| *
* *
Jan
24: Kenny
Kerr's Hard Fall
He was the longest-running
solo headliner in Las Vegas history, but just
a few years since the end of his last gig, he’s
probably largely unknown to most of you. Kenny
Kerr was the first female impersonator to go mainstream
on the Strip, opening in the late 1970s at the
Silver Slipper, paving the way for Frank Marino.
But Kerr’s story is that of great success
and constant financial problems, and when Steve
spoke to him in December he had left a gig at
a small Italian restaurant miles from the Strip
because the owner hadn’t paid him. This
hour, hear Kerr provide some fascinating history
about Las Vegas, go into some shocking detail
about drag queen life and, of course, some delicious
slaps at his archrival.
In Banter: Drama at Casino
Montreal, a visit to Cirque's mothership, Aria
v Bellagio, news on the Fontainebleau, Matt Goss
and Krave and more.
Links to Stuff Discussed:
Steve's Las
Vegas Weekly column on Kenny Kerr
The website for the Casino
Montreal
A YouTube video of the Royal
Ascot Sigma Derby-esque game at Casino Montreal
The website for Martini
Time, a live cooking show at the M Resort
The sites for Viva
Elvis and Criss
Angel Believe
VegasHappensHere.Com on the snake-box
thing and gay-travel
survey
LVA
blogger Dave McKee’s post on the emptiness
of CityCenter’s Crystals
The Review-Journal’s Howard Stutz in Fontainebleau’s
sale to Carl Icahn
* * *
Jan
6: The
Real Mr. Las Vegas
Could there be
a better way to kick off a new year than with
Mr. Las Vegas himself, Mr. Wayne Newton? The Wayner
needs little introduction, so let’s just
say that you’re about to hear the answer
to all your questions including whether he’s
had plastic surgery, what he thinks about his
weathered voice and much more. Newton, who is
performing at the Tropicana at least through April,
also addresses his Norm Clarke plagiarism flap,
explains how he recovers memorabilia stolen regularly
from his Vegas home and for the first time ever
reveals the scene from Vegas Vacation that he
had nixed. Plus, is his Trop show profitable?
What does he think of others who call themselves
Mr. Las Vegas? Why doesnt' he want to see Viva
Elvis? What was it like to meet Howard Hughes?
And much more.
In Banter: Garth's amazing, NYE on the Strip,
the Cupcakery and more.
Links
Get Wayne Newton tickets
Wayne Newton’s website
Steve’s Sphere piece on the NYE
Christians
in Vegas
A picture of the dead
Vdara on New Year’s Eve
VegasHappensHere.Com
on New Year’s Eve adventures
Google map for Bonanza
High, where Kaan saw the NYE fireworks
VegasHappensHere.Com on the latest, re: Garth
scalping issue
The Strip Sense column on
why Garth was the best show in Vegas ever
Fox
5 on The Lion King’s big ticket numbers
An image of what the Garth
wristband looks like
An image of what the Asian
Equation looks like and a link to the recipe
on VegasHappensHere
What a $40 box of cupcakes from the Cupcakery
at Monte Carlo looks like
Wayne
Newton and
Norm Clarke in an Anna Quindlen column
* * *
Dec.
29: The
Vegas Juniors...
...with Louis Prima Jr and Sandy Hackett

Nowadays if you’re
the offspring of an iconic celebrity, you can
get work regardless of your talent as the subject
of a reality TV show or by providing vacuous interviews
on red carpets. But some of those who were born
famous actually spend their lives trying to both
make their own mark on the world and protect the
legacies of their parents. In this episode, we’ll
hear from two men who have done just that, Louis
Prima Jr and Sandy Hackett. Prima continues to
try to rescue the dying Vegas lounge act that
his father made so great and Hackett is a comic
and musician in his own right whose Rat Pack production
at the Sahara bounces off of his own family history
with Frank, Dino, Sammy and Joey. Both have struggled
with and enjoyed perks from their famous names
and both speak openly about that mixed blessing
as well as their fascinating Vegas histories.
In Banter: The Aria buffet, Phil Ruffin’s
Bellagio play, the Build It Bigger on CityCenter,
Forbes on Adelson and Ruffin, the MGM Mirage Xmas
Day outage and more.
Links to stuff discussed:
Get tickets for Sandy
Hackett’s Rat Pack Show at the Sahara
Louis
Prima Jr’s website
Sandy
Hackett’s website
The site for Casino
de Quebec
Wikipedia on Mary
Healy and Peter
Lind Hayes
HowStuffWorks on Discovery Channel’s Build
It Bigger shows on Veer
and Aria
Doug Elfman’s baffling
Viva Elvis piece claiming there aren’t
Elvis impersonators in the show
Forbes Magazine’s pieces on Sheldon
Adelson and Phil
Ruffin
VegasHappensHere.Com’s
coverage of the Christmas Day outage at the main
IT center of MGM Mirage
John L Smith’s column about Jim
Murren’s baseball lie
Norm
Clarke’s reporting on the legal tussle
between the Rat Pack shows
* * *
SPECIAL
5 MIN VIDEO EPISODE:
CITYCENTER OPENS
* * *
Dec.
21: More Celebrity,
More Puck
He can hardly keep track of how
many restaurants bear his name, so he’d
be forgiven if he found opening yet another one
in Vegas to be run-of-the-mill. And yet Wolfgang
Puck, seemed as giddy as ever as he inspected
the construction site that will, in one month’s
time, open as Puck Brasserie at CityCenter. Amid
the hullabaloo surrounding Aria’s opening
day, the 60-year-old restaurateur found time to
chat with Steve about his childhood food memories,
what the most famous celebrity chef in the world
means by his “less celebrity, more chef”
advertising tagline and why he’ll never
open a restaurant in a Steve Wynn resort.
In Banter: A recap of the Aria opening, the latest
on the P-Ho/Harrahs transaction, Wynn’s
art purchase, Trump and Adelson’s CityCenter
hate and more.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Wolfgang
Puck’s home page
See renderings of Puck
Brasserie in Crystals
Wynn’s no-comment comment in the New York
Times on
his art buy
A VegasHappensHere.Com
teleplay between the Steves
Listen to guest host Amy’s podcast, GritstoGlitz.Com
Forbes
shows how bad Sheldon Adelson believes money
is love
Flickr photo collections by
Hunter Hillegas and Steve
on the CityCenter opening
See special Strip video episodes of the Aria
opening and preview
of Viva Elvis
Read VegasHappensHere’s full coverage of
the opening
of Aria
The Strip
Sense column about journo Tweeting
The Associated Press on the
NFL’s decision to allow Vegas ads
Fox 5 Las Vegas on the recent Las
Vegas sign vandalism
* * *
SPECIAL
EPISODE: VIVA ELVIS PREVIEW
* * *
Dec.
10: Murren's Opening
Aria
In case you haven’t
heard, there’s a little company opening
up a few new attractions out there on Las Vegas
Boulevard this month and the guy behind all that
is a fellow named Jim Murren. The CEO of MGM Mirage
was, for better or worse, the visionary behind
CityCenter, the $8.5 billion project that is finally
a reality and has already opened the hotel-condo
Vdara, the Mandarin Oriental and the mammoth Crystals
shopping mall. In the interview you’ll hear
in this episode, Steve challenges Murren on several
ideas behind CityCenter and Murren offers some
surprising boasts – that CityCenter will
singlehandedly save the Nevada economy, that he’s
never set foot on Encore or Palazzo and much more.
Plus, Murren allows that the problems of Fontainbleau
and Echelon are good for CityCenter, has tough
words about Harrah’s and Station Casinos
regarding overleveraging and describes the green
elements of CityCenter as “a gift to the
United States.” Also, Steve asks, much to
Murren's chagrin, if CityCenter is a Vegas version
of EPCOT.
In Banter: RateVegas.Com’s
Hunter Hillegas is in-studio to discuss being
Steve’s date at the Mandarin Oriental gala
last night, to tell all about his exclusive Aria
tour and to explain how this Harrah's-Planet Ho
thing makes sense. Or not.
Links to stuff discussed:
Jim Murren’s corporate
profile from Forbes
Steve’s L.A. Weekly piece in which Jim Murren
is
a prominent figure
The list
of the fired from Greenspun Media Group
Hunter Hillegas’ RateVegas.Com
VegasHappensHere.Com on the Vdara opening
Hunter Hillegas’ exhaustive Flickr from
his Mandarin-Vdara-Aria
swing
Dave McKee’s very strange dissertation about
gay travel
The L.A.
Weekly architectural review of CityCenter
The USA Today blowjob about
CityCenter
The latest
on Harrah’s effort to buy Planet Hollywood
from GlobeSt.Com
Our listener’s suggestion for Vietnamese,
Pho
So 1
* * *
Dec.
1: Doyle Brunson Loses A Bet...
...and Norm Clarke answers The Question!
Even if you know
or care nothing about professional poker, it is
hard to imagine you’ve never come across
the name Doyle Brunson. Poker’s elder statesmen
was there when Texas Hold ‘Em came into
being, was there when the concept of the poker
tournament was invented and was there when they
added hole-card cameras to poker tables to make
it interesting for TV viewers to follow the action.
Now, at 76, he’s published a surprisingly
frank autobiography appropriately titled “The
Godfather of Poker” in which he reveals
the violent early days of his gambling life, his
strained relationship with his father and much
more. When Steve spoke to two-time World Series
of Poker Main Event champ this week, he opened
up some more about the Binion family, mob enforcer
Tony Spilotro, Annie Duke, Joan Rivers and Phil
Hellmuth, among others. Plus, Steve did the seemingly
impossible – he won a bet off Doyle.
In Banter: USA Today’s CityCenter piece,
New Year’s Eve is back on top, Harrah’s
is buying P-Ho but with what?, Hash House A Go
Go is opening a Strip location and more.
Links:
Buy Doyle Brunson’s biography "Godfather
of Poker" or the classic "Super/System"
on Amazon.Com
Doyle Brunson’s online poker home, DoylesRoom.Com
The LeRoy Neiman painting in Bobby’s Room
at Bellagio up
close
The travel blog of Kitty
Bean Yancey of USA Today
The USAT piece on CityCenter
Rich Velotta’s Las Vegas Sun natural-light-in-Aria
casino piece
The piece on the Four
Seasons from the NYT that may explain the
Mandarin Oriental’s pricing approach, too
The Las Vegas Sun on Harrah’s
trying to buy Planet Hollywood
The Review-Journal
on the announcement that they’re setting
NYE fireworks off on the roof this year
PlanetMoney
from NPR, which Miles listens to
The site for Hash House A Go Go, which is looking
for
a Strip locale
Norm Clarke gives FiveHundy.Com
credit for breaking news that HHAGG is
opening at the IP
Norm ferrets out the Vegas connection to Tiger
Woods
Anna
Quindlen’s classic, brilliant Wayne
Newton plagiarism column
* * *
Nov.
23: Frankie Goes To Vegas
You may not be
all that familiar with the name Frank Caliendo,
but it will become hard to miss it the next time
you’re on or around the Las Vegas Boulevard.
The 35-year-old impressionist known for his work
on MADTV and on Fox NFL Sunday just started a
10-year deal to appear nightly at the Monte Carlo,
so Steve chatted with him this hour about how
that happened, about how he felt about the cancellation
of his TBS sketch comedy show and much more. Plus,
he explains why he wasn’t at his best the
night the media came to review his show and opines
on female impressionists, Rush Limbaugh's NFL
prospects and the format of Jay Leno's new talk
show.
In Banter: More
pre-CityCenter thoughts, the future of non-smoking
casinos, Lily Tomlin's show and slots, strippermobiles,
Mirage's 20th, Golden Nugget's non-price-cutting
price-cutting and more.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Get tickets
for Frank Caliendo’s Monte Carlo show
Frank Caliendo’s website
The Las
Vegas Advisor’s green Vegas guide
The link to the special
edition from the Global Gaming Expo with Roger
Thomas and the rest
Las Vegas Sun’s Joe Brown gave a VERY
positive review of Lily Tomlin’s show An
image of the Ernestine
the Phone Operator slot machine that Lily
announced at G2E
An image of lame
interviewee Chris Noth checking out the Sex
And The City slots
The latest in the Sun about the drama behind the
strippermobile
The perplexing Review-Journal piece on the Golden
Nugget Rush Tower’s rate cutting
Listener suggestions: Archie’s
Thai restaurant and Pho
So 1, a Vietnamese restaurant
Tommy
Held, whose song “Bound For Las Vegas”
we use for bumper music sometimes, is on Twitter
Mike Weatherford’s first-since-scandal interview
with David
Copperfield
India
Palace’s website
Food Not Bombs Las Vegas, which offers a free
vegan picnic every Sunday, is also
on Twitter
* * *
SPECIAL:
WYNN DESIGN TEAM SPEAKS!
Audio from a panel discussion
moderated by TheStripPodcast.Com host Steve Friess
at the Global Gaming Expo that featured Roger
Thomas, DeReuyter Butler, Andrew Kreft and Todd
Avery Lenahan. Thomas is the mastermind behind
several Wynn property designs going back to Mirage,
Butler has been drawing up the architecture for
Steve Wynn for 20+ years, Kreft oversees all the
horticulture and Lenahan designed the Wynn Buffet
as well as the Encore rooms and spa. The conversation
includes new details of the plans for the Switch
Beach Club area, some surprises about Wynn's initial
intentions with both the Dunes and Desert Inn
properties and some thoughts on Wynn/Encore versus
CityCenter.
* * *
Nov.16:
Good Ol' Boyd
At 77, William
S. Boyd could just sit back, count his money and
let his children carry on his family’s casino
and philanthropic legacies in Nevada. But for
Boyd, retirement from running the company means
being active in it in other ways, and he remains
very much involved in the important decisions
of Boyd Gaming. Mr. Boyd speaks to Steve this
hour about halting construction of Echelon, making
a play for the properties of bankrupt rival Station
Casinos and old versus new Vegas.
In banter: Frank
Caliendo opens, Steve bets on Cotto for a friend,
WSOP ratings are flat, the Rio is NOT all suites,
three popular attractions are now neighbors, crazy
Bette fans attack and Jim Murren claims he listens
to this show.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Steve’s
blog post and column on the Main
Street Station walkabout
Frank
Caliendo’s home page
The VegasHappensHere.Com explanation of how the
MJ
money was spent
Steve’s Bette
Midler failure column and WSOP’s
ratings drop
The new locations for the Gambler’s
Book Shop and Pinball
Hall of Fame
See the weird Aubrey
O’Day YouTube rant after the first Peepshow
performance
The VegasHappensHere.Com
rant against the wrap on The Harmon
The first CityCenter
pictorial on the blog
The latest from the R-J’s Howard Stutz on
the Boyd-Station
tussle
The Dave Berns chat on KNPR
with Bob Arum about maybe-gay UFC
* * *
Nov.9:
Ungilding Lily
She’s conquered Hollywood
and Broadway and won over the hearts everywhere
in between so at 70, Lily Tomlin has finally decided
it’s time to become a Vegas headliner. For
nine nights, from Nov. 10-18, the comedienne brings
her cast of famous characters – Ernestine
the telephone operator and bratty 5-year-old Edith
Ann among them – to the stage. Tomlin explains
this hour her illustrious career never before
included the Strip and chats with Steve about
her roles in Desperate Housewives, West Wing,
Damages and the X-Files. Plus, she explains why
she walked off the Dick Cavett show in 1972 in
a feminist huff and why she and her longtime partner
Jane Wagner won’t be getting married.
In Banter: A CityCenter
tour, Bette's departure, the WSOP final table,
Miles' Oval Office adventures, the disgraceful
debasing of The Harmon, a Top Chef viewing party
and some we-toldja-so's.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Get tickets
for Lily Tomlin’s MGM Grand shows Nov 10-18
The
Advocate's current piece on Lily Tomlin
Time's
1977 cover on Lily Tomlin
Steve’s blog about the Bartolotta
viewing party
The VegasHappensHere.Com
post about the marathon WSOP session on Saturday
Steve’s pieces on Phil
Ivey, Darvin
Moon and the outcome
of the WSOP
Links to blog posts about Barry
Manilow and Viva
Elvis long before both were official
The VegasTripping.Com
run-in with Wynncore over Wynncore.Com
VegasTripping.Com's perfect
response to Wynncore
The charming
letter from Steve Wynn to RateVegas.Com from
2003
* * *
Oct.31:
The Top Chef Effect
w/Hubert Keller
Four years ago,
a San Francisco chef took a gamble and opened
up his San Francisco kitchen to the first challenge
of a new Bravo TV show called “Top Chef.”
At the time, Hubert Keller came across as tough
and grouchy but the show was a hit and his Fleur
de Lys in California became a place of intrigue
for its fans. Fast forward to this year when warmer,
cuddlier Keller appeared first on Top Chef Masters
and then in an episode of the current, Las Vegas-set
season of the show. Business at Fleur de Lys –
long an underperformer at Mandalay Bay –
is booming. Keller speaks this hour about that,
about what it smelled like to grow up above his
family’s bakery in Alsace, France, and about
how a Frenchman became one of the biggest things
ever in the burger cuisine. Plus, as usual, Steve
asked Keller about his food guilty pleasures.
In Banter: Ticket scalping issues, Barry Manilow,
the Podcast-a-Palooza, Harrah's dumb iPhone app,
DB leaves Wynn, DB opening at Sands in Singapore
and who is the Maori Hi Five?
Links
to stuff discussed:
Top
Chef Vegas
Fleur de Lys in Las
Vegas The
Strip
Sense column that included Hubert Keller
Our Podcast-a-Palooza
episode
Harrah’s lame iPhone
app
Steve
Wynn’s gotten political
Jan Jones and others defend
Obama
Steve’s
column about Obama and Elaine Wynn
A YouTube clip of Lady Elaine from Mr.
Rogers Neighborhood
Steve’s Las
Vegas Weekly cover story on the D Gate murals
John Curtas of EatingLV.Com breaks news of Daniel
Boulud’s Wynn exit
Las
Vegas Walk of Stars
* * *
Oct.
20: Podcast-a-Palooza 2
Take a Chazz On Us
When the idea first
came up, nobody -- and by nobody we mean Steve
-- thought it could possibly work. Chazz Palminteri
was a career character actor with modest name
recognition next to the likes of, say, Holly Madison,
and his plan was to bring a serious autobiographical
one-man play to the Strip? Fuggedaboutit. But
Palminteri has faced down doubts about "A
Bronx Tale" before, and here he is now in
the middle of a two-week run at the Venetian that
has been extended by popular demand. Palminteri
joined us live at the 2009 Vegas Podcast-A-Palooza
to discuss the show, his friendship with Frank
Sinatra and the chronological problem in his play
that only three people have ever asked him about
in 20 years.
In Banter: Rating
the Garth deal, revealing some new slot machine
ideas coming to G2E.
Links:
Chazz Palminteri's website
VegasHappensHere.Com's
skepticism about Chazz's show earlier this year
The Vegas
Gang podcast
Five
Hundy By Midnight
Podcast-a-Palooza emcee Dave Lifton's new show,
PopDose
The IMDB site on the
stinker flick Chazz discussed, Scar City
Our podcast episode with Palminteri's "Bullets
Over Broadway" co-star
Jennifer Tilly
Steve's Las
Vegas Weekly column about Steve Wynn and Garth
Brooks
* * *
Oct.
13: The
CSI Interview Experience
It’s the biggest TV show
ever set in Las Vegas, but can CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation succeed as a permanent Vegas attraction?
The folks at MGM Grand decided to find out. On
the occasion of the opening of the interactive
solve-it-yourself CSI: The Experience, Steve sat
down with both Vegas-raised creator Anthony Zuiker
and the show’s longtime star, Marg Helgenberger.
In Banter: Debate over the notion
of a Top Chef restaurant, A Bronx Tale is excellent,
Wynn's new flight deal, post-MJ career notes,
weird lights on the Cosmo and more.
Links:
CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
homepage
The CSI:
The Experience attraction at MGM Grand
VegasHappensHere.Com
on the CSI: The Experience attraction's slow start
Steve's Las Vegas Weekly column on Vegas'
Top Chef flub
The Las Vegas Sun on the Wynn Las Vegas' new
private jet deal offer
Get tickets to "A
Bronx Tale"
See Steve's photo of the weird
lights on the Cosmopolitan
VegasHappensHere.Com
about the Top Chef Sandy Valley switcheroo
* * *
Sept.
17: Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen

