J.Lo still in the mix at Axis (for ’16); Rock in Rio USA sales still brisk

By John Katsilometes

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015 | 2:59 p.m.

The Kats Report Bureau at this writing is a favored haunt, Va Bene Caffe at the Cosmopolitan. This is one of a pair of Va Bene outposts at the hotel, this one on the second floor staring into Chandelier bar and the All Saints apparel outlet.

The reason for the visit is the first public appearance by the new ownership/management team at the Cosmopolitan. Speaking at the podium under the grand chandelier of Chandelier were CEO Bill McBeath, Blackstone Global Head of Real Estate Jon Gray, Culinary Union overlord D. Taylor, Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Dina Titus lined up for the rare, pre-noon toast of the bubbly to involve resort and elected officials.

The big takeaway is that Blackstone is a company that “really wants to own this hotel,” as McBeath said in his remarks. As the former president and COO of CityCenter, McBeath is not exactly one to simply babysit a resort. Expect many millions of dollars in investment at the Cosmopolitan, topped by new animation to the casino floor and the hotel’s entertainment strategy and restaurant lineup.

Afterward, Heller said that the Cosmopolitan is in the same strata as such resort companies as MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, though not affiliated with any Las Vegas hotel corporation.

“It’s like the old days, 25 years ago, when we had a lot more independent operators in Las Vegas,” Heller said. “It’s great for competition, and it’s great for the city to see someone invest in Las Vegas in this way. It’ll entice others to do the same.”

The investment, at the moment, is in the dark roast java at Va Bene. In news from other locales …

• Jennifer Lopez performing a New Year’s Eve show in anticipation of a Strip residency in a Caesars Entertainment venue? Hasn’t that happened? Yes, on Dec. 31, at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace. But we might again see Lopez performing on the Strip, at Axis at Planet Hollywood, on New Year’s Eve during the run-up to a residency at that very venue.

An NYE performance at Axis is still sort of a “gosh that would be groovy” concept, not at all booked for the room. But I am hearing that Lopez’s reps are still interested in launching a production on the Strip similar to the explosive dance fest J.Lo uncorked on NYE at the Colosseum.

Lopez is committed through this year, taping her upcoming NBC drama “Shades of Blue,” but the schedule opens in spring of 2016. There are no dates on the books for Britney Spears to perform at Axis past September, incidentally. Just something to know as the calendar turns at Planet Hollywood.

• Rock in Rio USA is excited that the VIP tickets for the May 16 performances at MGM Resorts Festival Grounds have sold out. That’s the date Bruno Mars, Sam Smith, John Legend and Joss Stone appear during the festival’s pop weekend. The May 9 VIP allotment also has sold out, and that’s the day Metallica headlines. Those two dates list “not many left” for general-admission tickets on Ticketmaster, which seems encouraging except that officials are not saying how well the general-admission tickets are moving for either weekend.

It does seem that the latest estimates for 50,000 fans per day at the festival are pretty optimistic. Dial that down by about 10,000 per day, I say, and that’s closer to reality.

• Trent Carlini reportedly took the ouster of his show at Westgate Las Vegas very poorly. The longtime Elvis impressionist is said to be visiting his family in Italy, devastated by the canceling of the show at the end of January.

The hotel is still planning to stage Elvis-styled shows on its property in the big Westgate Theater (where Elvis performed 837 consecutive sold-out shows from 1969-’76) in conjunction with the Graceland attraction being announced Feb. 26.

But these performances are to be “Elvis-related but not Elvis impersonators,” as a Graceland official told The New York Times. Carlini’s show was a straight-up, full-costumed tribute to the King. That’s why it was called “The King,” and, it seems, not a good match for what Graceland had in mind for Westgate.

• Confirmation of the sale of the Riviera to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority led to renewed correspondence with ex-Riviera CEO Andy Choy, who was let go by the Riv in June 2013 after slugging it out on the north end of the Strip for a couple of years.

Six months ago, Choy left Las Vegas for Hong Kong to accept a position as chief gaming officer of Melco International in Macau. The company operates Macau Studio City, and its general manager is Lawrence Ho, son of Macau billionaire Stanley Ho.

Choy has followed the sale of the Riv from abroad, saying he’s “thrilled” for the shareholders for the sale of the property but saddened by the loss of 550 to 800 jobs at the hotel. As he said, “My heart goes out to all those long-term team members who will be facing unemployment.”

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