Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003 | 11:45 a.m.
VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at [email protected] or at (702) 259-4096.
It's been a banner year for personality news, Las Vegas-style.
With Celine Dion opening, Siegfried & Roy closing, Bennifer visiting, Ryan Seacrest hosting, James Caan's "Las Vegas" debuting and The Cuffed One -- that's Michael Jackson, folks -- hiding out, Las Vegas cemented its position as ...
Well, we're not sure exactly what.
But we do know that the nation's inquiring minds were focused on Las Vegas in 2003 as never before.
Since we're unable to sustain interest in a Top 10 list, we are proud to present a random series of lists of varying length, drawn from news and notes that appeared in VegasBeat in 2003:
Top Parties
1. Roy Horn's birthday (Oct. 2). As fabulous Vegas events go, it was fairly unspectacular. Not too many celebs, no celebrity chefs manning the saucepan and Breck Wall insisting that my date was a hooker.
But in light of what happened the next night in the very same room -- the tragic onstage incident with Roy and the white tiger Montecore -- the party left an indelible mark on everyone who was there.
2. "Zumanity" opening-night bash. (Sept. 20). Gotta respect a party that costs $1 million. However, the extravaganza on the roof of the New York-New York parking garage did little to make those in attendance actually enjoy the poorly reviewed Cirque du Soleil offering.
3. Larry Ruvo's annual Alzheimer's fund-raiser (May 3). Muhammad Ali was in the house. The Greatest.
4. Andre Agassi's "Grand Slam for Children" (Oct. 4). The guy cares and it shows. No other single private event on Earth, Agassi told us, raises more money than his soiree. This year, the event raised more than $12.6 million.
Plus, Elton John's onstage rant against Dennis Miller made for several great column items.
Party We're Still Waiting For
1. Celine Dion. The party after her March 25 opening at Caesars Palace was called off because of the conflict in Iraq, which had just begun. Park Place execs said the party would be rescheduled. We're still waiting.
Two Times We Were Right
1. In August, we wrote that on Oct. 21, Elton John would have a press conference announcing that he would become a Vegas headliner, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Bingo.
2. Earlier this month we wrote that George Wallace would take over for Amazing Johnathan at the Flamingo Las Vegas. Three weeks later it was officially announced.
Two Times We Weren't
1. Madonna did not play at the Palms in April to mark the release of her "American Life" album.
2. Dion did not sing for only 15 minutes per show in "A New Day..." as was rumored in January, when we wrote about it.
Hey, it's progress, not perfection.
Best TV Shows in Vegas Hosted by Ryan Seacrest
1. "Billboard Music Awards" (Dec. 10)
2. "Radio Music Awards" (Oct. 27)
3. "America's Party" (tonight; prediction).
Best Celebrity Evening
Saturday, Sept. 13. Combined, two events on the same evening set a standard for celebrity sightings: the Oscar De La Hoya-Shane Mosley fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena -- and then a surprise show by Britney Spears at Rain in the Desert (Palms).
Ringside, we spotted (and this is a partial list) Lolita Davidovich, Courteney Cox Arquette, Tiger Woods, Dennis Quaid, Montel Williams, Christina Aguilera, Magic Johnson, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Michael J. Fox, Tommy Lasorda and Charles Barkley.
Enjoying the Spears show: Paris Hilton, Damon, Marlon and Shawn Wayans, Mekhi Phifer and about 20 NBA players.
Best Celebrity Weekend
1. The Hard Rock Hotel, July 18-19. Elvis Costello played The Joint on Friday night; a reunited Duran Duran played Saturday. Universal movie exec Mary Parent had a two-night, post-concert birthday party at Simon Kitchen and Bar.
Attendees of one or more events included Adrien Brody, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Jenna Elfman, Drea de Matteo, Leah Remini, Mike Medavoy, Rachel Hunter, Bruce Willis and the previously mentioned Ashton and Demi.
2. Various locales. July 25-26. All these acts played Vegas that weekend: Mariah Carey, 50 Cent, Dixie Chicks, Jay-Z, Jay Mohr, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, George Carlin, Lucinda Williams, Liz Phair, B.B. King, Meat Loaf, Cyndi Lauper, Aaron Carter, Connie Stevens, Michael McDonald, Sean Paul, Billy Bob Thornton, Bobby Vinton, Loretta Lynn and Whitesnake.
Best Vegas-centric TV Shows
1. "Lucky."
2. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
3. "Las Vegas."
4. "Penthouse Vegas."
5. "World Series of Poker."
Favorite Visiting Celebs
1 & 1a. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. As evidenced by the long list of names you just read, there is no shortage of boldfaced names passing through Las Vegas. But Bennifer, hands down, was our favorite in 2003.
First, our exclusive report of Lopez' big -- and winning -- bet on Tampa Bay to win the Super Bowl, which she placed at MGM Grand, quickly became a national story.
When they came back for Memorial Day, another VegasBeat exclusive detailing their shopping spree on kiddie clothes at Burberry's at The Venetian caused another national storm when it was speculated that Lopez was preggers.
And then in October all heck really broke loose when we alone reported that Affleck had checked into the Palms as the secret participant in Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown" taping. Coming right after his canceled wedding to Lopez, anything Bennifer was monumental news.
By the way, Lopez and Affleck checked into the Hard Rock Hotel at 8 p.m. Tuesday for New Year's Eve fun. Their pal Matt Damon had a 10 p.m. sushi dinner at Nobu ...
2. Whitney Houston. She caused scene after scene during her visit to Vegas for the "VH1 Diva Duets" taping in May. From her making a public spectacle of herself singing outside Picasso (Bellagio) to her visit to a nose doctor to her husband, Bobby Brown, temporarily making off with $5,000 of another man's money that he gave Brown to gamble with, it was vintage Houston.
3. Paris Hilton. Just because.
Favorite Local Celebs:
1. Penn Jillette. He always speaks his mind. We love that.
2. Oscar Goodman. He always speaks his mind. We love that.
3. Robin Leach. How could we not mention The Rich and Famous One? After all, he's mentioned every other day, isn't he?
4. Elvis Presley. In Las Vegas, he lives forever.
5. Frank Sinatra. He does, too.
From Sun wires
To roars of approval, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, the original stars of "The Producers," returned Tuesday night to the Mel Brooks musical at Broadway's St. James Theatre.
As soon as Lane, who plays charlatan producer Max Bialystock in the show, stepped out on stage, theatergoers started cheering. Moments later, they did the same for Broderick, who portrays Leopold Bloom, Bialystock's nebbish accomplice.
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