In a city of knockoffs and impersonations, how
do you go about reinterpreting a great piece of
music without being tainted as a copycat? Well,
it helps if you’re already a legendary rock
band in your own right behind you, too. That’s
how Cheap Trick’s doing it anyway, landing
at the Las Vegas Hilton for nine performances
of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band before a full orchestra and assisted
by such other pop stars as Joan Osbourne. Cheap
Trick’s guitarist and vocalist Rick Nielsen
joins us this hour to talk about the band’s
relationship with the Beatles, about growing up
in Rockford, Ill., and whether this swing of shows
could portend a resident Vegas gig of some form
soon.
In banter: Mindy Kaling gets Vegas whiners whining,
Terry Fator puts puppets on cabs, Amy gets a Vegas
welcome on her European cruise, Top Chef's been
good to Hubert Keller and more.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Get tickets
to see Cheap
Trick’s Sgt. Pepper Live at the Hilton
Cheap Trick’s website
Vegas
Podcast-a-Palooza on Oct. 17 at the Palms
See the redesigned VegasHappensHere.Com
Amy’s revived (for how long?) podcast, Grits
to Glitz
Amy’s trip
report on her European cruise
Sparky
of Las Vegas, our redesigner and hero
Watch the whole Mindy
Kaling clip
VegasHappensHere.Com’s rant on the whiners
re: Kaling
Luv-It Frozen Custard’s website
Join Steve’s
Facebook group “Las Vegas Needs To Grow
A Pair”
Fleur de Lys, owned by Hubert
Keller
Steve’s TV
Guide Magazine piece on CSI: The Experience
* * * Sept.
10: Hal Prince's Vegas
Legendary Broadway
producer-director Hal Prince of Phantom, Evita,
Fiddler, Sweeney Todd, Damn Yankees, Cabaret and
Pajama Game fame spars with Steve again over whether
Phantom is a downer, discusses his 2008 stroke,
predicts the Vegas version of "Phantom"
will run "indefinitely" and offers up
a split-decision on Patti LuPone's on-stage outbursts.
Prince's last remark said it all: "You're
a good interviewer, but you're dangerous."
Prince is the keynoter for the first Phantom Fan
Week in Las Vegas, which runs from Sept. 16-20
at -- where else? -- the Venetian.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Get
tickets for Phantom in Vegas
Hal Prince's Wikipedia
page
More on the Phantom
Fan Week at the Venetian
The American
Theater Wing's fascinating interview with
Hal Prince
VegasHappensHere.Com on Patti LuPone's on-stage
drama
* * *
SPECIAL
VIDEO: ELIJAH AT THE PEARL

