Las Vegas Weekly

September 23, 2009 · 2:27 PM

Strip Scribbles: Nick and Vanessa extend their Vegas vacation

By Robin Leach

Vanessa Minnillo.

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

Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo don’t seem to be in any hurry to leave town -- they’re just having too much of a good time together on their honeymoon-styled Las Vegas vacation. They’ve been staying in a sumptuous suite at the Palazzo and reveling in the resort’s luxuries. They returned for a third time to First Food & Bar and ordered Grandma’s Pizza and ice cream sandwiches to watch yet another game on the big screens there.

*The Las Vegas skyline is about to change as the new, giant Cloud 9 balloon is tethered up opposite Mandalay Bay. Vegas should be able to claim another record as having the world’s largest helium balloon! There are similar but smaller ones in Paris, Dubai and Hong Kong. Starting Oct. 5, the behemoth balloon will carry 30 passengers in a gondola basket 500 feet above the Strip on 10-minute flights day and night!

The balloon is so massive at 11 stories high and 7 stories wide that it will be seen as far as halfway to Primm! The European-style balloon was originally commissioned for the America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain. It’ll make for perfect wedding experiences high above the Strip as the newest tourist attraction.

Photo: TVT

Chef Steve Martorano and Robin Leach chat. What are you pointing at, Robin?!

*My good pal chef and DJ Steve Martorano is hailed as the master behind the world’s best meatballs. Now they are really going into the history books! Major League Eating, who hosts the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Challenge, has recognized them as the best. On Nov. 8 at Cafe Martorano in The Rio, Steve will host the first Martorano Masters Meatball Eating Championship.

I can’t even begin to tell you how Steve picks the finest meats in the world and adds his secret ingredients to turn out the big record-breaking ball! Eating one is a miracle and eating more will be an incredible challenge, but we’ll be on hand to chronicle the debut tournament of meatball masters madness.

Photo: Marian Goodman Gallery

Constructor by Tony Cragg.

*The buzz about MGM’s CityCenter opening in December intensifies on an almost daily basis. Seven of the complex’s master architects and 12 of its contemporary art stars have joined forces for an extraordinary showcase now the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. Think of it as an advance look at their work, which will revolutionize the Las Vegas landscape when CityCenter opens shortly before Christmas.

Photo: Spruth Magers Berlin London and Nikolaus Ruzicska

Four Corner: Truisms, Living by Jenny Holzer.

The display features work by Maya Lin, Jenny Holzer, Antony Gormley, Tony Cragg, Nancy Rubins, Peter Wegner and Richard Long, along with the early sketches and architectural models of CityCenter by architects Pelli Clarke Pelli, Helmut Jahn, Studio Daniel Libeskind, Rafael Vinoly, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Foster + Partners and the Rockwell Group. The Artists and Architects of CityCenter exhibit will remain on view through April 4.

Photo: TVT

Justin Timberlake and Robin Leach.

*Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning superstar Justin Timberlake announced this morning that rap icon Snoop Dogg and new pop and R&B talent Jay Sean have been added to the list of performers for his Justin Timberlake and Friends, a Special Evening Benefiting Shriners Hospitals for Children at Mandalay Bay Events Center on Oct. 17. The concert also features previously announced performances by Justin, Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift, Ciara and TLC.

*Las Vegas residents appearing on tonight’s Wheel of Fortune taped this summer with Pat Sajak and Vanna White at The Venetian and the Palazzo are delivery truck driver Peter Blasezyk and fourth-grade teacher Abbie Villanueva.

Photo: Joe Fury/N9NE Group

Paul Oakenfold, George Maloof, DJ Z-Trip and Michael Fuller at the Palms.

Photo: Shane O'Neal/N9NE Group

Nick Zinner and Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Photo: Edison Graff

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs perform at The Pearl in the Palms.

Star surveillance

Actress Cheryl Hines of Curb Your Enthusiasm attended Cher’s show at the Caesars Palace Colosseum and went backstage afterward to meet the legendary entertainer. … DJ Paul Oakenfold was just down the Strip at Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity noshing on truffle oil popcorn. Also spotted at the same performance: San Antonio Spurs player Tim Duncan with a very attractive female friend on his arm. … The Yeah Yeah Yeahs enjoyed open-air patio dining at Nove Italiano in the Palms sipping wine and indulging in mozzarella pizza, calamari, burrata and arugula salad, linguine and panzarella salad. They left room for a dessert of torta mascarpone. They promptly worked off all those calories with their performance in The Pearl! Their official champagne after-party was held in Ghostbar. The three band members brought an entourage of 20 for two VIP tables -- one indoor and on the deck. Producer Brent Bolthouse played DJ all night long.

Photo: Whiting-Turner

An aerial view of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

Tonight’s tips

Las Vegas has given a red carpet royal welcome to the country’s top physicians from the Cleveland Clinic now that they’ve started seeing patients at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health downtown. Tonight, heart surgeon Dr. Delos “Toby” Cosgrove, who has overseen the clinic and its 40,000 employees since 2004, will launch the Symphony Park lecture series. He’ll be welcomed by our Mayor Oscar Goodman and introduced by my friend Larry Ruvo, who is the founder of Keep Memory Alive dedicated to his late father Lou. Nevada Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford will be the moderator at the Fifth Street School Auditorium at South Fourth Street downtown. (Yes Fifth Street School on Fourth Street!) The lectures will pertain to topics involving Symphony Park, where the medical facilities are located.

Tomorrow’s teases

We’ve got the full eye-popping pictorial preview of Aubrey O’Day’s official premiere in Peepshow, and she talks candidly about the show’s new look and going topless in the “Teddy Bare” number, joining Holly Madison who also nearly bares all. Plus, the advance details of the Mr. Olympia weekend with hometown hero Jay Cutler and the other musclemen at The Orleans, and the new musical career for Stephanie Jordan as she records her debut album and leaves Fantasy.

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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