Las Vegas Weekly

November 4, 2009 · 1:51 PM

Strip Scribbles: Mario Lopez to return as host of Miss America Pageant

By Robin Leach

Host Mario Lopez and 2009 Miss America Katie Stam of Indiana.

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

Have you dreamed of becoming an actor on TV or in the movies? Have you wondered what it takes to be a top-rated television host? Well ponder no more because Mario Lopez is headed to Las Vegas to give people inside industry secrets and tips at an upcoming Actors Expo.

The host of Extra and MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew will be the keynote speaker at the Nov. 15 session at Rave Motion Pictures in Town Square. It’s an opportunity to talk face-to-face with the Nip/Tuck and Saved by the Bell heartthrob about the beauty and the bad of the biz! Mario will share how to get started and the ins and outs of becoming a success.

Check out last year’s Actors Expo in this YouTube video that details some of the TV and film opportunities here in Las Vegas:

We learned this morning that Dancing With the Stars runner-up Mario, who recently celebrated turning 36 here at the Bank in the Bellagio, will again serve as master of ceremonies for the live Jan. 30 Miss America Pageant here at Planet Hollywood. Mario hosted the pageant in 2007 and last year. This year’s pageant will feature 53 contestants, including Miss District of Columbia, Miss Virgin Islands and Miss Puerto Rico, who returns after a 50-year absence from the event.

Tomorrow morning, six Miss Americas, including reigning Miss America Katie Stam, will appear live on CBS’s The Early Show with anchor and former Miss America Debbye Turner-Bell. The segment will feature Miss America 1955 Lee Meriwether, Miss America 1971 Phyllis George, Miss America 1981 Susan Powell, Miss America 1990 Debbye Turner-Bell and Miss America 2009 Katie Stam.

Photo: Courtesy

NHRA driver Tony Schumacher with the girls of Bite at the Stratosphere.

*NHRA Top Fuel driver of the U.S. Army Dragster Tony Schumacher got cozy with the sexy girls of Bite at Stratosphere after enjoying their performance. Tony is the current points leader of the NHRA’s Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the first driver in NHRA Racing history to win five consecutive world titles. He and other drivers were here for a series event and took part in an autograph session.

*Singer Lady Gaga will bring her electrifying performances to The Pearl in the Palms on Dec. 18 as part of The Fame Monster Tour, with her stage theatrics in select U.S. cities and Britain. Gaga recently became the first artist to have four No. 1 hits from a debut album -- “Just Dance,” “Poker Face,” “Love Game” and “Paparazzi.” The Fame Monster, a reissue of The Fame but with eight new tracks including the newest single “Bad Romance,” drops Nov. 23.

Photo: ABC TV

Cast members of Le Reve on Dancing With the Stars.

*The cast of Le Reve will perform with singer Laura Pausini at the 10th Annual Latin Grammy Awards tomorrow night at Mandalay Bay and broadcast on Univision (Channel 15 in Las Vegas). The act is a creative collaboration between the singer, who will be performing her hit song “En Cambio No,” and 21 Le Reve artists. The performance will include a surreal, elaborate montage of scenes from the Wynn show staged by Brian Burke, artistic director.

Photo: Glenn Pinkerton/Las Vegas News Bureau

Beto Cortez of the radio show Piolin en las Manana takes the stage with Las Vegas band El Moreno Carrillo y Su Banda Sagrada to start the Latin Grammy Awards Street Party at Fremont Street Experience on Nov. 1, 2009.

Photo: Glenn Pinkerton/Las Vegas News Bureau

The ninth annual National Hot Rod Association Las Vegas Nationals.

*Las Vegas News Bureau photographer Glenn Pinkerton was out and about this week with his cameras. He captured the start of Latin Grammy activities at the Fremont Street Experience party when host Beto Cortez and the El Moreno Carrillo y Su Banda Sagrada musicians kicked off the festivities. Glenn also was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals for the Top Fuel finals.