Raw footage courtesy of KLAS-TV in Las Vegas of
Elijah "Lil Elijah J" Johnson of The
Lion King performing "Dancing Machine"
at the Pearl in the Palms on Aug. 29, 2009 for
the "Las Vegas Celebrates The Music of Michael
Jackson" benefit concert. The concert raised
more than $100,000 for the Clark County Public
Education Foundation earmarked for music education
programs in Las Vegas-area schools.
* * *
Sept.
3: The
Next Big Li'l Thing
If you were at the Palms
on Saturday for the Michael Jackson tribute benefit,
you might want to put your ticket stub in a safe
place. Years from now, the concert may very well
be remembered in the same light as Motown 25,
a magical moment when the world witnessed the
birth of a major talent. This time, it was Elijah
Johnson, the 11-year-old star of the Lion King
at Mandala
y Bay, who flew onto the stage in a burst of energy
and confidence and sang and danced with an exuberance
that now has the Tonight Show calling. Johnson,
who leaves the cast of Lion King in October, joins
us this hour with his father in the studio to
discuss that magical moment last weekend and what
it could mean for his future.
In Banter: MJ benefit follow-up, Earl Turner's
peeps are jerks, McKee's Carmen Electra infatuation,
MGM Mirage's condo issues and more.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Elijah "LilElijahJ"
Johnson’s website
Dave
McKee’s blog is Stiffs and Georges blog
Coverage by John
Katsilometes and Norm
Clarke of the Michael Jackson concert
Cinevegas’ podcast of the Moonwalker
Q-and-A
VegasHappensHere.Com
breaks the Viva Elvis title for Cirque’s
new Aria show
McKee’s Carmen
Electra infatuation
VegasHappensHere.Com on Bill Lerner’s Union
Gaming Group report on MGM
Mirage condo pricing
MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren’s CNBC
interview
VegasHappensHere.Com
on all the dirt behind the MJ event
The Myspace
site and homepage
of "Jersey Boys" star Travis Cloer,
whose gorgeous cover of "The Music and Me"
closes this episode
* * *
Aug.
27: Joan
Rivers
She’s been
mocked mercilessly for her voice, her red carpet
antics and, of course, her plastic surgery. And
yet at 76 years old, Joan Rivers is somehow still
relevant, with a new show on TV Land called How’d
You Get So Rich and stand-up shows this weekend
and next at the Venetian. Rivers returns to our
version of The Strip, too, to gab about her recent
slam on all poker players on The Celebrity Apprentice,
about how she’s more famous today than her
late nemesis Johnny Carson and about which stars
she thinks have – get this – had bad
plastic surgery.
In Banter: A Strip zip but no Dinner in the Sky?,
Hotel 32 thoughts, Top Chef Vegas and more.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Joan
Rivers’ website
Get
tickets for Joan Rivers’ Venetian shows
Hear Steve
and Erich on KNPR this week on the MJ show
The site for Vegas
Podcast-a-Palooza II
Norm on Holly
Madison on Hef’s ex
YouTube of Joan
with Gwar
YouTube
of Joan and Annie Duke
VegasHappensHere.Com on the 24/7 ABC
stakeout of Conrad Murray’s home
See the video of the Bootleg
Canyon Flightlines zipline where Steve gets
stuck
Read about the prospect of an Excalibur
zipline?
The site for Top
Chef Vegas The
R-J’s story about the nixing of a Strip
launch for the Dinner
in the Sky
Steve’s column on Hotel
32 at Monte Carlo
Joan’s new TVLand
show
Is Daniel Negreanu a racist? One blogger thinks
so
VegasHappensHere.Com
on the $2 lobster machine
*
* *
Aug.
20: Daniel
The Kid
This is an abbreviated
episode because we couldn’t get into the
studio this week because of our work schedules.
Thus, an interview-only episode featuring Daniel
Negreanu, nicknamed Kid Poker. But the kid, presently
No. 3 on the list of all-time earnings in poker
tournament play at $11.6 million, has a bit of
a wicked side, too. His Tweets during this year’s
World Series of Poker were rife with snark about
other players, Asian drivers and weird encounters
with fans on the rail, and in this week’s
conversation, Negreanu has some harsh words for
fellow star Annie Duke’s representation
of the game on the recent season of Celebrity
Apprentice. Plus, is it true that most poker players
are atheists? Negreanu answers that, too.
Links to stuff discussed:
Negreanu’s blog
site
Steve’s column about poker
and Twitter
Daniel Negreanu’s Twitter
feed
The McClatchy wire feature on Nick
Maimone, Catholic poker player
The YouTube
clip of Joan Rivers attacking
* * *
Aug.
13: Anthony
Cools' Spell
New! Get bookmarked AAC
edition
Whether you buy hypnotism
or not, there's no denying that Anthony Cools
has Las Vegas under his spell. The Paris Las Vegas
headliner has become a somehwat unlikely Strip
entrepreneur, responsible for four shows besides
his own including Bobby Slayton and Penny Lane
at the Tropicana and Mental and Freaks at O'Sheas.
Cools explains how he became the king of middle-brow
and why he thinks some of the more disgusting
acts that take place at Freaks are really "quite
romantic."
In Banter: Amy and Steve discuss Mental and Freaks,
another MJ raid, Laughlin sees an uptick, an accidental
ReHab visit, a Maggiano's deal for Amy, and more.
Links for stuff discussed:
Tickets
for Anthony Cools at Paris Las Vegas
Anthony
Cools’ website
Amy’s Norm bird video on
YouTube
Amy in Norm Clarke’s column
in the R-J
The
site for both Freaks and Mental at O'Sheas
Luke Jermay, the mentalist from
Mental
O’Sheas
homepage
Steve-O’s
website
Steve’s NYT piece on the latest MJ
pharmacy raid
Steve’s
LVW column on the Stage Door Casino
A link to see the Tropicana’s
new logo
See the latest
depressing data from the LVCVA for yourself
Las Vegas Advisor’s notice about the hot
deal at
Maggiano’s Little Italy, Amy’s
favorite place ever
Follow “Bound For Las Vegas” singer-songwriter
Tommy
Held on Twitter
Doug Elfman’s Carmen
Electra piece
* * *
Aug.
6: Smokey's
Awesome Aussies
New! Get AAC
edition
What’s a
legend of Motown doing as the chief backer of
a Vegas production featuring a white former boy
band from Australia? Smokey Robinson explains
that, talks about Michael Jackson and sings a
few bars of the first song he ever wrote this
hour. It’s no “My Girl,” but
he was only 6 when he wrote it. That’s coming
up, plus Andrew Tierney of that very band, Human
Nature, talks about the group's transition from
top-of-the-heap Down Under to headliners at, uh,
the Imperial Palace.
In Banter: MJ concert details, the attack of the
Chitown columnist, Beyonce v Anthony Cools, Prive's
woes, Tao's interesting idea and more.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Tickets for
Human
Nature at the IP
Smokey
Robinson’s website
Amy’s podcast, GritstoGlitz.com
Amy’s Norm
video
Station
Casinos in bankruptcy
Tickets for Anthony
Cools at Paris
Beyonce
review in the R-J
Prive nightclub's problems
Tao’s
Twitterhunt
Neil Steinberg’s outrageous Chicago
Sun-Times column on Vegas
VegasHappensHere.Com
attacks Neil Steinberg’s column
Steve’s column about the Stage
Door Casino
* * *
July
30: Bob Saget
We couldn’t
pull off a regular show this week because both
of us had to work overtime on Tuesday, so instead
we’re posting this interview with comic
actor Bob Saget. The Saget interview was recorded
back in April and never ran because Saget’s
dates at the Pearl Theater at the Palms were canceled,
but it’s actually a pretty interesting discussion.
Saget became famous as a wholesome TV sitcom dad
from 1987 to 1995 on “Full House”
but more recently turned his own image inside
out by being the filthiest, raunchiest comic to
appear in the 2005 documentary “The Aristocrats.”
In this conversation, Saget talks about his image,
about clubbing with the Olsen twins and his new
show, premiering this fall, called Surviving Suburbia.
Relevant Links:
Bob Saget’s website
The New
York Observer piece on Saget
Saget’s segment of “The Aristocrats”
on
YouTube
* * *
July
23: Cuchi Cuchi for Charo
You think she's just a blond,
air-headed, surgically enhanced... oh, wait. That's
last week's guest. This week, we've got Charo
the giggly, jiggly Spanish singer and guitarist,
who in the early 1970s was making as much as Sinatra
for shows on the Strip, is back in town with a
new headliner show at the Riviera. Steve chatted
with Charo this week about plastic surgery, her
affection for RuPaul and where her signature “cuchi
cuchi” line came from.
In banter: A weird WSOP interview story, a weird
Panorama Towers ad, a weird Caesars Palace sign,
a baffling Monte Carlo strategy and more.
Links
To Stuff Discussed:
Steve’s
NYT piece on the WSOP
Bear Stearns guy
Charo’s
website
Tickets to Charo’s show at
the Riviera
Hotel32
at Monte Carlo
VegasHappensHere image of RS
PALACE
Anthony Cools’ show extended
for four years
VegasHappensHere.Com
on the weird Panorama Towers job audition
*
* *
July
16:
The Smartest Little Dumb Blonde in Vegas
Holly Madison admits it:
She wants to be famous. And she doesn’t
mind being famous just for being famous –
in the tradition of Pam Anderson and Marilyn Monroe,
she says – but she wants to try her hand
at a few things first. To that end, the ex-Playmate
who appeared as Hugh Hefner’s No. 1 babe
on “The Girls Next Door” and spent
a few months as Criss Angel’s girlfriend,
now stars as the innocent-turned-naughty Bo Peep
in the Planet Hollywood burlesque production,
“Peepshow.” In this conversation,
Madison discusses her ambitions, the situations
in which she is not comfortable being nude and
– as odd as it may sound – what she’s
reading right now. You’ll be surprised that
it’s not in English.
In Banter: The
big MJ tribute benefit concert, Peep v Crazy Horse,
WSOP and Twitter, Welcome to LV sign vandals,
Prive/PHo fined, Harrah's latest Big Idea, MGM's
CSI attraction and more.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Holly
Madison’s website
Tickets for Peepshow
Las Vegas Celebrates The Music of Michael Jackson
homepage
Sparky
in Las Vegas, who worked up the current VegasLovesMJ.Com
site
Daniel Negreanu’s sometimes offensive @RealKidPoker
Twitter feed
Cirque’s Elvis
show website
Howard
Stutz’s piece on the Planet Hollywood’s
$500,000 fine
VegasHappensHere.Com on Prive’s lawsuit
against Michael Politz
Las
Vegas Sun on Harrah’s Project Link
MGM Mirage’s press release on CSI:
The Experience
The Review-Journal
on the Boulder Dam closure
The LVA item on the closure of Lamborghini
in at Vegas
VegasHappensHere.Com
on Crazy Horse v Peepshow
* * *
July
9: G-Force Winds
On stage and on
your stereo, he is laid back and comfortable.
But in tonight’s interview, saxophonist
Kenny G shows other sides of his persona: arrogant,
vain, opinionated and controversial. The musician,
who has sold 75 million albums worldwide, also
provides a fascinate behind-the-scenes story about
his first time on Johnny Carson, discusses Bill
Clinton’s influence on the popularity of
the sax and has some terse words for audience-scolding
showstoppers like Patti LuPone.
Plus, a special INTERVIEW edition of the Trivia
Question featuring Las
Vegas Advisor publisher Anthony Curtis, aka
Curtis Flowers speaking for the first time about
his alias.
In Banter: Michael
Jackson's memorial, Steve is Hispanic, the WSOP
is off and running, The Hangover is mostly Vegasly
accurate and more.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Tickets
for Kenny G on July 10-12 at the Orleans
Kenny
G’s website
Alan
Albert’s restaurant on Yelp
YouTube clips of Paris
Jackson, Mariah
Carey and Jermaine
Jackson at MJ’s memorial
VegasHappensHere.Com on the possible Jackson
Fourish show
VegasHappensHere.Com
on Steve’s Hispanic excursion
Survey
America’s website
Phil Hellmuth’s arrival at the WSOP on
YouTube
Doyle
Brunson’s Twitter feed
The Review-Journal’s report on the overage
at WSOP’s
Fourth Day One
Doug
Elfman’s column about Carmen Electra
in Crazy Horse Paris
Who is new "Peepshow" Aubrey
O’Day?
The YouTube clip of the Vegas TV reporter’s
Fremont
Street tussle
Kenny
G’s Guiness Record for holding a note
for 45 minutes challenged
* * *
July
2: Rolling
With Dice
Hide the kiddies, brace
yourself and, if you’re easily offended,
you may want to skip at least the second half
of this week’s show. Andrew Dice Clay is
coming to Vegas in July for another set of shows
on the Strip that may portend a headliner residency,
so the controversial and foul-mouthed comic is
our guest tonight. Is he, as he likes to say,
the Elvis of comedy, or is he, as Steve put it
in their conversation much to Dice’s annoyance,
an overgrown Fonzie? Judge for yourself this hour
as they go at it about the 51-year-old’s
overactive sex life, about ejecting hecklers and
about why he canceled some recent shows in Utah.
Plus, hear his version of what happened when Saturday
Night Live player Nora Dunn quit the show because
he was hosting.
In Banter: The Twin River racino, Michael Jackson’s
death, Patti LuPone’s outburst, the Danny
Gans 911 call, the tricky Brotastic ad, the survey
about Vegas tourist walking habits and Lance Burton
looks forward to six more years and (then?) the
Monte Carlo’s implosion.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Andrew
Dice Clay’s website
Steve’s New York Times piece on the bankrupt
Rhode Island racino
VegasHappensHere.Com
photos of the Twin River casino in RI
Hear
the Danny
Gans 911 call
Norm
Clarke on Lance Burton’s new deal
The billboard for Brotastic/Blue
Man Group
Steve’s column on the Patti
LuPone text-messaging incident
Hear KNPR
on Michael Jackson’s death and his Vegas
relevance
Steve’s column on rehabbing MJ’s image
The Las Vegas Sun on Boulder
City Hotel’s money woes and the NYT
travel on Boulder City
The Las
Vegas Sun on the data related to walking tourists
and Orbitz hotel bookings
Our episode with Whoopi
Goldberg from Nov. 9, 2006
Wikipedia on the difference between a “video
lottery terminal” and a slot machine
The L.A.
Times’ tasteless blog headline on Billy
Mays’ death
* * *
June
18: A
Tony Winner and an Oscar
This week, on the
Strip: We spoke to her nearly two years ago and
she was hinting at a comeback she didn’t
want to jinx. And, in fact, Broadway legend –
and Steve’s gayest obsession – Patti
Lupone did have a trick up her sleeve: A few months
later, she returned to the Great White Way in
the title role of “Gypsy” and walked
off with her first Tony award since her 1981 triumph
for “Evita.” Lupone is back in Vegas
on June 20 and 21 for shows at the Orleans, so
Steve got her back on the line to see how her
life has changed. Among other things, Lupone went
on a bit of a rant about poor Susan Boyle and
the nature of celebrity. That’s coming up.
Also, we check in with Mayor Oscar Goodman about
Obama’s recent visit and gives an update
on plans to resettle the Star Trek Experience
in Las Vegas.
In Banter: Cinevegas,
Sheer Madness, a listeners' Wynn visit, how Steve
saved $400 on his Connecticut rental car, All-In:
The Poker Movie, Charo, Larry King, MGM Grand
Egypt and more.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Tickets for
Patti LuPone’s June 20-21 shows at
the Orleans
Patti
LuPone’s website
Guest host Amy’s show, GritstoGlitz.Com
All about the odd Summer
of ’69 thing at Fremont Street
Sheer
Madness at Town Square The
Las
Vegas Sun on All-In: The Poker Movie, the
Cinevegas documentary champ
VegasHappensHere.Com
on Jon Voight’s Roy-tiger tale
More on the Lookin’
To Get Out film is here
The R-J’s Mike Weatherford of the R-J on
Charo’s
coming to Vegas
The Sun on Cheap
Trick’s Beatles show
The
latest on Sen. John
Ensign’s sex scandal
The R-J on MGM
Grand’s Egypt plans
The
AP on on Oscar Goodman’s electoral plans
The Sun on Carolyn and Oscar Goodman’s political
ambitions
* * *
SPECIAL
VIDEO EP: JON VOIGHT REVEALS
1981 ROY-TIGER INCIDENT
* * *
June
11: Engelbert Humperdinck
In our quest to
cover all the classic old-timers of Vegas lore,
one fixture we hadn’t yet caught up with
was Englebert Humperdinck, the British chart-topper
who was first brought to the Strip in 1968 by
none other than Dean Martin. Humperdinck, now
73, talks about everything from Liberace to Lambert,
recalls Howard Stern's playing with his hair,
explains why James Blunt fits in the canon with
Clapton and McCartney and discusses the fact that
his rival, Tom Jones, has received a knighthood
while he has not. Humperdinck performs in Vegas
at the Orleans on June 11-14 playing his hits
as well as the contemporary pop songs he covered
in his 2007 album, “The Winding Road.”
In Banter: Danny
Gans’ cause of death, the Cinevegas passes
contest winner, the future of the TI, Steve’s
show spree, changes at Peepshow, Robuchon’s
odd discount and the Chippendales do Paris.
Links To Stuff
Discussed:
Engelbert Humperdinck’s
website
Tickets for Engelbert
Humperdinck’s shows June 11-14 at the
Orleans
The shirtless Engelbert Humperdinck “Release
Me” video
VegasHappensHere.Com
photos and links regarding the Treasure Island
changes
Pictures of the Wynn
Sky Casino
Joel
Robuchon’s “discount” menus
VegasHappensHere.Com on the Peepshow
changes
The YouTube
version of the special video edition of The
Strip from Bethlehem, Pa.
Hear the Gans
death press conference
* * *
June
4 : Jon Voight
Actor Jon Voight's
roles in Midnight Cowboy, Deliverance and Coming
Home made him one of the most iconic movie stars
of the 1970s. He’s also the father of one
of the most iconic movie stars of this era, Angelina
Jolie. Voight is being honored with the Marquee
Award at Cinevegas
at a June 14 ceremony where an overhauled version
of his 1982 Vegas-set comedy “Lookin’
To Get Out” will be screened. The film also
stars Ann-Margret and was Angelina Jolie’s
first film role. In this conversation, Steve and
Jon Voight discuss his experiences with everything
from Midnight Cowboy to Coming Home to Seinfeld.
Then Voight explains how he turned from being
an anti-Vietnam War activist to a fan of George
W. Bush and Sarah Palin. He also has some harsh
words for President Barack Obama.
* * *
May
28: Carlos Santana
It may be one heckuva
a recession, but the Hard Rock Hotel has pulled
out all the stops on its new version of The Joint,
spending $60 million on the posh new concert venue
and signing modern Las Vegas’ first resident
rock ‘n roll act in Carlos Santana. The
61-year-old guitar legend granted Steve one of
only a few interviews in advance of his first
set of shows, which begin Wednesday night. Santana
talks to Steve about playing the old Joint on
the millennial New Year’s Eve, about his
views about Vegas and about which athlete he thinks
is more impressive than Tiger Woods. That’s
coming up. Also, hear an excerpt of Steve’s
explosive chat last week with Las Vegas Sands
CEO Sheldon Adelson in which explains his company’s
freefall and bats back against Steve Wynn’s
criticism of their strategy in Macau.
In Banter: More
on Bethlehem and Adelson, Danny Gans memorial
and curse, Wolfgang Puck, Obama: The Las Vegas
Spectacular, Adam Lambert, Jeff Beacher and Pansy
Ho.
Links to stuff
discussed:
Carlos
Santana’s website
Tickets
for Santana at the Joint
Guest host Murphy’s show, Spankwagon
All VegasHappensHere.Com coverage of Bethlehem
and Sands
Steve
on KNPR discussing "Obama: The Las Vegas
Spectacular" at Caesars
The Review-Journal’s
Molly Ball on "Obama: The Las Vegas Spectacular"
The Strip Sense column on Adam
Lambert’s Vegas potential
Norm
Clarke’s reports about the Mirage-Jeff
Beacher alliance and the messy Whoopi show
Hot
Club of Las Vegas with singer Carol Linnea
Johnson
The Utah
Shakespearean Festival schedule
The Bootlegger
Bistro where Hot Club plays on June 5
* * *
Special
Video Ep: May
22 opening of the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem

* * *
May
21: It's Cranky Miller
Time
Comic and political
commentator Dennis Miller has a reputation for
being cantankerous and on this week’s show,
he lives up to that image to the fullest. More
than three years after he came on this show and
complimented us as erudite and astute, he’s
back in a tense conversation that he ends abruptly
because it’s, well, “too deep.”
In Banter: No news
on Danny Gans yet, is Lion King a wise Vegas move,
British Airways opens daily nonstops, the pasties
are gone from and Holly Madison is coming to Peepshow
and Menopause finds a new home at the recently
hipped-up Luxor.
Due to travel,
links for this episode will be listed on VegasHappensHere.Com
after the show is posted.
* * *
SPECIAL
5/1
EDITION: REMEMBERING DANNY GANS
see full Danny
Gans coverage here
May
7: Danny Gans' Muse
Las Vegas is in
stunned mourning this week following the shocking
death Friday of impressionist Danny Gans. We’ll
talk about that at the top of the show, but it’s
also fitting that our guest this week is comic
Jeff Foxworthy because Gans spent at least 10
minutes in every show doing Foxworthy and his
trademark redneck jokes. Foxworthy talks about
Gans, about performing for presidents Clinton
and Bush and about hosting dimwit adults on the
hit TV game show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth
Grader?
In banter: Danny
Gans’ death, Jim Murren’s defense,
China’s wacky swine flu response, Peepshow’s
surprisingly great, Peppermill’s surprisingly
classy and Vegas stocks are inexplicably way up.
Links to topics
discussed:
Jeff
Foxworthy’s website
Tickets to Jeff Foxworthy’s May 16 tickets
at The
Orleans
LasVegasSun.Com’s
piece following Dave Navarro in Vegas via Twitter
VegasHappensHere.Com coverage of the death
of Danny Gans
The press release for Beyonce
ticket prices at Encore
MGM’s
earnings as covered by Howard Stutz of the
Review-Journal
VegasHappensHere.Com on swine
flu in Macau
The YouTube
clip of Carrie Prejean and Pat Robertson
The YouTube clip of Kelly
Pickler and Jeff Foxworthy
The Peppermill
Coffee Shop’s website
Ex-Milwaukeean chef
Paul Bartolotta’s hometown blog on his
2nd James Beard Award
Carol Cling’s “Shooting Stars”
column on Top
Chef gossip
The Twitter
feed for Miles’ station, KVBC
The Reno News & Review on gay-rights
legislation pending in Nevada
* * *
April
30: Top Chef's Top Chef
Some chefs are
TV stars first, then Vegas restaurateurs. Tom
Colicchio did it the other way around. The five-time
James Beard Award winner already owned Craftsteak
and ‘wichcraft at the MGM Grand when he
was tapped to become the chief judge for the hit
Bravo reality competition Top Chef. The show began
filming its sixth season in Las Vegas this week,
although this interview took place a day before
that was confirmed. Still, Steve spoke to Colicchio
at length about everything from his criticism
of the show’s finale format to the late
Natasha Richardson’s stint as a guest judge
last season. Colicchio also retells how he saved
the life of a famous food writer at an Obama inauguration
party in January. Plus, as always, we asked him
about his fast food preferences, if any.
In Banter: Top
Chef a'coming, Angel v. Perez, Fontainebleau's
problems, coinful slots, changes to WSOP and more.
Links
to stuff discussed:
Craft
Restaurants’ website
VegasHappensHere.Com on Top
Chef Vegas
The UPI
wire service on the Kelly Monaco burglary
TripAdvisor.Com
on Golden Gate’s $19.06 special
Elvolution star Trent
Carlini’s site
Las
Vegas Sun’s Joe Brown raves about Elvolution
Norm Clarke’s call for Criss
Angel to be fired
Hear the
podcast of the vermin Perez Hilton’s
panel to Vegas for a charity event
VegasHappensHere.Com’s
post about the Fontainebleau problems
The Associated Press on the trend back toward
coin-full
slot machines
The New
York Times on the possible Nevada lottery
VegasHappensHere.Com
on the changes afoot for the 40th World Series
of Poker
The site for that wacky plastic
surgeons convention
the photo Mark from Chicago sent us on VegasHappensHere.Com
* * *
April
23: Shecky's Complaint
When Steve makes
a joke that’s so awful it’s funny,
Miles refers to him as Shecky Friess. That’s
because long before Steve was hamming it up badly,
comic Shecky Greene was one of the legendary comedians
who made Las Vegas what it is today. Greene, now
83, is back in town for a three-show gig at the
Suncoast next month, so Shecky Friess chatted
him up about being tackled by Buddy Hackett in
the middle of Paradise Road, about crashing his
car in the Caesars Palace fountains and about
which of the current crop of comics he loves and
which he hates with, as Shecky put it, “a
purple passion.” Take a listen and have
a great week.
Links:
Shecky
Greene's site
Tickets for Shecky's show at the
Suncoast
* * *
April
16: Hard Rock's Sweetest
Star
In retrospect,
Dee Snider was born to play Vegas. And finally,
thanks to Monster Circus at the Las Vegas Hilton,
that time has come for the long-haired, gravel-throated,
lingerie-wearing front man for the heavy metal
band Twisted Sister. The former choir boy from
Long Island speaks this hour to Steve about the
show, about just how subversive all that hard-rocking
crossdressing was back in the day and about Barry
Manilow’s reaction to sharing his showroom
with this bunch. Plus, is Gene Simmons of Kiss
really is as big a jerk as he seems? Snider has
some interesting thoughts on that, too.
In Banter: Le Reve's
new ending, the Venetian's umbrella act, Wynn
on TV, Hellmuth via chariot, bye-bye whore tax
and a great new Vegas pay-per-view idea.
Links to stuff
we discuss:
Dee
Snider’s website
Monster
Circus tickets
Snider’s radio shows Fangoria
and House
of Hair
A Monster Circus review by Joe Brown of the Las
Vegas Sun
Shecky
Greene’s website
The Washington
Post on NPR’s record ratings in 2008
American Anonymous by Benoit
Denizet-Lewis
Vanity
Fair piece on Bernie Madoff
The “60
Minutes”, uh, loving portrait with Steve
Wynn
Jon Ralston’s interviews with Steve Wynn,
Day
One and Day
Two
Steve’s Las
Vegas Weekly column about the death of the
whore tax
VegasHappensHere.Com photos of The Joint
The logo of Loves
Park, Illinois
* * *
April
9: Marie Osmond, Part II
In Banter: MGM
goes up and down, Tony Curtis is weird, CityCenter
may seem cluttered and legislators ponder a whore
tax.
Last week she talked
about genteel topics like Groucho Marx pinching
her butt and brother Donny falling off tables.
But this week, Marie Osmond gets controversial,
particularly when she’s talking about what
she knows about the behind-the-scenes world of
Dancing With the Stars and American Idol.
Links to stuff
we discuss:
Tickets for
the Donny
and Marie show
GritsToGlitz.Com,
guest co-host Amy’s show
Jill Curtis’s horse rescue organization,
Shiloh
VegasHappensHere’s
photo of the F’bleau towering over the Riv
The Strip’s Tony
Curtis episode
The
A.P. on the whore tax hearings
RuPaul’s
Drag Race TV show
* * *
April
2: Marie Osmond, Part
I
She’s a little
bit country and a little bit, well, you know the
rest. But she’s also now a big bit of a
Strip headliner. Marie Osmond, she of the gigantic
gleaming smile stretched across the Flamingo,
joins us this hour to talk about show business
nepotism, performing with everyone from Groucho
Marx to Snoop Dogg and the night she and Donny
performed their Vegas show in the dark.
In Banter: Freaks
at O'Sheas, MGM drama, Follies bye- bye, Vegas
impersonator jailed in Suriname.
Links to stuff
mentioned:
Tickets
for the Donny
and Marie show
The 2009 results of the R-J’s
Best of Las Vegas survey
The VegasHappensHere.Com
post on the mayoral chips for Airmen
The website for SeaWorld’s
Military Program
Sites for Minskoff
and Mandalay
theaters, both of which now house The Lion King
KNPR,
the Las Vegas NPR member station
A Las Vegas Sun piece on Freaks,
a gross new show at O’Sheas
VegasHappensHere.Com
on MGM making their payment
MGM
Mirage CEO Jim Murren’s letter to employees
News on Hooters,
Riviera
and Bally’s
closing its sportsbook until September
Mike
Weatherford’s coverage of the closure
of Folies Bergere at the Tropicana
Gaming Today’s Monti Rock III on Bobby
Slayton’s Trop deal
Norm
Clarke’s coverage of the Toni Braxton
impersonator jailed in Suriname
* * *
March
26: Anthony Marnell III
His father built
the Mirage, Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas, Sam’s
Town, the Rio, Caesars Forum Shops and countless
other iconic structures. But now is 35-year-old
Anthony Marnell III’s time, with the surprisingly
successful opening of the $1 billion M Resort
way, way, WAY south on Las Vegas Boulevard. Marnell
the younger talks this hour about the future of
his famous M Blimp, about growing up on Vegas
construction sites and about why the new resort
is in some ways a way for his father to receive
the recognition he deserves. Plus, Steve confronts
him about whether putting a pharmacy in a casino
is, as Steve believes, predatory.
In Banter: MGM
Mirage's woes, Phil Ruffin's financing issue,
Luxor billboards, hard-to-believe Lion King ticket
sales, getting in trouble taking pictures in casinos
and thought on Terry Fator.
Links to stuff
mentioned:
The M
Resort’s site
The Strip
Sense column on the Olds’ visit to the
M
VegasHappensHere.Com
coverage of the Reid-MGM controversy
The Review-Journal’s
Howard Stutz reveals that Phil Ruffin can’t
seem to finance $175 million
VegasHappensHere.Com
on the Luxor billboards
Norm
Clarke’s report on the
Lion King’s ticket sales
VegasHappensHere.Com
breaks news that Celine Dion has inked a Caesars
deal
Reviews of Terry Fator from VegasHappensHere.Com,
the Las
Vegas Sun and the Review-Journal
The R-J’s
Ben Spillman’s piece about a blogger
who fought with Cannery security about photos
The Poker
Grump blog
The Dinner
In The Sky in Las Vegas website
*
* *
SUPERSIZED
EP!! March 10:
Race To Trump Mountain
This week, on the
Strip: He’s bold, he’s brash, he’s
arrogant. And he’s on this show tonight.
Donald Trump spoke to Steve last month for a New
York Times piece on the Vegas real estate crash
that appears in the Friday, March 6, issue. You
get to hear that conversation in full this hour,
including Mr. Trump’s conclusion that the
American economy is in a depression and his mockery
of the stalled condo development at the Venetian.
Also, we hear from the director of the new Disney
adventure “Race To Witch Mountain”
as he explains how a Vegas cab can get from Planet
Hollywood to Fremont Street in 10 seconds flat.
In banter:
Siegfried & Roy's return, Vegas economic ups
and downs, Elaine Wynn's In N Out fetish and M
Resort has opened.
Links:
Steve’s
New
York Times piece on the second-home market
crash
The Race
To Witch Mountain website
Film director Andy
Fickman’s IMDB page
The VegasHappensHere.Com posts on the Siegfried
& Roy’s return, 20/20
appearance and aborted
third trick
Cleveland
Clinic Ruvo Center for Brain Health’s
site
The VegasHappensHere.Com
post touting Hawaiian Air’s additional Vegas
service
An Associated Press report on Allegiant
Air’s good numbers
A
Reuters
piece on Terrible’s possible bankruptcy
An Associated Press piece on the Adelson-v-
Weidner tussle
A Dow Jones piece on the Boyd-v-Station
tussle
The Wikipedia history on the Moulin
Rouge
The site for Jersey
Boys Las Vegas
All you want to know about Frank
Marino’s Vegas exit
The VegasHappensHere.Com
post on Elaine Wynn
The site for RuPaul’s
Drag Race
A Las
Vegas Business Press report on the Trump class
action suit
* * *
SPECIAL
VIDEO EP: Cirque's Open Dance Auditions
On Feb. 10, I observed
Cirque du Soleil's open audition process for dancers.
Here's some of the footage of what went on and
how it worked. Follow the link to my Las Vegas
Weekly column to read more.
* * *
Feb.
25: Dino's Boy

