May '08 Notes from Norm — Norm Clarke Column

Saturday 4-26-08

Lohan, Simpson bring heat to LV

Two red-hot celebrity romances are heating up the Las Vegas scene this weekend.

Lindsay Lohan was in town Friday with her rumored paramour deejay Samantha Ronson while Jessica Simpson hooked up with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

Lohan, 21, was spotted sipping a Shirley Temple with her lobster and fries Friday at Strip House restaurant inside Planet Hollywood Resort with Ronson, who later was spinning at the grand opening of Torrid nightclub inside the Hawaiian Tropic Zone.

Lohan is back in Sin City for the first time since July 15 when she arrived at Pure nightclub inside Caesars Palace one day after completing a six-week rehab stint. Lohan was wearing an alcohol-monitoring anklet. She returned to rehab in October.

Simpson flew in on a Southwest Airlines flight from Burbank on Friday afternoon, a spy told Vegas Confidential. She joined Romo, in town for a former teammate's retirement party.

Simpson, the sexy pop singer who played the scantily clad Daisy Duke in "The Dukes of Hazzard," was met at the gate by a man holding a sign that said "BARDOT," as in Brigitte Bardot, the French sex kitten of the 1960s.

Last week, Lohan created a scene in New York City when she blew up at actress Ashley Olsen of the Olsen twins. The New York Post's Page Six column reported that after Lohan saw Olsen talking to Ronson, Lohan screamed "Get your 15-year-old 'Full House' ass away from my girlfriend."

Lohan and Ronson have long been rumored to be more than pals.

'TOP CHEF' CASTING HERE

Las Vegas is among four cities selected to have open casting calls for Bravo's fifth season of "Top Chef."

Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak at MGM Grand will host aspiring candidates for the reality show from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 4. The Web site is www.craft restaurant.com.

They're looking for self-taught cooks and culinary school grads who have "a passion for food, creativity, a thorough knowledge of cooking techniques and trends and oodles of charisma."

For more information, go to www.Bravotv.com/casting.

The Scene And Heard

Michael Jackson was working with music producers RedOne and Akon on his new album at the Palms recording studio on Wednesday, Page Six reported Friday. "He's not going to be involved in any personal relationships with women until he gets this record done. He's dumped the nanny (Grace Rwaramba) -- she's not around any more," Page Six quoted a source as saying. ...

Hot spots, cool stuff: The Louisiana State University alumni club will host its Fifth Crawfish Boil at PT's Gold today from noon to 4 p.m. at 3770 S. Hualapai Way. The public is invited. ....

Sunday 4-27-08

Tina Turner says she'll tour again

It may take some creative editing when Tina Turner announces her final tour on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on May 8.

Early in the taping Saturday before a Colosseum crowd of about 3,000 at Caesars Palace, Cher, the first guest, let the cat out of the bag when she let the tour news slip.

Later in the taping, it appeared a replacement segment was being shot with Turner so it would appear she was breaking the news.

Turner, 68, told Oprah that she was making her final tour, starting in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 1. She retired from major tours after her "Twenty Four Seven" world tour that grossed $80 million.

The Oprah show airs May 8, two days after Cher opens her three-year, 200-show headliner residency deal at Caesars Palace.

Turner said she's been getting antsy to return to the stage, but didn't get serious about it until she had a conversation with Italian film icon Sophia Loren in Milan, Italy. "She said 'When are you going back to work?'"

Turner told Oprah, "You can't forget the fun, the lights and the people."

Turner sang "Nutbush City Limits," an ode to her hometown in Tennessee, and teamed up with Cher to bring the house down with "Proud Mary" at the end of the taping.

The Scene And Heard

Lindsay Lohan didn't show up for gal pal Samantha Ronson's DJ appearance Friday for the grand opening of Torrid nightclub at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone inside the Planet Hollywood Resort. They were seen checking in and dining at Strip House (Planet Hollywood Resort) earlier Friday evening. ...

The word from inside KLAS-TV, Channel 8 is that the search for the new owner of the station has been narrowed to one company and it is someone very familiar with KLAS. ...

Turns out that this is the second time that Ted Binion's home has been up for sale since he was found dead in the den in 1998. It was to a Los Angeles resident for $750,000 in December 2002, or half of the listing price. The owner was asking $2.75 million last July before reducing it to today's listed price of $1.85 million. A Hollywood producer has expressed interest in renting it for a film, I'm told. ...

NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little won the 32nd annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach last week and it was no fluke. The Green Valley High grad edged NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Mike Skinner by 0.324 seconds. The only other woman to win the event was Olympic gold medal swimmer Dara Torres, another Las Vegan, in 2002. Of course it helps that Little is co-owner of Pole Position Raceway, an indoor Las Vegas go-cart facility.


