Friday, Sept. 24, 2004 | 8:38 a.m.
The beautiful and talented Michaelina Bellamy may be the most well-known unknown performer in Las Vegas.
"People in the industry know me," said Bellamy, who has lived here much of her life.
As so do a lot of fans.
She has been entertaining since the age of 5.
"If you print my age, I'll kill you," the eternally youthful Bellamy warned.
She isn't a teenager, but she's decades away from Social Security.
Saturday evening Bellamy will sing the national anthem at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
"I sing it very straight," she said. "It's about the song, not about the singer."
The 5-foot-7-inch-tall descendant of Spanish and Swedish ancestors often sings the anthem at sporting events, but more likely you will hear her perform at nightclubs and in concerts, or, at 8 a.m. Sundays, at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church.
She often can be heard at the Bootlegger. She is one of a rotating list of performers at the Sahara's Casbar Lounge. And she is popular with concert producers.
Bellamy has toured with Engelbert Humperdinck, and was a background singer and performed duets with him. For a time she was the principal singer and dancer for Anita Mann's musical, "Blast from the Past" (which played in Vegas from '86-'93), and for several years in the '80s she was the principal singer and dancer for "Folies Bergere."
In "Folies," she was the one with her top on. Bellamy will bare her soul, but nothing else.
Entertaining flows through Bellamy's veins.
Her maternal grandfather was a born in Madrid, Spain, and played trumpet and violin. Her maternal grandmother was from Chihuahua, Mexico. The couple met in El Paso, Texas, married and moved to Hollywood, where they appeared as background dancers in a number of movies starring Fred Astaire.
In the '50s they moved to Las Vegas, where her grandfather was a musician on the Strip.
Bellamy spoke only Spanish until she was 5, and is still fluent in the language. She was born in Los Angeles, where her father was a restaurateur, real estate broker and flamenco dancer (even though his parents were from Sweden).
"My father was a white boy who loved to dance," she said.
Her whole family danced flamenco, usually at their family-owned restaurant in Santa Ana, Calif., called La Fiesta.
One of her brothers, at the age of 5, did a few concert dates with flamenco legend Jose Greco, Bellamy said.
At age 5 Bellamy was singing and dancing in the restaurant with the rest of the family. She grew up singing at parties and other venues around Southern California, honing her skills and making friends in the industry.
"I loved music," she said.
Her godmother was a European opera singer who taught Bellamy how to sing and breathe properly.
Bellamy's parents moved to Vegas more than 30 years ago and opened the Bel-Ami Nutrition store at 953 E. Sahara Ave., which is still operated by her brothers.
When she was 16 she joined Bob Hope's entourage on a three-month tour in Vietnam, the youngest female in the group.
"I had long blonde hair down to here and short skirts," Bellamy said. "I was just a kid, and well-protected by the service people."
When she was 18 she joined the Air Force and for her two-year tour of duty was a vocalist with Airmen of Note, traveling around the country performing jazz concerts and opening for such legends as Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine and O.C. Smith.
She decided against a military career.
"I refused to wear a uniform," Bellamy said. "They didn't know what to do with me."
She was a staff sergeant when she was discharged.
Since then she has immersed herself in her career -- save for a couple of years after her father died in 2001.
James Bellamy died the night she was to start a new show at the Bellagio. She didn't go on and wasn't sure what she would do with her future.
"I didn't want to go back to sing," Bellamy said. "I was burned out."
Then in 2002 her mother fell ill and told Bellamy she must sing. It was her life. And she wanted to see her sing one more time before she died.
Dennis Bono put Bellamy on his radio show, which at that time was also televised, so that Olga Bellamy could see her daughter perform once more.
Since then Bellamy has slowly returned to the spotlight -- and to the recording studio. She has recorded a number of CDs, some in English, some in Spanish (one was No. 1 in Puerto Rico). Currently she is working on an album of romantic songs.
She is heavily involved in CAST Inc., an organization comprised mostly of performers who have been entertaining Vegas fans for decades.
"CAST keeps me busy," Bellamy said. "I've been doing their events from day one. It's because of CAST that I started to sing again."
She's creating a CD of all the singers in CAST and working on a documentary being filmed at the organization's monthly luncheons.
In the future Bellamy wants to do more concerts, performing with orchestras around the world.
"I have the music for it," she said. "I'm putting my package together now."
One of her greatest joys in the business seems to be her friends.
"They're what's special for me," Bellamy said, "I'm a nobody. When I'm around these superstars, I'm in such awe of them. I just love them all -- they treat me like I'm a somebody."
Lounging around
Blues Brothers Stogee Gelbman and Vic Berchansky won the Sept. 16 Be A Legend Celebrity Impersonator Karaoke Contest at Tequila Joe's at the Imperial Palace.
For their effort the duo won $500 and an audition with the hotel's signature show -- "Legends In Concert."
The monthly contest is open to the public and takes place the third Thursday of the month.
The Cannery will host its annual Rocktoberfest from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. today and Saturday. The event features the $15 bottomless mug, with more than six different German beer brands to sample, and a selection of traditional German dishes.
The entertainment line-up includes performances by Mirage, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, and Escape, a Journey tribute band.
Admission is $5.
Also at the Cannery, on Oct. 2, there will be a "Bop Till you Drop Sock Hop" at The Club.
A performance by local band Doo-wopp.com, a group that specializes in sounds of the 1950s, is scheduled from 8 p.m. to midnight. Admission is free.
The Rio's I-Bar Ultra Lounge is the latest stylish night spot to open in Vegas. The club is located in the center of the main casino pit at the front entrance to the hotel.
The decor reflects its namesake bar, Ipanema, in Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to a full bar, I-Bar features 12 signature cocktails, including Tropical Hypnosis, Peachy Keen, Exotic Spice and Passion Pulse.
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