Before there was Shake-Your-Bon-Bon Ricky
Martin, there was another singer by the same
name, albeit spelled a little differently. Dean
Martin's son Ricci joins Steve for a fun walk
down memory lane, with some great anecdotes about
Sinatra and Old Vegas and some thoughts on the
children of celebrities.
This is an interview-only episode while we await
the return of the LVRocks studio. And there will
be a return! Stay tuned!
* * *
Feb.
15: The
Impressionist Era Of Vegas...
with Terry
Fator and Gordie Brown
Call it the impressionist
period of Las Vegas. This month, three major impersonator
acts open – or reopen. Danny Gans relocated
to Encore, Terry Fator took Gans’ space
at the Mirage and Gordie Brown, late of the Venetian,
has returned to his old Golden Nugget haunts.
Fator and Brown both join us this hour. Find out
what Fator’s new Mirage-appropriate puppet
will be and hear all about Brown’s early
years as a celebrity stalker. Plus, Steve grills
Brown on parts of his act he didn’t like.
In Banter: Behind the scenes
at Cirque dance auditions, Oscar v Obama, Curtas
v Encore, bye-bye La Cage and Heidi Fleiss, the
Excalibur’s new deal.
Links:
Get tickets
for Terry Fator at the Mirage here
Get tickets to Gordie Brown at the Golden Nugget
here
Get tickets for Danny Gans at Wynn Las Vegas here
Terry Fator’s website is here
Gordie Brown’s website is here
Danny Gans’ website is here
Read Steve’s column on Danny Gans’
show here
Find out what happened to the LVRocks studio here
Read Steve’s posts on the Obama v Oscar
row here
and here
Hear the 2/12 Oscar Goodman press conference here
Read John Curtas’ blog review of Encore
here
The Review-Journal’s report on the closure
of La Cage is here
The Las Vegas Sun’s story on the rebranding
of the Trop is here
If you care, Richard Abowitz discusses Heidi Fleiss’
no-go of a stud farm here
Read about the smoker to fell out of the Circus
Circus window here
Our listeners’ new show Seattle Geekly,
can be found here
Buy an Edirol that we use to record interviews
here
See the list of companies likely to go under,
with two Vegas-related entries, here
* * *
SPECIAL:
MAYOR GOODMAN'S 2/12 PRESS CONFERENCE
* * *
Jan.
29: Poker's
Hellian
He owns a record
eleven World Series of Poker bracelets and has
earned well over $8 million in his poker tournament
career, but the reputed bad boy of Texas Hold
‘Em isn’t done yet. Phil Hellmuth,
who has a forthcoming documentary and memoir,
opens up this hour about his quest for bracelet
number 12, about how why he stormed off the set
of NBC’s Poker After Dark two years ago
and about what the 2008 World Series of Poker
final table contestants did wrong.
In Banter: Fishing
in Las
Vegas, a mea culpa and taxing the brothels.
Links:
Phil Hellmuth’s
website is here
See Phil Hellmuth storm off the set of NBC's Poker
After Dark here
See a list of Hellmuth's biggest blow-ups here
See the odd McCarran billboards that prompted
a rant here
Steve’s NYT piece on the potential of a
brothel tax is here
A site for the Jasmine Tea House where Steve and
Miles had great Chinese in SF is here
The L.A. Times’ Richard Abowitz' brutal
piece on Miss America is here
* * *
Jan.
22: A
Diamond In The Ruffin
Others may be more
creative, more ambitious and more flamboyant,
but nobody nobody on the modern scene today is
as brillian t – or as fortunate –
at making deals as Phil Ruffin. The 72-year-old
Kansas billionaire sold the New Frontier land
in 2007 for a record $35 million an acre before
the real estate crash, and now he’s used
a mere $775 million of that profit to pick up
the Treasure Island. For the first time this hour,
Ruffin discloses some new plans for the property,
explains why he’s unlikely to ever buy a
Harrah’s property and reveals the reason
he’ll never build anything in Vegas. Plus,
he dishes about Wynn, Trump, his young wife and
the billionaires’ poker game he wins year
after year.
In banter: Obama’s
Vegas stage moment, Folies, Menopause and Scintas
closing, Rita will go on and on, MGM Mirage’s
reservation system woes, the F’Bleau will
be finished, does anyone care about Joaquin Phoenix’s
music career?
Links:
Phil
Ruffin’s Wikipedia bio is here
See the LV Sun’s post about Rita Rudner
extending at Harrah’s here
The R-J’s report that Folies Bergere is
closing here
Steve’s blog post about the Obama inauguration
at the Hilton is here
The Las Vegas Sun says F-Bleau will finish no
matter what here
Steve’s NYT on the mob museum is here
and the Daily Show appearance is here
Norm reports Scintas and Menopause here
Doug Elfman wonders if Joaquin Phoenix’s
rap career is a hoax here
MGM Mirage’s online reservation outage was
only reported here
Miles’ hearts the hateful, vile Ann Coulter
and Michael Savage. Find them here
and here
The weird George Wallace show that Desiree referred
to is here
* * *
Jan.
15:
Top 10 Moments of 2008!
   

Steve, Steve, Steve.
Wynn, that is. We’ve tallied up the Top
10 moments of 2008 as voted on by you and, surprise
surprise, Mr. Wynn is involved in some way in
six of them. But, still, a few others made outrageously
memorable remarks on this program during the year
that was, and we take our annual look back at
all of it tonight. For good measure, though, we’ve
got some never-before-heard bits to keep it fresh.
Plus, news from Vegas, a new trivia question and
a poll. You’re on the Strip, brought to
you by Priceline.Com and Hotels.Com, and we’re
kicking off a new year with a new theme song!
In Banter: The
mob museum, Octavius tower blues, our staycation
at Trump and Encore and a very weird phone call.
Links:
Norm’s
piece on Cheap Trick is here
Steve’s NYT piece and blog post on the mob
museum is here
Steve’s coverage of the porn confab for
Newsweek in 2003 is here
The AP story on the halt of the newest Caesars
tower is here
* * *
Jan.
8:
Mamma Mia! Exit Interviews
The skeptics –
including Steve -- said it would never work. A
two-act, full-length musical scored by decades-old
pop songs telling a convoluted story about parenthood
and spandex could never, possibly succeed in Las
Vegas. But succeed “Mamma Mia!”
did, emboldening another half-dozen or so musicals
to believe they, too, were Strip-worthy, only
to find out that what Mamma Mia did so effortlessly
was actually quite a feat. But all good things
must come to an end, and on Sunday, Mandalay Bay
said goodbye to Donna, Sophie, her three possible
dads and the rest of the cast. We, however, aren’t
done yet. Tonight we have live in the studio Brad
Grey and Tim Tucker, the only two actors who stayed
with the show for its entire, record-breaking
Las Vegas run.
In Banter: New
Year's Eve fireworks sucked, CityCenter's hiring,
Stratosphere's laying off, The Harmon's in limbo,
Tamara's stalled and Paris' empty showroom is
a blessing.
Links:
See Tim
Tucker's website here
Hear Steve euologize Mamma Mia! on KNPR by clicking
here
See more on CityCenter's Harmon stall here
See rants from Fox viewers about the lousy NYE
fireworks here
See the last blog post about Tamara at Venetian,
now stalled, here
See more about Stratosphere's restaurant woes
here
* * *
Jan.
1: ...And A Wynning
New Year
We’ve walked
through Encore with him and chatted him up about
everything from that damaged Picasso to the exact
curvature of his resort towers. So what’s
left to talk about with Steve Wynn? Well, it’s
Steve Wynn, so there’s always more. We finish
playing our pre-Encore interview tonight with
discussion of Wynn’s athletic prowess, his
concerns about the economy and a little Gandhi
chit-chat, too.
In Banter: Switch
at Encore, the view from Capital Grille, Criss
Angel on Larry King, Danny Gans’ Encore
poster and free coffee at Silverton.
Links:
Find the site
for Bagelmania here
Heidi Knapp Rinella’s Top 10 restaurants
reviewed in 2008 is here
See the Danny Gans poster at Encore here
Read more about the Silverton’s Starbucks
offering and other casino freebies here
* * *
Dec.
25: Wynn's Encore, Part
I
This is Steve Wynn’s
week, no doubt about it. On what is traditionally
one of the slowest nights in Las Vegas and in
the middle of the worst recession in generations,
he opened the doors to his $2.3 billion expansion,
Encore. The results were a flood of curious explorers
that led to bumper to bumper traffic on the Strip
as far south as the Mandalay Bay and a line all
the way into the Wynn casino. In honor of that
milestone, over the next two weeks we’re
presenting our interview earlier this month with
Wynn in which he talks about everything from the
shape of the buildings to the original plans for
the Encore TV commercial.
In Banter: Encore,
snow, Criss Angel, City Center, Elton John.
Links:
See Encore
here
See pix of the snow in Vegas here
Read CityLife's cover of Criss Angel here
See the breaking news about Elton John here
See the L.A. Times' glowing review of Encore Las
Vegas here
See the video for Richard Cheese's"Christmas in
Las Vegas" here
See Steve's coverage of the Treasure Island sale
here
See the Vdara sign photo here
* * *
SPECIAL
VIDEO: SEE
THE WYNNS OPEN ENCORE

* * *
SPECIAL:
Tour Encore with Steve Wynn
On Dec. 16, Steve
Wynn led Steve Friess on a tour of his newest
$2.3 billion resort, Encore. No other journalist
received this level of access. A map
of Encore can be found here and an annotated
written guide for you to follow along is here.
* * *
Dec.
4: Brian Wilson, Cheech Marin