Monday 4-28-08

Cruise the object of a twin crush Oprah Winfrey and Cher just love, love, love Tom Cruise. They shared details during a taping of Oprah's show at Caesars Palace on Saturday. During a commercial break at the Colosseum, Oprah raved about a sexy snowmobile ride she had with Cruise in Telluride, Colo., during a stopover on her way to Las Vegas. "I see what happened to Katie (Holmes)," Oprah said. "There's something about the guy's butt, and you're scooched up there. ... You're like, 'Take me home. Anywhere else you want to go, Tom? I'm free this afternoon." Oprah made a point of acknowledging that her gal pal Gayle King was seated in the front row. On camera, Oprah said Cruise told her to say hi to Cher, who acknowledged she had a thing for Cruise, too. Cher said she went out on a date with Cruise just once, but that it was "a long date," a comment that went over big with the mostly female crowd of about 3,000. That was back when Cruise was poor, Cher said. He was shy and sweet, and "I was crazy about him." Cher recalled that she and Cruise were in a New York restaurant when Cruise saw a woman he knew from his high school days. Cruise told Cher: "She wouldn't give me the time of day (back then). I was such a boob." Oprah told the audience that Cruise's home in Telluride is the most spectacular she has ever seen. She joked off-air, "I did not jump on his couch." Oprah's CBS show featuring Cher and Tina Turner, will air May 8, two days after Cher opens her three-year, 200-appearance show at Caesars. After Cher opened the show with "Take Me Home," Oprah told the invite-only crowd, "That's what 61 looks like." Oprah added, "That's enough to keep me off the burgers." WYNN'S 'SPECTACULAR' PLAN Steve Wynn revealed his grand plan for the golf course land at Wynn Las Vegas last week, and the message is clear: he's going after Sheldon Adelson's domination of the convention business. Wynn told local reporter Steve Friess that he is planning to add two hotels as bookends for "probably the most spectacular meeting and convention center in the world." The addition of 5,200 hotel rooms will give Wynn 10,000 rooms on the former Desert Inn property, 1.5 million square feet of convention space and a lake twice the size of Bellagio's dancing fountains lake "with special effects," Wynn told Friess on his podcast vegashappenshere.com, formerly thestrippodcast.com. The exhibition hall and ballroom will be on the lake. Adelson's Las Vegas Sands properties, which include the Palazzo, The Venetian and the Sands Expo and Convention Center, offers 2.25 million square feet of meeting space and has been named the MEGACENTER. The Scene And Heard Mexican entertainer Veronica Castro will become the first Hispanic woman and 24th overall nominee to join the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. The private star ceremony will held Thursday at Bellagio. Castro performed in Las Vegas for many years.

Tuesday 4-29-08

Norm is taking Tuesdays off

Wednesday 4-30-08

Book tells tales of Siegfried, Roy

Siegfried and Roy know where plenty of bodies are buried, according to a new unauthorized book about the entertainment icons.

The bodies of their show animals, that is.

Many were interred near Little Bavaria, their 100-acre oasis on the outskirts of Las Vegas, a la Steve Wynn's burial of dolphins from The Mirage on the 17th hole at Shadow Creek, say the authors of "The Secret Life of Siegfried & Roy: How the Tiger Kings Tamed Las Vegas."

Roy Horn not only kept the cremated ashes of his favorite dogs and big cats on shelves of his bedroom, the book claims, but often used a Louis Vuitton handbag to carry the urn with his mother's ashes on weekly retreats to Little Bavaria.

Before setting out in his Rolls-Royce, ever-faithful son Roy would carefully fasten Miss Horn's remains tightly with the seatbelt," according to the book, which was written by former Siegfried and Roy employees Jimmy Lavery, Jim Mydlach, and Louis Mydlach, along with best-selling author Henrietta Tiefenthaler.

A Siegfried and Roy spokesman said, "We're not going to comment."

The books alleges that two trainers were attacked by big cats a half-hour apart years ago, but were taken to separate hospitals to avoid "bad press."

Staffers of the illusionists heard rumors that Siegfried Fischbacher might have fathered at least one child, the authors said.

The book, published by Phoenix Books, hits the book stands June 1.

THIS WAS NO LOCK BET

The perils of live TV has its humbling moments.

Ask KVVU-TV, Channel 5, reporter Bob DeNinnis, who suffered a thousand deaths while delivering the lead story Monday night.

His agonizing experience won't beat out Geraldo Rivera's live TV special in 1986 that was to reveal the contents of gangster Al Capone's secret vault. All a red-faced Rivera found was debris.

DeNinnis came up empty, too. The idea was to show the public how easy it is to break any home door lock with a "bump key" that's easily available on the Internet.

But, "as sometimes happens in the show capital of the world," said news director Adam Bradshaw in an e-mail, "it worked great in rehearsal but when Bob tried to pop the lock on live television, the stubborn door wouldn't budge."

After hammering away to no avail, DeNinnis gave up and faced the camera with an apologetic expression before the station moved to the next story.

The Scene And Heard

AllAccess.com, a radio industry Web site, reported on Monday that a format change probably will be announced this week by a Las Vegas radio station. The report said the station will switch to Top 40-dance format. The report hinted that the development involved KMOA -FM 94.5. ...

More rumblings out of KLAS-TV, Channel 8, which could be sold any day now. The accidental airing of profanity during the Henderson police inquest earlier this month reportedly has resulted in the firing of a staffer. And word has it that management notified prospective buyers there may be some trouble down the road in the form of fines meted out by the Federal Communications Commission. ...

