Friday, Nov. 9, 2001 | 9:53 a.m.
Kate Maddox's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 259-2309 or [email protected].
Over the years MTV has developed a love-love relationship with Las Vegas. They love the Hard Rock Hotel for parties. They love Fremont Street for extreme sporting events. They love entertaining their corporate bigwigs at local casinos. They love it so much that now they want seven youthful exhibitionists to enjoy all that Sin City has to offer.
Vegas has been tapped to host the 12th season of "The Real World," the popular, roommates-in-crisis reality series featuring attractive singles in various stages of ennui. Starting in January, seven strangers picked to live in a house and have their lives taped to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start being real, will get to run rampant on the Strip.
The cast has yet to be selected, but already scouts are reportedly tearing up the town looking for that perfect, luxe house to fill with lights, cameras and a whole lotta whining action. (Homeowners associations beware. They want nice, gated and private.)
And let's hope Vegas is a tad more hospitable than Chicago, the city that was the backdrop for upcoming season 11. Neighborhood protests, nosy pranksters and MTV-haters mucked up taping in the Windy City, making it difficult for the young roomies to go about their "normal" lives.
As for what "jobs" the cast will be awarded (which MTV provides to get the little punks off the couch), at this point it's anyone's amusing guessing game. All I know is MTV has at least made my job that much more fun. Welcome, "Real World." Welcome.
The war of words between MGM MIRAGE Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Alan Feldman and CityLife Editor and Publisher Rod Smith hasn't ceased. Smith, whose alternative weekly ran an unflattering article about the gaming giant last week and was subsequently stripped of MGM MIRAGE's advertising business, isn't exactly feeling warm and fuzzy about Feldman.
"Alan Feldman is like a child who murders his parents and then cries that he's now an orphan," Smith said on Tuesday, the day Feldman's harsh assessment of CityLife ran in this space. "His lack of finesse in dealing with this situation is appalling."
As for whether he's concerned about CityLife's loss of ad revenue, Smith said, "I'm more concerned about the state of media coverage in Las Vegas. We're simply not going to submit to this kind of thuggery. If they want to shoot the messenger, that's fine -- but they need to deal with the message."
They like him there. They really, really like him. Mike Tyson so appreciated the hero's welcome recently bestowed on him by the citizens of Denmark (who apparently haven't picked up an American newspaper in a few years), that the former heavyweight champ is reportedly leaving his Vegas home for a huge villa he recently purchased in a suburb of Copenhagen.
According to the Danish mag Se & Hoer, Tyson wants to spend significant time in Europe at his new pad so that he can train in peace before (he wishes) fighting the winner of the upcoming Lennox Lewis-Hasim Rahman bout. Tyson fell in love with Denmark, and vice versa it seems, when he fought Dane Brian Nielson there last month.
Venus at The Venetian kicks off its burlesque dancing series tonight with Dita Von Tease and Catherine D'Lish. Von Tease and D'Lish, um, perform to music and will apparently try to revive the lost art of slow-dance seduction. Or that's what I'm told -- you got me on this one. I do know that Von Tease is rocker Marilyn Manson's latest girlfriend and that Marilyn will be on hand to watch Dita tease.
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