Kylie Minogue at The Pearl on Oct. 3.

*Please support Opportunity Village today at its four-hour third annual wine tasting featuring hundreds of wines, plus food and entertainment. … NFL superstar Willie Gault hosts a celebrity poker tournament with Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Barry Bonds, Johnny Gill and several high-profile pro poker players at the Palms to benefit the Athletes for Life Foundation.

Party patrol

P.Diddy hosts the afternoon at Wet Republic in MGM with DJ music by Felix Da Housecat and Sky Nellor. … Hip-hop star Ja Rule takes control of Pure in Caesars Palace. … And DJ Samantha Ronson, on a break from LiLo, twists the turntables at Prive in the Planet Hollywood.

Sunday, May 17

*Ferry Corstein takes on the DJ role and will present tracks from his new CD Twice in a Blue Moon at Daylife at Wet Republic.

*Singer Tara McDonald will perform her hit “My My My Funtuary” at Tao Beach in The Venetian as the sun sets.

*Rhyme & Rhythm and DJ Duwop join Tim Morello and Boots Riley at Carey Hart’s Wasted Space.

*The “Music from the Hearty’ tribute to Bobby Darin has a one-night-only showcase at the South Point.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

The Lion King at Mandalay Bay.

Monday’s teases

We’ll have the full photo report of The Lion King premiere posted tomorrow. Then come Monday, we’ll have the photo report from Tiger Jam with No Doubt, plus the weekend wrap of all the stars partying up and down the Strip. Later in the week, an exclusive chat with Marie Osmond, and we’ll have our rare one-on-one interview with superstar Barry Manilow as he gets ready to welcome members of his international fan club to a special surprise performance next weekend that even he hasn’t decided what he’ll pull off onstage!

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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