Former heavyweight champs Mike Tyson and John Ruiz are joining a support-the-troops walk from City Hall to Nellis Air Force Base today, starting at 10 a.m. The event was organized by Seat Williams, host of "Afternoon Gridlock" on KWWN-AM 1100, weekdays from 3-6 p.m. There will be two stops along the eight-mile route: Woodlawn Cemetery, to pay homage to the fallen soldiers, and at Rancho High School, which lost 25 soldiers during the Vietnam War.

Thursday 5-1-08

Bob Gaudio shares a chunk of history

Bob Gaudio, the songwriting force behind Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, brought a special chunk of history to town for the opening of "Jersey Boys" on Friday.

Of all the autographs signed by Frank Sinatra, Gaudio may have the grand- daddy of 'em all.

He got 'ol Blue Eyes' signature in 1969, when Gaudio, one of the original members of The Four Seasons, was producing Sinatra's "Watertown" album.

One day while they were chatting in the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, Gaudio invited Sinatra to a pool party at Gaudio's home.

When Sinatra accepted the invitation, Gaudio had a major crisis on his hands. "I didn't have a pool," he said.

With a week to make it happen, Gaudio organized a group of friends and frantically started the pool project.

When Sinatra showed up, there was a pool, but there was also a torrential downpour that caused the sod to seep into the pool, creating a muddy mess.

But Sinatra was a good sport about it and signed his name in the cement, adding a smiley face.

"It might be the first-ever smiley face," Gaudio said.

Years later, Gaudio had the 110-pound cement chunk dug up and put away for posterity.

It's on display in the "Jersey Boys" gift shop, with other memorabilia from The Four Seasons' heyday.

His songwriting produced such hits as "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," "Rag Doll" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You."

BLOGGER FEUD

Local writer/podcaster Steve Friess is accusing celebrity blogger Perez Hilton of plagiarism involving Tina Turner's tour announcement last Saturday.

Friess attended Oprah Winfrey's taping at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and posted this snippet on VegasHappensHere.com: "Tina's going on tour having been prodded, she said, by Sophia Loren to stop lolling about her Swiss home and go back to work."

A short time later, a post on PerezHilton.com read as follows: "The 68-year-old legend says that Sophia Loren told her to stop 'lolling about her Swiss home and get back to work.' "

When Friess called that plagiarism, Perez Hilton countered with an e-mail saying, "A reader sent me that item as their own."

He admonished Friess for bringing the plagiarism issue to the attention of the Los Angeles Times, calling it "desperate and pathetic."

Friess responded that "it is neither pathetic nor desperate to seek proper credit for one's work."

The Scene And Heard

The four finalists from "American Idol" are taking in "Love" (The Mirage) on Saturday. They will appear in front of The Mirage at 2 p.m. and be on the red carpet at 4 p.m. in the "Love" lobby. ... Sen. Harry Reid's book "The Good Fight" goes on sale today.

Friday 5-2-08

Jackson in action possibly in Vegas

Something's up with Michael Jackson.

The way it was explained to me: Jackson has been in talks with a local hotel boss who wants to make a major statement.

Last week, Jackson's brother Jermaine showed up twice at the Las Vegas Hilton in his white Rolls-Royce.

Michael Jackson moved back to Las Vegas late last year and has been rushing to finish his long-delayed new album. It was reported last week that he has been working with Akon and RedOne in the Palms recording studios.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

We've been in Chicago this week, taking in all that the Windy City offers, including trips to two local shrines: Wrigley Field and chef Rick Bayless' Topolobampo restaurant.

We watched the Cubs drop a 4-3 nail-biter to Milwaukee on Thursday in a game that featured a home plate collision involving the Brewers' 260-pound Prince Fielder, PETA's new poster child.

Fielder isn't hitting his weight since giving up meat after becoming the youngest player in major league history to hit 50 home runs. But the sight of him rumbling home at full speed would leave most catchers questioning their career path.

Not the Cubs' Geovany Soto, who survived the train wreck after tagging Fielder out. It gave a scary new meaning to bang-bang play.

"I thought I lost my ticket connection," said the guy next to me, Jack Torano, manager of Jilly's Too on Rush Street.

And of course we're here to research Chicago's legendary pizza. Our first impression: Geno's thin crust combo didn't come close to our favorite neighborhood pizza joint, Magura's, 1305 Vegas Valley.

Send me your recommendation for Chicago's best pizza, and I'll run the results on Sunday.

The Scene And Heard

It's splitsville for Miss Nevada USA Veronica Grabowski and a local illusionist who would like to see this writer test a human vaporizer machine. Celebrity blogger Robin Leach reported that the magic has disappeared from the three-month relationship and that it's been called off. ...

KVBC-TV, Channel 3, is pulling the plug today on analog TV for short periods during all of its broadcasts. ...

Michelle Rodriguez is confirmed to attend an event tonight hosted by former "Dancing With the Stars" hottie Stacy Keibler at CatHouse, in the Luxor. Rodriguez, the former "Lost" star, has been keeping a low profile since getting out of jail in January for a probation violation related to her DUI arrest.

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