*Disney’s The Lion King has welcomed Aubrey Joseph as Young Simba and Diamond White as Young Nala to the Mandalay Bay company as its newest members. Ten-year-old Aubrey is a native of Brooklyn, New, York who was nominated not only as student of the month but also the most talented. The Lion King in Las Vegas is his theatrical debut. Diamond, also 10, has appeared in commercials, sitcoms and movies, including The Color Purple.

Photo: Erik Kabik/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Vinny Red (Jon Paul Raniola) and Vinny Blue (Tom Cassell) at Nine Fine Irishmen in New York-New York.

*Our rival Vinny Red and Vinny Blue challengers go head-to-head once again Friday with a tricycle race around the Center Bar at New York-New York. They also will be tested with a Fun Facts memory quiz about Las Vegas and the resort and then attempt to persuade the most number of guests to ride the roller coaster. Votes for your favorite Vinny, who will become a spokesman and host for the resort, must be cast by Nov. 12, with the winner announced Nov. 16.

*NASCAR champion Kurt Busch will help start the 2009 Las Vegas Great Santa Run festivities on Dec. 5. Our Merry Mayor of Mirth Oscar Goodman will be on hand with Siegfried & Roy, yours truly and Zowie Bowie to launch the attempt to wrest back the current Guinness World Record for the largest Santa gathering set in 2007 with the Santa Dash in Derry, Ireland, with 12,965 participants. Our best effort to date was in 2007 with 8,000 walkers and runners. Sign up now at OpportunityVillage.org for the fundraising effort to benefit our beloved Opportunity Village. You also can sign up at any PT’s or Sierra Gold taverns, where Kurt is a business partner.

Photo: Courtesy

The Stinson Broz.

*Brothers Bob and Rick Stinson started out as hockey players but moved into Hollywood comedy and then Nashville singing. Now they’ve been signed for their debut, full-length show. Tonight, they take to the stage of the Las Vegas Hilton with their vocal stylings and unique personalities, along with impersonations of, among others, The Stray Cats, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Buffett, Brooks & Dunn and Elvis Presley. The cast of tonight’s show includes comedian/magician Michael Finney, six gorgeous showgirls and The Nothin’ But a Good Time Orchestra. Celebrity friends have promised to drop by for guest appearances, and the show is free!

Photo: Shane O'Neal/N9NE Group

Cisco Adler and a friend.

Photo: Shane O'Neal/N9NE Group

Shwayze, upper right, and friends.

Star surveillance

TV personality Chris Hansen dined at N9NE Steakhouse in the Palms with eight hungry friends. They feasted on lobster pot stickers, tuna tartare and rock shrimp, followed by steaks and steak fries and winding up with s’mores and New York style cheesecake. … Upstairs at Ghostbar, rapper T-Pain partied at a VIP table with three pals. … Hip-hop musician Shwayze and singer producer Cisco Adler celebrated the release of their album Let It Beat at Moon in the Palms last night. Shwayze performed the single “Get U Home.”

Tonight’s tips

Comic Andrew Dice Clay begins a run of November appearances at the Riviera as he puts the sin back in Sin City. First up are Nov. 4-15 dates, and then he returns Nov. 30 through Dec. 13. It looks as if he’s going to sign as a resident there. … Porn princesses galore will be pressing the flesh and showing their assets in Adult Con today and tomorrow at Bally’s Convention Center. It’s billed as America’s largest adult lifestyle fair with entertainment, lingerie, costumes and adult products.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Round 3 of the 2009 Professional Bull Riders World Finals at Thomas & Mack Center on Nov. 1, 2009.

Tomorrow’s teases

Our leading lens lady Denise Truscello captures a unique and extraordinary set of portrait photos with Las Vegas entertainer Louis Prima Jr. Plus the Professional Bull Riders return to action in the World Finals race for the $1 million prize and top title.

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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— From Vegas Deluxe

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