Las Vegas Weekly

September 13, 2010 · 4:08 PM

Strip Scribbles: Mario Lopez misses bachelor bash for birth of baby girl

By Don Chareunsy

Mario Lopez hosts a pre-party at Prive in Planet Hollywood on Jan. 29, 2010. His girlfriend Courtney Mazza attended the celebration with him.

Photo: Scott Harrison/Retna/www.harrisonphotos.com

Extra host and actor Mario Lopez had to cut short his Las Vegas weekend visit when his girlfriend Courtney Mazza went into labor. Mario wrapped up his poolside chat with Palms honcho George Maloof, canceled his bachelor party celebration at The Bank in the Bellagio and flew back home to Hollywood immediately.

Mario and Courtney have been dating since early last year after he broke up with his Dancing With the Stars pro partner Karina Smirnoff. He’d joined A Chorus Line on Broadway in 2008 where he met Courtney, a Broadway dancer.

Photo: Palms

George Maloof and Mario Lopez at the Palms.

Their baby girl Gia Francesca Lopez weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces on arrival in Burbank, and not only is he writing a book for first-time fathers, the Miss America Pageant and America’s Best Dance Crew host also has developed a VH1 reality TV series about his new adventures in fatherhood.

Congratulations to the new parents!

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

Criss Angel and Vince Neil at Robin Leach and Michael Boychuck's birthday party at Blush in the Wynn on Sept. 10, 2010.

WICKED WHISPERS & RACY RUMORS

Congratulations also to former Playboy Playmate Kelly Carrington, who has a surprise wedding this week in Florida on the heels of a very fast romance with a New York investment banker she met while working at the Palms. … Criss Angel and Vince Neil told me that lurid headlines about them last week on online gossip sites were lies. In Vince’s case, Metro Police and the Las Vegas Hilton exonerated him after security videotapes showed that he didn’t ride in an elevator with his female accuser or touch her. In Criss’s case, he said he was with Luxor President Felix Rappaport and never met or talked with the masked magician who went public with a made-up story bashing the Mindfreak and Believe superstar. … Is an out-of-town hotel company buying a nightlife operation so that its restaurants and nightclubs can be opened in its venues but run by another nightlife operation who would then also move into management of their properties in other hotels here? It’s a complicated scenario, but I’m reliably told that the deal is well along with all, and it would kill problems concerning rumors of two federal raids at two properties here last week. … It looks certain now that Carey Hart’s Wasted Space at the Hard Rock Hotel will close early next month and be turned into a new sports book as the hotel shuffles its deck of nightlife attractions. … Former Wynn chef Grant McPherson confirms that he’s opened his own restaurant Rustica in Newport Beach, Calif., and also is running his food and beverage consulting service Scotch Myst in California and here. … Billionaire Phil Ruffin is installing the first Strip-front Starbucks at his Treasure Island alongside his Gilley’s Saloon. … Billionaire David Siegel has switched gears at his Planet Hollywood Towers and will now add a showroom and restaurant for guests with his eyes on a beloved female magician for the premiere and opening.

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

Diana Ross at the Paris Las Vegas.

UPCOMING EVENTS

CSI: The Experience based on the TV franchise of hit shows celebrates its first anniversary all week long Sept. 20-26 at MGM Grand, and $1 from every ticket sold to the captivating 12,000-square-foot multimedia exhibit goes to Nevada Victims of Crime. … Superstar Diana Ross brings her More Today Than Yesterday Tour to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace for a two-night engagement Nov. 12 and 13. It will be a greatest-hits show with breathtaking costumes and stage designs, plus a live string and horn orchestra section. Tickets go on sale Saturday, and it’s already sparked rumors that she might become part of the Caesars roster of resident artists. … Nevada Ballet Theater announced today that actress, producer and author Priscilla Presley will be honored as its 2011 Woman of the Year at the annual Black & White Ball on Jan. 29 at MGM CityCenter’s Aria, home to Cirque du Soleil’s Viva Elvis.

Photo: BroadwayWorld.com

Sierra Boggess.

*Two Las Vegas connections with last night’s nominations for the first Broadway World Awards at London’s West End stages. Former Phantom -- Las Vegas Spectacular star Sierra Boggess is nominated for Best Actress in the Phantom sequel Love Never Dies, and Peepshow creator and director Jerry Mitchell is nominated for Best Choreography for Legally Blonde. Will he bring that here as a follow-up to Peepshow? Just asking!

