Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | 10:40 a.m.
They're tanned, they're rested, they're ready.
The TV show formerly known as "Vegas Live! With Clint Holmes and Sheena Easton" has a new name, a new studio, a new broadcast home, a beefed-up staff with some sterling resumes and one excited executive producer.
"Clint Holmes and Sheena Easton, well, they are so talented they have been kissed by the angels," Rick Garson, the creative boss of what is now called "The Vegas Show," told us over coffee Sunday afternoon.
"They have been amazing since Day 1. I'd take them over Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa any day. But the rest of the show was not quite there yet.
"I mean, 'Wayne's World' had better production values than we did," Garson cracked, referring to the old skit on "Saturday Night Live."
As we first reported a few weeks ago, the new show debuts at 10 a.m. on June 14 on KVVU Channel 5. It will be taped before a studio audience at the Golden Nugget.
"The goal is for the show to be nationally syndicated within a year. We have the talent to do it, Las Vegas has tremendous appeal these days and finally we have a team in place that has the cred to pull this off," Garson said.
Among the additions to the crew are Hedda Muskat, who comes from "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," where she was a supervising producer; Academy Awards set designer Rene Lager; lighting designer Simon Miles, formerly of Jimmy Kimmel's ABC talk show and a veteran of "The Arsenio Hall Show"; and longtime segment producer Darius Anthony.
Kelly Clinton is returning, but not as the show's announcer. She will be used in an expanded role doing remotes and taped comedy segments.
"The secret to a show is not necessarily the talent, but if it meshes," KVVU General Manager Susan Lucas told us. "Wayne Brady, for example, is great, but his show failed because he did not have the right combination of people behind it. Everyone thought Ellen's show would fail, but it is doing well because she has the right team.
"I am very impressed by the caliber of the talent that is now working with 'The Vegas Show.' They have a proven track record, and I think they'll bring out the best in Clint, in Sheena and in Las Vegas."
Hail, farewell
Caesars Entertainment Executive Vice President Joseph E. Jimenez is outta here.
The well-regarded exec who was instrumental in getting The Colosseum built and Celine Dion -- and Elton John, Jerry Seinfeld and Gloria Estefan -- to perform in it, is off to Atlantic City.
Jimenez has done such a magnificent job sprucing up Caesars in Las Vegas, the company is betting he can do the same thing for Caesars Atlantic City.
Rank
How accurate was the USA Weekend magazine cover feature on "The Top 10 Places America Goes to Have Fun"?
Well, the top choice makes sense -- Las Vegas. But the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines ranked second. Then, an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, a New Orleans zoo and a Texas river tubing locale all ranked ahead of Disneyland.
Order
Joe Gannascoli, who plays Vito Spatafore on "The Sopranos," is also an Internet entrepreneur.
He stopped in the other day to the office of our friend, novelties mogul Mike Levine, at Monarch Promotions on West Hacienda.
Gannascoli ordered a couple of thousand T-shirts to sell on his JoeSoup.com Web site.
They have sayings on them such as "Von Vito," a play on the trendy Von Dutch fashion label, and "Got Vito?" a reference to the popular dairy industry ad campaign.
Gannascoli was directed to Monarch by one of their other regular customers, "Sopranos" star Steve Schirripa.
VegasBits
Meeting time: Picking up right where he left off before those pesky Ethics Commission hearings last week, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is hosting another Martinis with the Mayor event, at OPM (Forum Shops at Caesars) at 6 p.m. Thursday ...
Relax: New light heavyweight champ Antonio Carver spent Sunday afternoon at Rehab, the Hard Rock Hotel's pool party. Also enjoying the sunny scene: Jenna Jameson, jocks Cuttino Mobley and Nick Van Exel and vertically challenged entertainer "Little" Tim Loomis ...
Guest stars: Penn Jillette and Jimmy Hopper joined Lon Bronson onstage at his All-Star Band's opening night at Golden Nugget on Saturday. Bronson plays there every Saturday at midnight and at 10 p.m. on Mondays ...
Sip: NBA star Ray Allen spent most of Thursday and Friday night at Carmel and Light (Bellagio) ...
Trip: Entertainer and local TV host Tony Sacca says he has been invited to perform at the White House over the holiday season ...
Alone: Either no one recognized Cindy Crawford or they chose not to bother her when she spent Friday afternoon at the pool at Green Valley Ranch Station Casino with her son, Presley, 4, and daughter Kaia, 2 ...
Arrival: KLAS Channel 8 anchor Colleen May is a mom. She gave birth to Lauryn May Budin at Summerlin Hospital on Sunday night. Lauryn came in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces. Mom, daughter and dad Steven Budin, a money manager and inveterate New York Jets football fan, are all doing fine ...
Mr. May: Las Vegas homeowner and baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson turns 58 today ...
Mob: Las Vegas entertainer and actor Gianni Russo was in Toronto last week to help Paramount promote its single-disc DVD release of "The Godfather." It has only been available in a much-costlier boxed set of all three "Godfather" movies. In the film, Russo had the small but key role of Carlo, Don Corleone's ill-fated son-in-law -- the one who beat up pregnant Talia Shire (Connie) and who later got the crud knocked out of him by a furious James Caan (Sonny) in perhaps the most authentic-looking family fight in film history ...
Schedule: Carson Daly's contract to host "Last Call With Carson Daly" has been extended for three more years, NBC prez Jeff Zucker announced Monday. Daly is taping his show at the Hard Rock Hotel all this week. Zucker also announced that "Father of the Pride," the animated series based on animals who perform with Siegfried & Roy, would air at 9 p.m. Tuesdays in the fall ...
Ink: A sprained neck may have forced her to cancel her shows this week, but Celine Dion's writing hand still works -- she has penned the foreword to Annika Sorenstam's upcoming autobiography. Diva Las Vegas and the world-renowned LPGA golfer have been friends for many years, according to Dion's Web site. Sorenstam is well known as the first woman to play in a PGA event. The book, still untitled, is slated for a fall release.
From Sun wires
Fallon signs off: Say goodbye to Jimmy Fallon on "Saturday Night Live." Fallon announced that he was leaving the comedy show at the end of his "Weekend Update" segment with Tina Fey on Saturday, the show's last original episode of the season.
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