We never know quite
what to do when Steve emerges from his office
after an interview and says, ‘Well, that
sucked.’ Usually, he’s wrong. And
tonight, we’re going to find out. This fall,
Steve chatted with Cheech Marin and Brian Wilson
and, each time, he was initially dissatisfied
with the outcome. But in reviewing them later,
decided the conversations were Strip-worthy after
all, perhaps because of their weirdness. So, this
week , we let ‘em rip.
In Banter: Viva
McDonalds is a McDonalds, Copperfield's still
great, the gingerbread house display is pretty
cool, R is for what?!?! and Wynn's doing it Sinatra's
way.
Links:
See Brian
Wilson’s website here
See Cheech Marin’s website here
See pictures of Steve and Miles’ dogs, originally
named Cheech and Chong, here
Read about the first new smokefree casino in Nevada
here
See the website of the Blue Moon Resort here
See Steve’s column about David Copperfield
here
Get tickets to the David Copperfield show here
The MGM’s Mastercard promotion can be found
here
The Encore website is here
Norm’s reportage about the Sinatra restaurant
is here
Norm’s scoop on Wynn’s effort to buy
the Guardian Angel Cathedral is here
See Steve’s picture at Binion’s is
here
Doug Elfman’s report on how hard it was
to interview Brian Wilson is here
* * *
Nov.
27: The Other Wynn
We know you’re
sick of politics this time of year, but we’re
serving it up this week with a distinctive female
touch. First, a very rare interview with the first
lady of Las Vegas, Elaine Wynn, as she explains
her journey from lifelong Republican to Obamatic,
much to the dismay of her industry and her husband.
You might’ve heard of him. Then, U.S. Rep.
Shelley Berkley returns to the program to explain
what’s happening with that Internet gambling
ban, but what Steve secretly really wanted to
know is, has she had any more plastic surgery?
Links:
Steve’s
column about Elaine Wynn is here
Find Steve on Facebook here
See the recipe that Steve needed duck fat for
here
The fraudulent but widely distributed report that
Vegas is the T-Day king is here
See what Steve found in Bob Maheu’s trash
here
TV Guide’s report about Peepshow at Planet
Hollywood is here
See this week’s TicketNews.Com ratings here
The Believe-less piece on Criss Angel’s
possible NBC sitcom from Variety is here
Norm’s report on Danny Gans’ last
Mirage show is here
See the weird YouTube thing about, uh, Steve Frice
here
Read Steve’s review of the Wynn Las Vegas
in the Chicago Tribune from 2005 here
A report on Bush’s midnight regs on Internet
gaming here
* * *
Nov.
18: Cirque's Top Guy
Cirque du Soleil
founder Guy Laliberte, the former street performer
who redefined the human circus into a worldwide
entertainment phenomenon, just helped open the
company’s sixth show on the Las Vegas Strip,
Criss Angel Believe. He gave Steve 10 minutes
the day of the show’s opening which, of
course, meant Steve took 15. In this conversation,
Laliberte defends the show and his alliance with
the controversial Mindfreak illusionist, discusses
the recent purchase of a large chunk of his company
by Dubai and tells why there won’t be a
Cirque show at Mandalay Bay … YET. Just
a note, this interview was conducted outside so
Laliberte could smoke, so there is some background
noise.
In banter: Terry
Lanni goes bye-bye, LVS lays off 11,000, MGM Mirage's
CityCenter condo sales suck, Vegas may be shrinking,
Wynn joins the S&P 500, Bob Maheu's awesome
house and Jubilee! goes, uh, topful.
Links:
Cirque
du Soleil’s website, where they sell tickets
for all their shows, is here
The R-J’s Arnold Knightly’s report
about the changing of the guard at MGM Mirage
is here
MGM Mirage’s press release on its deal to
build in Vietnam is here
The WSJ blog on Sheldon Adelson’s vanishing
fortunes is here
A piece on Primm’s woes is here
and a piece about Mesquite’s closure is
here
The R-J’s coverage of Sheryl Crow and the
Aliante opening is here
See a piece on Wynn’s joining the S&P
500 here
Read Steve’s blog commentary about Vegas
shrinking here
Norm’s coverage of Jubilee! going topful
is here
A piece on Vegas’ brief flirtation with
lowering the gambling age to 18 is here
Take a virtual tour of Bob Maheu’s home
on Steve’s blog here
* * *
SPECIAL:
Wanda Sykes Comes Out @ Vegas Protest
* * *
Nov.
11: Norm Clarke Confidential
Pete Rose bitch
slapped him. Criss Angel threatened to blind him.
And countless celebrities and notables alternately
love and loathe him. Norm Clarke, this city’s
premier gossip columnist, joins us in the studio
this hour to talk about his adventures in the
ever-fascinating world of Las Vegas fame and to
discuss his new book, “Sinsational Celebrity
Tales.” In the process, we learn more about
Norm's famous eye patch, about his infamous DUI
arrest and about what kinds of stories he doesn't
touch.
Plus: Criss Angel's
suckage, poker's big night, Aliante opens, Adelson's
fortunes keep sinking and Stomp is being replaced.
Also, thanks to
Amy from GritstoGlitz.com
for filling in while Miles was ailing.
Links:
See Norm’s
website here
Buy Norm’s new book, Sinsational Celebrity
Tales here
Check out guest co-host Amy’s podcast here
Find out more about RateVegas.Com’s new
VegasMate iPhone app here
Read Criss Angel reviews from Mike Weatherford
and Joe Brown here
and here
See Steve’s column on his encounter with
Wanda at the Criss Angel show here
Weekly rankings for Vegas s hows can be found
from TicketNews.com here
See the R-J’s coverage of the opening of
Aliante Station here
Steve’s coverage of the poker finale is
here
and of the poker’s changing fortunes is
here
Information about “The Real Deal”
show at the Venetian here
See a recent Wall Street Journal piece on the
Las Vegas Sands’ troubles here
* * *
Oct.
30: Tony Curtis, Part II
If you thought
Tony Curtis’ remarks on last week’s
show were something, just wait till you hear the
rest of it. The actor, out with a sex-soaked memoir
of his career and life, offers some tough words
this hour for a long list of Hollywood figures
including Jerry Lewis, Angela Lansbury, Danny
Kaye, Neil Simon and more. Then, later, he discusses
his own mental health issues, his views of old
and new Vegas and tries to explain why he’s
so disappointed by his film career.
In Banter: Is Criss
No. 1, Paris is for shopping and what really ails
Las Vegas Sands?
Links
Steve’s
piece on Tony Curtis for USA Today is here
Tony Curtis’s Wikipedia entry is here
Is Criss Angel is No. 1? See here
See more about LVS crashing again here
Steve’s column about resort anniversaries
is here
Is Paris for shoppers? Read more here
* * *
Oct.
23: Tony Curtis, Part I
Fifty years ago,
there were few Hollywood heartthrobs hotter than
Tony Curtis. This month, the star of "Some
Like It Hot" and "The Defiant Ones"
published a memoir of those glory days in which
he recounts in great detail his almost compulsive
sex life, his troubled childhood, his celebrity
feuds and his triumph over a late-career cocaine
addiction. As gripping as the book was, the interview
about the book was even better, more detailed,
more telling.
In banter: Harrah's
woes, smoke-free casinos and why didn't the Bellagio
have a 10th birthday party.
Links
Steve’s
piece on Tony Curtis for USA Today is here
Tony Curtis’s Wikipedia entry is here
Jon Ralston’s take on the Palin’s
Nevada appearance here
See pictures from the Palin rally and see the
McCain song sheet music here
Read more about the Michelin star decisions here
The Arnold Knightley’s R-J piece on Harrah’s
fiscal woes is here
* * *
Oct.
16: Jerry Springer
You know him as
the ringmaster of one of the trashiest, low-class
and successful syndicated TV shows of our time,
but Jerry Springer may have yet another act coming:
Vegas headliner. Springer, the host of the NBC
reality contest “America’s Got Talent,”
gets his first taste of that Friday as the emcee
for a concert at the MGM Grand featuring this
season’s winner and runners-up. Also, Springer
defends the virtue – yes, virtue –
of his talk show.
Plus: A Vegas-bashing
comment, hi and bye to Point Break Live, some
GOOD economic news and a gay hotel-casino.
Links
Buy tickets
to see AGT finalists at MGM Grand here
America’s Got Talent site here
Jerry Springer’s site is here
More on the M blimp can be found here
Steve’s column about the gay casino is here
The good news about the Vegas economy can be found
here
Read Steve’s USAT piece on Tony Curtis here
Info about Bette Midler’s appearance for
Obama at Krave is here
Steve’s NYT piece about the conclusion of
the eco-friendly road race is here
Wynn’s restaurant lineup can be found here
An obit for Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal
from the R-J’s Benjamin Spillman is here
A Las Vegas Sun report on why Point Break Live
opened and closed quickly is here
Steve’s NYT piece on the outcome of
the Plaza v Plaza case is here
* * *
SPECIAL:
OJ LAWYERS PRESS CONFERENCE
* * *
Oct.
2: Bobby
Slayton's Rant
There is a fine
line in comedy between being Don Rickles and being
Michael Richards. Somehow, comic Bobby Slayton
has carefully negotiated that complicated path,
spicing his act with stereotypes, insults and
foul language while never actually sparking any
widespread controversy. Slayton, who appears nightly
at the Hooters Hotel-Casino, joins us this hour
to explain how he does it and what it may have
cost him in career opportunities.
In Banter: The
Lion King is coming, Donny & Marie are here,
the Believe theater, a poker whippersnapper and
the OJ and Plaza v Plaza cases are still in court.
Links:
Get tickets
for Bobby Slayton here
Slayton’s website is here
Read more about the “Lion King” decision
here
See the buggies that Steve saw on the Strip here
Read more about Dave Schwartz’s Plaza testimony
here
See pix of Steve and Trevor at Donny and Marie
here
* * *
Sept.
25: Dominick Dunne's Last Sit
If O.J. Simpson
is on trial, then Dominick Dunne must be in town.
The ailing Vanity Fair columnist and CourtTV personality,
legendary for chronicling the intersection of
celebrity and the criminal justice system, ignored
doctor’s orders and his family’s wishes
to descend on Las Vegas for the trial of, well,
the month. He's had challenges -- he left court
ill on Monday but returned Tuesday -- but his
reward has been the warm embrace of Las Vegas
high society, such as it is, and a loving New
York Times profile rendered by none other than
your Strip co-host, Steve. Dunne, an accomplished
novelist and Hollywood producer in addition to
his career observing the high-profile trials,
opens up this hour about his health and why this
is his final trial, what the difference between
Britney Spears and Zsa Zsa Gabor is and whether
John McCain is too old to be president. Plus,
he tells one of the greatest Steve Wynn anecdotes
of all time.
In Banter: Why
Aria's great food line up is disappointing, the
Venetian funk spreads and the fake OJ crime scene.
Links:
Dominick Dunne’s
most recent Vanity Fair column, a career retrospective,
is here
Dominick Dunne’s Wikipedia entry is here
Read Steve’s profile of Dominick Dunne here
Learn more about Aria’s food lineup here
See the fake OJ crime scene pix here
The site for Mario Batali’s Carnevino at
Palazzo is here
* * *
Sept.
18: Mickey's
$25m Vegas Gig
The Beatles were
reincarnated in Las Vegas as a Cirque show. The
Four Seasons and Abba came back as hit musicals.
And Donny & Marie are returning as, well,
Donny & Marie. But only the Grateful Dead
could resurface on the Las Vegas Strip as, well,
a volcano. Sort of. Dead drummer Mickey Hart has
teamed up with an Indian musical maestro to score
the classic street side attraction at the Mirage
with a score that Hart says will blow you away.
We'll talk to Hart this hour about that and more
this hour.
In Banter: Notes from OJville,
IGT layoffs, we’re a-Twitter, a too-catchy
ditty, Gordie Brown goes back downtown and Andre
Agassi’s benefit goes upscale.
Links:
Follow us on
Twitter here
See a video documentary on the Mirage’s
new volcano here
Mickey Hart’s website is here
Dominick Dunne’s Wikipedia page is here
Some of Steve’s coverage of the O.J. can
be found here
The Gambler’s Book Shop podcast, with that
fun little theme, is here
Norm covers Gordie Brown’s move back to
the Golden Nugget here
A press release about the new version of the Andre
Agassi benefit is here
The Las Vegas Sun’s piece on more about
Criss Angel’s delay here
and catch the iTricks Criss Angel podcast here
Dare To Gamble Blog comments about Harrah’s
cutting back on Wheel of Fortune slots here
The R-J’s breaking news alert on IGT’s
layoffs is here
* * *
Sept.
11: The Earl of Vegas
Making up is fun
to do! After a year of conflict, the CEO of Planet
Hollywood and Steve have buried the hatchet and,
to prove it, Earl granted Steve his first podcast
interview. In this wide-ranging discussion, Earl
explains why he was upset, offers his view on
why the Planet Hollywood brand collapsed and is
now resurging, speaks of new expansion plans and
acquisitions, and answers the question of whether
the infamous “Planet Ho” sign was
accidental. Also, find out who gave and loaded
Robert Earl’s iPod and offers his own verdict
on the short-lived Hans Klok show.
Plus, details on
the new Mirage volcano, a shakeup brewing in the
nightclub world, Point Break, the Las Vegas Spectacular
and O.J., the Las Vegas dud.
Links:
The website
for Planet Hollywood Resort is here
Richard Abowitz writes about both OJ Simpson and
half-bottle service at Rok here
The press information about Point Break Live!
is here
Read about the new $25 million Mirage volcano
is here
Steve’s blog post about the parking lot
at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign here
* * *
Sept.
4: The
&*#@! Blooper Anniversary Special!
Extra:
Even More Bloopers and Outtakes!
The show you hear
may make us sound like well-spoken, polite, erudite
podcasters, but like many things in Las Vegas,
that’s an illusion. For the past three years,
we’ve been recording our show live with
a listening audience of, well, tens, on the Internet.
And so, as we did last year for our anniversary,
we’re pulling the curtains back this week
and airing all the behind-the-scenes drama. The
curses! The chat people! The arguments! The Neil
Sedaka impressions! The Steve abuse! It’s
our 3rd birthday and we couldn’t be more
thrilled, so sit back, relax … and beware.
In Banter: Vegas Podcast-a-Palooza
thoughts, Mark has left LVRocks to reinvent the
air conditioning, where the would 40/40 Club work,
Yellow Tail Sushi opens at Bellagio, Criss Angel
ups the hype with another delay, the M Resort’s
blimp is delayed too, Virgin America debuts this
week, the Price is Right Live’s fun but
odd, Manilow changes his name and direct flights
to China could be years away.
Links:
See pictures
from the Vegas Podcast-a-Palooza here
Read Steve’s 40/40 issues here
The site for the Bellagio’s new sushi spot,
Yellow Tail, is here
0AThe I Love Sushi place in Henderson that Miles
complimented is here
See Steve’s breaking bulletin on Criss Angel’s
delays here
See pix of the M Resort’s “lightship”
is here
Read about the launch of the Virgin America’s
new JFK-LAS route here
Get tickets to The Price is Right Live here
Read more about Manilow’s name change here
* * *
STRIP
EXTRA: Steve
on Nevada Newsmakers

Here's audio from Steve's
8/28 appearance on Nevada Newsmakers, a daily
half-hour TV show based out of Reno. The discussion
centers around how the national media deals with
all things Vegas. Find more Nevada Newsmakers
shows at NevadaNewsmakers.com.
* * *
STRIP
EXTRA:
Q&A FROM THE 'PALOOZA!
Here's the audio
from the question-and-answer session of Vegas
Podcast-a-Palooza on Aug. 16, 2008 at the Palms.
The questions were answered by Miles and me as
well as Hunter Hillegas of RateVegas.Com and Tim
and Michele Dressen from Five Hundy By Midnight.
* * *
STRIP
EXTRA: Jennifer
Holliday
For the next two
weeks, George Wallace will have an unusual co-star
for his show at the Flamingo, the original Dreamgirl,
Jennifer Holliday. Decades before Jennifer Hudson
won an Oscar for playing the role of big-voiced
girl-band reject Effie White in the 2006 film,
Holliday won a Tony for creating the same part
on stage. She also landed a Grammy for the signature
hit, “And I’m Telling You, I’m
Not Going.” But Holliday’s life in
the interim has been tragic, with bouts of depression,
battles with her weight and an inability to replicate
her earlier success. She spoke to Steve in advance
of her opening for Wallace from Aug. 19 to Aug
30, relating stories of opening for George Burns
at Caesars Palace in the 1980s, about a disastrous
outing in the same showroom with Rosie O’Donnell
in the 1990s and about how she reconciles her
religion with her status as a gay icon.
* * *
Aug.
21: Carrot Top @ The Podcast-a-Palooza!
**NOTE:
THE AUDIO IS A LITTLE ROUGH AND NOT EDITED THIS
TIME SINCE IT WAS LIVE AND THAT'S THE CHARM OF
IT. HOPE THAT'S OK!**
You may love him or you
may hate him, but you cannot deny this one truth:
Carrot Top is a Vegas star. And he’s the
kind of star whose act could only have this kind
of longevity on the Strip. Scott Thompson, the
comic with the enormous orange plume and the shockingly
ripped physique, joins us live today to explain
his journey from Butts Road – no, really
– to Las Vegas Boulevard. That’s coming
up. Plus, news from Vegas, a new poll, the trivia
question and, as always, the Top Secret Tourist
Tip of the Week. This is The Strip, we’re
at the Palms and our part of the 2008 Vegas Podcast-a-Palooza
starts right now.
PLUS: The Robert Earl rapproachement,
Sheldon Adelson's protection and Steve's pre-Palooza
nightmare.
Links:
See Carrot
Top's website here
Get tickets for Carrot Top live at Luxor here
The website for Woo Restaurant, referred to early
in the show, is here
See the back story on the Earl-Friess-Hillegas
feud here
Find other Podcast-A-Palooza pix and video of
The Vegas Gang's part here
* * *
Aug.
14: Nathan
Burton

If there’s
anyone who can attest to the fact that achieving
fame in Las Vegas is never easy, it’s illusionist
Nathan Burton. Yes, his goofy grin is now plastered
across a tower of the Flamingo Las Vegas now --
and he reveals what that costs! -- but his journey
to that triumph required two decades of work,
gigs at countless hotels and appearances on not
one but two top-rated reality TV competitions.
Oh, and sealing himself in a box with seven Vegas
showgirls for a week didn’t hurt, either.
Burton joined us in the studio, as did Amy Turner
of GritsToGlitz.Com subbing for a working Miles.
In Banter: The
ladies' night ruling, BestofVegas.Com's screw-up
and Steve's theory on that Cirque-Dubai transaction.
Links:
Nathan
Burton’s website is here
Get tickets for Nathan’s show at the Flamingo
here
Read Steve’s coverage of the ladies’
night question here
See the mildly risqué microwave trick Burton
did on TV here
Hear Amy’s regular show, Grits To Glitz,
here
See Steve’s blog rant and the head-scratching
images from BestofVegas.Com here
Read the AP report on Cirque selling a fifth of
itself to Dubai here
* * *
Aug.
7: David Spade

