Las Vegas Weekly

January 4, 2010 · 10:57 AM

Photo Gallery: Ne-Yo comes home for NYE party and Palms concert

By Robin Leach

Ne-Yo performs at The Pearl inside the Palms on Jan. 1, 2010.

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

Hometown hero and superstar singer Ne-Yo heads out from a busy, nonstop and successful Las Vegas holiday weekend back to the Far East for two new mammoth concert dates on Thursday and Saturday.

The one-time Las Vegas Academy music student who grew up in Las Vegas kicked off the year with a slick, sexy and cool concert at The Pearl in the Palms on New Year’s Day. His lead dancer Lisa Rosenthal literally stopped the show!

Ne-Yo opened his show with “Because of You” and “Stay,” and then followed with a tribute to the late Michael Jackson, performing “Off the Wall.” Contributing photographer Erik Kabik, who shot our photo gallery of the concert, said, “Ne-Yo also has got some great M.J. moves down, too.”

It was a show that never seemed to stop, and the sold-out crowd was on its feet with cheers and applause throughout the high-energy production. You would never have known that hours earlier, Ne-Yo was the highlight at XS’ New Year’s Eve party in Steve Wynn’s Encore.

Ne-Yo, who plans to release his Year of the Gentleman follow-up album -- his fourth in four years -- this summer, led the traditional countdown for the raucous party crowd and held court at a VIP dance floor table with his friends. Fashion designer and socialite Nicky Hilton, with boyfriend David Katzenberg, was at a nearby VIP dance floor table alongside poker star David Williams.

Ne-Yo will perform at the Sunway Laguna Surf Beach in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday and at the Mall of Asia in Manila, Philippines, on Saturday. He’s expected to announce new American tour dates shortly.

Meantime, enjoy these two Ne-Yo videos on YouTube:

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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