*The nine Las Vegas restaurants from Harrah’s who participated in this year’s Restaurant Week to benefit Three Square food bank raised enough profits for 33,708 meals to aid those in Southern Nevada struggling with hunger. Participating restaurants were Bradley Ogden, Mesa Grill, Rao’s and Serendipity 3 at Caesars Palace; Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris; Strip House at Planet Hollywood; KGB: Kerry’s Gourmet Burgers at Harrah; Steakhouse 46 at Flamingo; and Martorano’s at The Rio.

*Please support the fundraiser at the Palms Pool & Bungalows tonight for Las Vegas burn victim Jorge Hernandez. Eighty percent of his body was burned in a car explosion, and he lost both legs from the infection. Jorge, 26, was in a hospital for more than a year without medical insurance, and money raised tonight will help him with continuing medical bills thanks to 9 Group and Lindsay House, a longtime cocktail server at Rain who is a friend of Jorge’s.

Photo: Cashman Photo

Christian Slater backstage with the cast of Viva Elvis at CityCenter's Aria on Sept. 11, 2010.

Photo: Cashman Photo

Buzz Aldrin backstage with the cast of Viva Elvis at CityCenter's Aria on Sept. 10, 2010.

Photo: Karl Lawson

Christian Slater at Beso in CityCenter's Crystals.

STAR SURVEILLANCE

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin and his wife Lois watched Viva Elvis the night before actor Christian Slater took his family to the show. Both VIPs went backstage afterward to greet the cast. While in town, Christian celebrated a friend’s birthday with dinner at Eva Longoria Parker’s Beso Steakhouse in MGM CityCenter’s Crystals. … Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant drank Fiji Water with wife Vanessa and friends at N9NE Steakhouse in the Palms before heading to Studio 54 in MGM Grand to support DJ Kid Jay’s debut there. He is the official deejay at all Lakers home games in L.A. … Everybody Loves Raymond star Ray Romano surprised Brad Garrett and the audience in Brad’s new comedy club at the Tropicana with an unannounced appearance 5 minutes into Brad’s act. He performed a standing-O show and told the audience that the room that houses Brad’s club was where he made his Las Vegas debut 20 years ago when it was the former Comedy Spot owned by the legendary Rodney Dangerfield. Brad wound up at Geechy Guy’s late-night weekly Fryers Club party at neighboring Hooters Casino, where he bought a round of drinks for the crowd of show people hanging out for nearly 3 hours after the show.

DJ Jazzy Jeff turned the tables at Rain in the Palms with 9 Group staff sporting exclusive Team Jazzy T-shirts in honor of his return to the venue. … Retired NBA player Gary Payton enjoyed drinks at N9NE Steakhouse, then stopped to say hello to Kobe’s table en route to Moon. … Blonde beauty Chanel “C.C.” Dudley from Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory on MTV was at Pure in Caesars Palace for two consecutive nights, where Elton Brand, power forward for the Philadelphia 76ers, partied dressed head to toe in white. … The boys from Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co. partied at Vanity in the Hard Rock Hotel with Anthony Celestino of Box Car Racer -- the band is at Wasted Space on Saturday. Also at Vanity, comedian Pete Giovine and boxer Zab Judah partying with his brother. Holly Madison cooled off with iced venti Americanos at Starbucks in the Hard Rock Hotel.

Photo: Hew Burney

Boxer Zab Judah at Vanity in the Hard Rock Hotel.

TONIGHT’S TIPS

Holly’s World starlet Angel Porrino starts her one-week run for Holly Madison in Peepshow at Planet Hollywood. Master illusionist Dirk Arthur premieres his show at O’Sheas with audiences just 10- to 40-feet away from the stage with his collection of fearsome and majestic leopards and tigers. Smaller animals will strut their stuff on the Town Square runway for a Bully Breed Canine Models fashion show. Comedian John Fox opens at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club until Brad returns for shows Wednesday and Thursday. And Willie Farrell, Steve Pilchen and Dwayne Clark are the headline comedy trio at the Riviera through Sunday.

TOMORROW’S TEASES

We’ll have Angel’s first-hand account of her debut in Peepshow and a report from Holly Madison of her Gulf oil spill cleanup efforts in Alabama. Joey Fatone of ’N Sync fame plays host for the live The Price Is Right, and the 31st San Gennaro Festival gets underway at Silverton Casino Lodge.

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.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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