On paper, David
Spade wouldn’t seem a likely to become a
star, let alone a ladies’ man. And yet,
more than two decades after he got his start in
comedy clubs and was guided by Dennis Miller to
a role on Saturday Night Live, Spade is a staple
of American TV comedy as star of such hits as
Just Shoot Me, 8 Simple Rules and Rules of Engagement.
Spade, who usually performs his stand-up twice
a month at the Planet Hollywood spoke to Steve
about being the surprising object of affection
of many a hot babe, about the tragedies that surround
him and about the difficulty of mocking Barack
Obama.
Plus, Vegas nightlife guru
Jack Colton of JackColton.Com
explains the noisy club scene, Steve Wynn's hooker
tangle and why Alan Thicke will never be on this
program.
Links
Get tickets
to see David Spade at Planet Hollywood Aug 30-31
here
David Spade's website is here
For all things Vegas nightlife, check out JackColton.Com
here
Read why Alan Thicke is a liar here
Steve's column about the would-be 9/11 discount
is here
Steve Wynn's hooker adventure can be read about
here
See Wynn's puzzling carpet-bombing advertising
blitz here
The Michael Jackson "scoop" from Parade
Magazine is here
Steve's piece on David Spade from the L.A. Times
is here
* * *
July
31: Steve Lawrence
They’ve become
known as the casino closers. Four times in the
past decade, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme have
been called upon to be the final performers at
the closing of a resort or a famous showroom.
But the act itself keeps on trucking. Well, sort
of. Steve Lawrence is performing solo in August
at the Orleans while his wife deals with a variety
of health problems, as you’ll hear this
hour. Lawrence spoke to Steve last week about
Frank Sinatra, the original Tonight Show, about
fighting with Eydie on stage and about why they
haven’t seen a resurgence like Tony Bennett
and Frankie Valli. Plus, he talks about their
son, David, who composed the scores for the “High
School Musical” movies. That’s all
coming up.
In Banter: Trump
IS having layoffs, Jerry Lewis is packing heat,
Ping Pang Pong is wonderful, Miles is hung up
over a gross Secret commercial and the prospect
of the Las Vegas TV show as a movie.
Links:
Buy tickets
to see Steve Lawrence at the Orleans Aug 15-17
here
See that Steve and Eydie is on What’s My
Line here
See a spoof of the Secret Flawless ad Miles is
so irked by here
Others hate that Secret ad, too, and they chatter
about it here
Find the Global Gaming Business podcast with Vegas
biz exec interviews here
Read all about Jerry Lewis packing heat at McCarran
here
Find out more about the terrific Ping Pang Pong
at the Gold Coast here
See the KVBC report on the Trump layoffs and Trump’s
denial of same here
See the drive-thru article about the Fiesta Rancho
sportsbook here
The Burger King drive-thru ad Miles whines about
is here
Chris Lawrence’s blog post about the potential
“Las Vegas” film here
Weatherford breaks news about a new poker show
at the Venetian here
* * *
July
24: Eddie
Izzard
Eddie Izzard has
many claims to fame. He’s a well-regarded
comedian, a terrific actor in such programs as
FX’s “The Riches” and, of course,
he’s probably the world’s most famous
out-of-the-closet heterosexual transvestite. Oh,
and he’ll be playing Vegas on July 25-26
at the Palms, so Steve chatted with Izzard about
all of those things—and Izzard makes Steve
a "Rich" promise that will delight many.
In Banter: Wynn takes on the blogosphere, Steve
has tampons, is this woman pregnant, why won't
Dave Schwartz change his hours, put that snake
away and all hail that great philosopher Laura
Bush!
Links:
Get tickets to see Eddie
Izzard at the Palms on July 25-26 here
Eddie Izzard's awesome website is here
Wynn takes on bloggers in this R-J story found
here
Read about Wynn's weird press release declaring
unemployment records here
Hear whether the Kinsey folks think THAT WOMAN
is pregnant here
The Gambler's Book Shop podcast can be found here
Learn more about the 9/11 Memorial, which memorialized
the great Laura Bush, is here
The report on the Phoenix airport slot idea is
here
Diablo's Cantina's site is here
Noir Bar at Luxor is here
An online discussion of the Atlanta "skill
games" Miles mentioned is here
* * *
July
17: Wanda
Sykes
She told Jane
Fonda to f--- off in "Monster-in-Law,"
had her portrait snapped by Annie Leibovitz for
Vanity Fair magazine and, this fall, is expected
to marry Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the sitcom “The
New Adventures of Old Christine.” Those
are some of the highlights of Wanda Sykes’
illustrious career. The comic-actress, who performs
stand-up twice in July and twice in August, speaks
to Steve this hour about all that and some of
the less thrilling moments – can someone
say Pootie Tang?
In Banter: The
Vegas Podcast-a-Palooza is coming up, a WSOP marathon
night, BLT Burger rocks, Rub less so, MGMGrand.Com
has troubles and more.
Links:
Get seats for
Wanda Sykes' P-Ho shows in 7/18-19 and 8/8-8/9
here
Wanda Sykes' website is here
Steve's AFP piece on the WSOP finals is here
Find out more about the Vegas Podcastapalooza
here
Read about WSOP finalist Craig Marquis' father
here
The kerfluffle over the MGMGrand.Com is all over
the blog here
The site for BLT Burger at the Mirage is here
Read Steve's LVW column on the Trump here
(after 7/17)
Hear the full version of Wanda's porn-related
phone prank and others here
*
* *
July
3: Leno and Wayans

Jay Leno has always
been comfortably inside the lines of mainstream
American comedy while Damon Wayans has built a
family business out of going out on a limb. So
what do these two comics have in common? For one,
both are performing in Las Vegas this month. For
another, they’re both on the show this week.
Leno reacts to questions as about why he’s
not more respected by the entertainment media
while Wayans tries to explain the method to his
mad career.
In Banter: Steve
Wynn's cocktail, Steve Friess' drinking binge,
Harrah's environmentalism, Penn v Angel and a
George Carlin tribute.
Links:
Get tickets
to Damon Wayans' Orleans show here
Get tickets to Jay Leno's Mirage performances
here
Learn how to make Steve Wynn's favorite cocktail
here
Check out the Downtown Cocktail Lounge here
Read Penn Jillette's diss Criss Angel here
Learn more about Noir Bar at the Luxor here
The site for Miles' would-be obsession, Clean
House, is here
Steve's scoops on the blue tape and the Criss
Angel delay is here
and here
Read how the AIDS Rides turned out to be a scam
here
Read Harrah's press release on their WSOP carbon-credit
buy here
That 7/1 WSJ piece on Vegas casino debt is here
See the George Carlin clip we played on the show
here
Watch the whole Wayans three-titties routine excerpted
on the show here
* * *
June
26: "Love,"
Exciting and Two
Two years ago this
week, the world experienced the Beatles music
in a new way, the Cirque du Soleil way. The show
“Love” arrived in the theater formerly
occupied by Siegfried & Roy to rave reviews
and its soundtrack of tracks remixed from the
original tapes by the original producer, went
on to win a Grammy. To honor the show, we’ll
talk live in the studio tonight to Kyle Stokely,
a 12-year-old actor who has been in the production
from the beginning about what it’s like
being a child actor on the Strip and about all
the famous people he’s met on the job.
In Banter: The
New Yorker's Adelson opus, Cosmo v Cosmo, Trump
in the dumps, Cirque gossip and a "locals"
Sahara?
Links:
See Love's
Kyle Stokely in a YouTube juggling video here
Get tickets to see Love here
That 12,000-word New Yorker piece on Sheldon Adelson
is here
Steve's take on that New Yorker piece is here
Information about Wizard, the show about Harold
Arlen, is here
Read about Cosmo's lawsuit against the Cosmo here
Trump's woes and denials of same can be read about
here
Read more about Sahara's odd locals efforts her
* * *
REISSUED
ARCHIVE
EDITION:
BEATLES PRODUCERS GEORGE + GILES MARTIN
Reissuing the June 8, 2006 episode featuring
George and Giles Martin, the father-and-son duo
who created the Love soundtrack from the tracks
at Abbey Road Studios. This interview was conducted
for a USA Today piece in advance of the show's
opening at the Mirage.
* * *
June
19: James
Caan
As casino security
chief Big Ed Deline on the now-defunct NBC soap
“Las Vegas,” James Caan played the
center of gravity at the fictional Montecito with
a certain old-school Sin City panache. That and
a few film roles related to the Strip were enough
to earn him the first-ever Vegas Icon Award at
the 10th annual CineVegas Film Festival that’s
on at the Palms this week. But what did Caan really
think of those roles and that TV show? And, more
importantly, what does he think led to its cancellation
a year after he left the part? The colorful 68-year-old
Oscar nominee lets loose on a variety of hot topics
including drug use, bad films and the Mob.
In Banter: New
tech at Rio and Fontainebleau, NY travels, room
taxes, the Hank Greenspun movie and getting gas
from hookers.
Links:
Download the
Deutsche Bank look at Vegas building progress
here
James Caan's Wikipedia page is here
Watch him make Kathy Bates "eat it!"
on YouTube here
Find out all you want to know about CineVegas
here
See the site for Xanadu The Musical here
Find our chat with Mel Brooks here
Read the R-J piece on their room tax poll here
Hear the disastrous George Wallace show here
Read about whores giving people gas here
The LV Weekly's take on the Hank Greenspun flick
is here
See our coverage of the I-Bar's Microsoft Surface
tech here
Read Steve's USA Today piece about Fontainebleau's
Apple plans here
* * *
SPECIAL
VIDEO: Sneak Peek of
iBar @ Rio

This week, Microsoft
rolls out its new Surface
technology in the form of six $10,000 bar-lounge
tabletops at
the I Bar inside the casino at the Rio upon
which, via some sophisticated touch-screen tech,
customers can play games (video bowling, pinball),
view YouTube videos, see who's sitting at other
tables and send messages, take photos of themselves
to send to friends and, oh yes, order drinks.
And here's some video I took --
think of it as The Strip Podcast Goes Pop-Up Video
for all the comments I stuck in there. I used
the thing to find my childhood home in Syosset,
N.Y.
* * *
June
5: WSOP Champ Jerry
Yang

A year ago, Jerry
Yang was a just a 39-year-old social worker from
Temecula, California, with six kids, a hefty mortgage
and a wife who worked nights to make ends meet.
Today, he’s living proof of why the annual
World Series of Poker is the one championship
that anyone can win. Yang spent $225 to enter
a local satellite tournament that led him to a
seat at the 2007 Main Event where he walked away
$8.25 million richer. Next month, he begins a
defense of that crown but this week, he’s
live in our studio to talk about the year that
was, what he’s done with all that money
and how he feels about the changes being made
to this year’s W.S.O.P.
In Banter: CityCenter's
brief strike, more details on Fontainbleau, a
tour operator thinks straight men are neglected
in Vegas and K-Fed is Father of the Year?!?
* * *
May
29:
Rita Rudner

Rita Rudner is
having another important career moment. The comic
has a new book out that’s both funny and
surprisingly emotional and she’s recently
become the first Vegas comedian to star in a PBS
special to air in June. Rudner, whose girly voice
and wry battle-of-the-sexes observations continue
to pack ‘em in nightly at the Harrah’s
Las Vegas resort, joins us live this hour to catch
us up on all of her activities.
In Banter: The
s*it flies at Panorama, revisiting Manilow, notes
from Tussaud's and SATC is coming to Vegas, sort
of.
Links
Get tix for
Rita Rudner’s show at Harrah’s here
See Rita Rudner’s website here
See the info about Rita’s PBS special here
See Steve’s Madame Tussaud’s pictorial
here
The site for Ethel M’s chocolate tour is
here
Listen to Steve’s inspiration, Terry Gross,
here
Miles’ starter kit for new Erykah Badu enthusiasts
is here
*
* *
May
22: LeAnn
Rimes, Erykah Badu

We’re getting a little bit
country, a little bit soul this week with interviews
with two very different artists. First, former
teen prodigy LeAnn Rimes is all grown up and writing
her own music these days, some of it offering
a window into what it was like to transition from
teen phenom to married lady. Then, Erykah Badu,
the R&B star often likened to Billie Holliday,
is back after a five-year break with three –
yes, three – new albums this year. She’ll
explain how Apple’s Garageband kicked off
that spate. Also, the winner of our Jersey Boys
tickets giveaway is revealed!
In Banter: Playing
the Criss Angel Red Carpet audio, a weird country
song, Aria is named, Jubilee is old and a peek
at Fontainbleau.
Links
Leann
Rimes’ site is here
Erykah Badu’s site is here
Get tickets to Rimes’ concert at the MGM
Grand here
Get tickets to Badu’s 6/13 concert at the
House of Blues here
Hollyscoop is here
Read about Criss Angel’s threat to Norm
Clarke here
Sharmian, who wrote that weird country song, is
here
The YouTube video of the notable Taylor Swift
can be seen here
Steve’s blog posts about the naming of Aria
is here
Get tickets to Jubilee! here
The website for the Fontainebleau is here
An image of the Vegas Fontainebleau is here
The Jersey Boys Podcast can be found here
* * *
May
15: Frankie
Valli

A priceless falsetto took
an Italian pipsqueak from New Jersey all the way
to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. But it’s
only now, with the huge success of the Tony-winning
Broadway show based on his life, that Frankie
Valli is feeling truly appreciated by the entertainment
world. That show, “Jersey Boys,” opened
last month to rave reviews at the Palazzo, returning
the sound of Valli and the Four Seasons to the
Strip in grand fashion.
In banter: Terry
Fator takes over, Cher needs work, the WSOP undergoes
big changes, shrimp cocktails are more expensive
and Vegas.Com rules the world.
Links:
Get Jersey
Boys tickets for Vegas here
News of Terry Fator's takeover at the Mirage is
here
Steve's blog post about Cher's show problems is
here
A piece on the changes coming for the World Series
of Poker is here
That website to find wireless hotspots in Vegas
is here
A story about the increased prices for shrimp
cocktails at Golden Gate is here
That weird Trek-crazy site's report on the possible
closure of Star Trek Experience is here
Old blog posts about the feud, now over, with
Robert Earl, can be found here
*
* *
(FIXED)
May 8:
Bob Gaudio, Erich Bergen
Comment on the show here

Bob Gaudio
is the legendary songwriter responsible for such
hits as “Sherry,” “What A Night”
and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.”
Gaudio’s first hit was “Short Shorts,”
a novelty song he wrote when he was 15. More recently,
Gaudio he wrote a musical based on the film “Peggy
Sue Got Married” and he tells Steve that
it may yet come to Broadway sometime soon. Gaudio
is joined in this conversation by Erich
Bergen, a 22-year-old actor from New York
City for whom the Jersey Boys role is his first
major part. Bergen is also a former podcaster
whose show, Green
Room Radio, was a Broadway version of “The
Strip” in which he would interview celebrities
of the Great White Way.
* * *
SPECIAL
VIDEO EDITION: JERSEY
BOYS PREMIERE
(See more pix and blogging on the
event here)

*
* *
May
1: Kerry Simon, Charlie
Trotter

Steve Wynn –
again! No, sorry. Gotcha! A podcaster cannot dine
on Wynn alone. But speaking of dining, how about
we serve you up a generous helping of two hot
Vegas chefs, Kerry Simon and Charlie Trotter?
Both have new restaurants in town, Simon at the
Luxor and the Palms and Trotter at Palazzo. So
we ask them about the dining scene, about their
foie gras aversions and, of course, about what
kind of fast food they eat.
Plus, in banter: Perez Hilton
sucks, the Donnie and Marie idea sucks, a Hustler
hotel-casino would suck and the broken Encore
sign sucks.
Links:
Kerry
Simon’s website is here
Simon’s Cathouse is here
and Simon at Palms Place is here
Charlie Trotter’s Las Vegas site is here
A CBS piece about the Chicago foie gras law is
here
Steve’s USA Today piece on the Oprah-Tina-Cher
event is here
Kerry Simon’s local favorite place, Go Raw,
is here
VegasTripping.Com’s amusing take on Donnie
and Marie is here
Steve’s post about the Perez Hilton rip-off
is here
Richard Abowitz’s item about the Hustler
idea is here
The Las Vegas Sun’s piece on Vegoose’s
cancellation is here
Steve’s LVW column on Tamara is here
* * *
April
24: Steve
Wynn
4/23
VIDEO SPECIAL: New Vegas Ads

Twice in one month!
Wow! Steve Wynn is back to discuss the recession,
reveal some intriguing new plans for the future
of his golf course and declare Spamalot, closing
this summer, a success. Oh, and he explains how
it is he did NOT lie to Steve a few weeks ago
about those Danny Gans rumors. Sorta.
In Banter: Powerful
people are listening, Harrah's IS punishing the
R-J, Criss Angel has not repented, the "What
Happens in Vegas" trailer is good, Andrew
Lloyd Webber is writing a batty "Phantom"
sequel and more.
Links:
The Al Phlipp
and the Woo Team band that gave us our special
music can be found here
"Las Vegas" Executive Producer Matt
Pyken's IMDB profile is here
Pyken's new show, "Knight Rider," can
be found here
That god-awful third-ever episode of this program,
then called Vegas S&M, is here
Steve's Harrah’s ad-halt blog entry is here
The trailer for "What Happens in Vegas"
is here
See the tasteless headline for Richard Abowitz'
Criss Angel-Norm blog item here
Read the bizarre plans for Phantom II here
The R-J's piece on the Westin giving the money
back is here
The R-J's coverage of Las Vegas Sands on trial
is here
The site for Town Square is here
* * *
4/21
SPECIAL: Steve
on KNPR, re: the R-J v Harrahs issue
* * *
April
17:
Terry Lanni

You know a recession
is pretty bad when it’s felt even in Las
Vegas. Terry Lanni, the CEO of MGM Mirage, spoke
to Steve earlier this month about these challenging
economic times, about which of the young moguls
of Vegas he admires and about the struggle to
name the CityCenter Hotel.
In Banter: MGM
layoffs, Harrah's dumps the R-J, mobile billboards
under the microscope, Steve Scores and the Criss
Angel nightmare for Cirque.
Links:
The R-J on
the MGM Mirage employment cuts is here
Steve’s NYT piece and blog post on the Harrah’s-RJ
issue is here
RateVegas.Com’s challenge to me and Christina
Binkley is here
Read about the Las Vegas Monorail’s good
news is here
Read about the Harrah’s name change is here
The Sun’s piece on the mobile-billboard
issue is here
Steve’s Newsweek piece on salt-water pools
is here
See Kool-Aid on Family Guy on YouTube here
* * *
April
10: Raising the Barr

The last time we
heard from Roseanne Barr was before she signed
to do a run at the New York-New York. That gig
came and went and now Barr is playing through
May at the Sahara. She spoke to Steve about the
differences between working at opposite ends of
the Strip, about giving Judd Apatow and Joss Whedon
their writing starts on her legendary sitcom and
about when she started calling herself the Domestic
Goddess.
In Banter: More
on the Binkley book, rival podcasters take their
shots, strip clubs add fancy food, show ticket
prices are rising and the Plaza's on ice again.
Links:
Roseanne
Barr's website is here
Get tickets to Roseanne's Sahara show here
The Las Vegas Advisor's show-tix survey is here
Howard Stutz' column about Trump's delays is here
Steve's blog item on the Plaza is here
The Vegas Tourist podcast is here
Norm's item about Amazing Johnathan's hidden-cam
claims is here
Read about the Binkley book controversy here
The YouTube clip of Roseanne's first Carson appearance
is here
The image of a raunchy Roseanne on the cover of
Vanity Fair is here
* * *
April
3: Steve Wynn

Guess who! It's
Wynn on the young lions of Vegas, Encore, Christina
Binkley's book "Winner Takes All," Eliot
Spitzer, public art and Sheldon Adelson's delusions.
In Banter: Chewing
on the best part of "Winner Takes All"
by Christina Binkley, wondering who would swim
in a salt-water pool, laughing about the Westin
charging conventioneers, baffling over a McCain
remark in Vegas and admitting being punk'd on
April Fool's Day.
Links:
Kathleen
Hennessey's brilliant piece on the Westin charging
conventioneers is here
The gushing press release for what the MGM Grand
is calling the first "ultra pool" is here
Planet Hollywood's good news is here
Steve's pictorial on the Forbuss Elementary student
project is here
See Steve's USA Today review of Christina Binkley's
book "Winner Takes All" is here
Buy a copy of Binkley's book here
Buy a copy of Tom Breitling's book, "Double Or
Nothing," here
* * *
March
27: Attack of the Reality
TV Champs
...with Terry Fator and Stefanie Schaeffer

Is Terry Fator
("America's Got Talent") worth $100,000
a show at the Hilton? Will Stefanie Schaeffer
("The Apprentice") stick up for Donald
Trump and stick around after the opening of the
Trump Las Vegas? Find out that and more as these
recent reality-show champs talk about their Vegas
work and their futures.
In Banter: Our
Swiss recap, the Blue (wo)Man Group and the Plaza's
on-again, off-again thing. Also, we take apart
the Las Vegas Review-Journal's 27th annual Best
of Las Vegas poll in the Tourist Tip Section
this week.
Links:
Terry
Fator's site is here
Get tickets to Terry's Hilton show here
Stefanie Schaeffer's site is here
The site for Trump's Vegas property is here
See all of Steve's blog posts on the Swiss trip
here
See the YouTube clip of the weird thing in the
Zurich airport tube here
See Terry Fator's winning "America's Got
Talent" moment here
See Fator on Oprah here
See Stefanie Schaeffer's "You're Hired"
moment on "The Apprentice" here
* * *
SPECIAL:
Maria Bartiromo
*
* *
March
13: Maya Lin

There are a lot
of artists you’d expect to find on the Las
Vegas Strip. Performing artists, that is. But
it’s a pretty sure bet that you never expected
to find an artist like Maya Lin there. Neither
did she. And yet the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
sculptress is about to become a Vegas headliner,
one of the major attractions in an ambitious $40
million public arts collection being assembled
by MGM Mirage for its $8 billion CityCenter project.
Tonight we’ll hear all about what sort of
piece she’s getting $3 million to create
for Las Vegas, about her first impressions of
our fair town and, for the first time, about how
she’s re-envisioning her most famous works.
In Banter: Encore's
opening soon, Steve loses 95 cents at Mandalay,
Blue Man Group is looking for men and women (?),
Bill Maher gets it wrong and Billy Crystal's odd
"classics."
* * *
March
6: Emeril Lagasse and Tina Walsh

Bam! Emeril Lagasse,
the Food Network’s most famous alum, has
opened his third Vegas restaurant, Table 10, at
the Palazzo. Steve caught up with the chef a few
weeks ago for a chat about the Vegas food scene,
his culinary empire and, yes, his fast-food preferences.
That’s coming up. Also, Steve chats with
Vegas stage veteran Tina Walsh, who has made a
tremendous comeback by landing a major role in
The Venetian’s “Phantom: The Las Vegas
Spectacular.”
In Banter: Bye,
Hooters, a NYT writer hates Vegas, andhepatitis
and ricin scares.
Links:
Emeril's
website is here
Buy the Vegas Phantom tix here
Steve goes after a fellow local journalist here
Steve goes after a fellow NYT writer here
See pieces about the Hep-C and ricin here
and here
Norm reports on Paul Stanley's Phantom turn here
*
* *
Feb.
28: Alanis Morissette

A decade ago, it
was impossible to avoid Alanis Morissette on the
radio. Her “Jagged Little Pill” album
remains the biggest debut record of all time,
selling 30 million copies worldwide and winning
her seven Grammys. Yet Morissette has always been
a bit of an enigma. On the outside, she seems
rather girl-nxt-doorish, but her music and her
lifestyle have often reflected someone working
through quite a bit of torment. Morissette now
believes she’s past a lot of that, telling
Steve about her "recovery" and sharing
her sympathetic thoughts on the trials and tribulations
of Britney Spears other troubled young stars.
The Canadian singer is just now returning to the
music business after a two-year break during which
she broke off an engagement with actor Ryan Reynolds,
a topic that she addresses bluntly on her upcoming
album, Flavors of Entanglement. She also explains
the story behind her video spoof of the Black
Eyed Peas’ “My Humps,” which
is one of the most watched clips in YouTube history.
Morissette is concluding her current tour in Las
Vegas on March 18.
In Banter: More
Bette Midler updates, is Elton John bored, Pure
is raided and more on the coins-in-the-fountain
question from MGM Mirage.
Links:
Alanis Morissette's
website is here
Get tickets to Alanis' 3/18 Palms show (with Matchbox
20) here
The R-J piece on the Sahara remodel is here
Alanis' YouTube of "My Humps" is here
Richard Abowitz writes about the Pure raid here
Steve's blog post with new MGM response to the
fountain coins question is here
Joe Brown's brutal Bette commentary is here
*
* *
Feb.
21: Bettemania! With
Toni Basil

Bette, Bette, Bette.
These days, that’s all you hear about in
Vegas entertainment circles. So here’s some
more. This week, we bring you Steve’s first-hand
preview peek at the show, a review from a loyal
listener who also saw it this weekend, a new poll
with a Bette-tinged theme and even a related Top
Secret Tourist Tip of the Week. Plus, Steve spoke
with Toni Basil, Bette’s long-time choreographer
and the singer behind that one-hit wonder “Mickey.”
Basil explains how she used G.I. Joe figurines
to plan the production, what sort of work she
does for films like “Charlie Wilson’s
War” and why she’s OK with being known
as a one-hit wonder.
In Banter: A listener’s
review of Bette’s show, new details on CityCenter,
a new show for Palazzo, Wayne Brady renewed and
a run-in with the Houseseatslv.Com tonidude.
Links:
Toni
Basil’s website is here
Get tickets to see Bette at the Colosseum here
The site for HouseseatsLV.com is here
Mike Weatherford’s Cher v Bette column is
here
* * *
Feb.
14: Lance Burton

Three weeks ago,
when the Monte Carlo erupted in flames, magician
Lance Burton was forced to cancel shows for only
the second time in his 12-year run there. This
Friday, though, it’s back to work for Burton
as the beleaguered resort reopens to the public
-- along with the best illusionist spectacle in
Vegas. Steve spoke to Lance earlier today about
the fire, his future and a surprising phone call
he got from Roy Horn.
In Banter: Broadway
West's death knell, Spamalot changes lyrics, Menopause
is tops?!?, Bass Pro Shop is the No. 1 apparel
shop?!?, a Robert Earl reconciliation?!? and more.
Links
Tickets
to Lance Burton’s show is here
Steve’s current column about Broadway West
is here
An AP piece on the changes of the Spamalot lyrics
is here
Norm’s coverage of Tina Walsh’s new
role at Phantom is here
Steve’s NYT piece quoting a listener about
a flight school gone bust is here
The Silverton’s Bass Pro Shop’s website
is here
Steve’s appearance on KNPR about Vegas paparazzi
can be heard here
The blog post about coins in the Vegas fountains
is here
Mike Weatherford’s column about Lance Burton
as Monte Carlo’s face is here
* * *
SPECIAL:
Steve on KNPR's State of Nevada on 2/11
* * *
Feb.
7: Wolfgang Puck and
Frankie Avalon

Before Robuchon,
before Palmer, before Lagasse and before Flay,
there was Puck. Wolfgang Puck, of course. His
Spago back in the early 1990s set off the star-chef
boom here, and this month the most prolific restaurateur
in Las Vegas is about to opens his sixth Strip
restaurant, Cut, at the Palazzo. So Steve asked
him about his proliferation and gets him to name
his favorite fast food joint. Also, sticking with
the theme of originals, Steve chats with Frankie
Avalon, one of the original American teen heartthrob
and a Vegas veteran.
Links
Wolfgang Puck's
site is here
Frankie Avalon's Wikipedia site is here
Jeff Simpson's columns regarding the Trop are
here
and here
Steve's piece on the Monte Carlo fire from New
York is here
Robin Leach's coverage of the Cher announcement
is here
Steve's blog post about the Sahara's upscale rooms
is here
* * *
Jan.
24: Mr. Sands Man

The first new Las
Vegas Strip resort in nearly three years held
its grand opening in grand style last weekend.
The Palazzo is the taller, blonder, slightly more
elegant 3,000-room addition to its sister property,
the Venetian, and it served as an excellent time
to sit down for an interview with Las Vegas Sands
C.E.O. Sheldon Adelson. Sit back, relax, and get
ready to hear some provocative comments from the
Anti-Wynn.
In Banter: An incompetent
Cathouse barrista, Menopause hits 1,000, Elaine
Wynn at the casino caucus, and Oscar Goodman's
queer query.
Links:
The Palazzo's
website is here
Steve's USA Today Money-section cover story on
Sheldon Adelson is here
Steve's AFP piece on the election, including Elaine
Wynn's comments, is here
The Las Vegas Sun's brilliant new site is here
Norm's piece on Diana Ross' possible lip-synching
is here
* * *
Jan.
17: Mayor
Oscar Goodman

It’s been
eventful nine years since the ultimate non-politician,
a mob lawyer, became mayor of Las Vegas. Since
then, Oscar Goodman has stirred up plenty of controversy,
but he’s also proven to be a tireless promoter
and defender of the city and a creative thinker
when it comes to how to reverse the sagging fortunes
of the beloved but blighted downtown area. All
that work is starting to show some results, with
downtown casino owners investing large sums to
fix up their places and the city overseeing the
development of land just to the east that will
create a whole new downtown complete with a medical
facility and a $150 million performing arts center.
He even offers his prediction for the fate of
the crappy part of town where we record this program.
* * *
Jan.
10: Bette
Midler, Part II

Two weeks ago, Bette Midler talked
about her new show, her movies and her music.
So what’s left? Stick around and hear all
about her early days playing in gay bathhouses
and much more. Plus, an
eight-hour casino, the life of the Vegas paparazzo
and the astonishing Trippies results.
Links:
The 2007 Trippies
results are here
Bette Midler's website is here
Get tix for Bette's Vegas show here
Steve's piece on Trailer Station from the New
York Times is here
and blog post/pix is here
The link to the Z100 phone tap regarding Vegas
is here
The link to the Grits to Glitz episode discussing
the Puck restaurant is here
*
* *
Jan.
3: Our
Top Moments of 2007


Another crazy year
in Las Vegas has come and gone, and nowhere was
it crazier than right here on this podcast. Fourteen
times in the past 12 months, scoops you heard
here first made it into Norm Clarke’s Review-Journal
gossip column, but on this year-in-review roundup,
we’re only revisiting the best moments --
as voted upon by YOU. So sit back, relax and enjoy
the countdown. And, if you missed some of these
shows, here’s your chance to hear them without
having to wade through all those hours.
CLICK
HERE
FOR OLDER SHOWS AND SHOW NOTES |