Red Carpet Report: Olympic champion water polo team headed to L.V.; Miesha Tate; Slotzilla; Pole Expo; Uber Eats
America’s Olympic gold medals are coming to Las Vegas along with eight of our prize-winning water polo team members. Coach Adam Krikorian promised the swimmers that if they won gold at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he would treat them to a weekend here.
In the finals, Team USA easily defeated Italy, 12-5. The ladies have a reservation for dinner Saturday with executive chef Barry Dakake at his N9NE Steakhouse at The Palms. It was the first time our women’s team won gold. Just days after the Opening Ceremony, Adam flew home to be with his family after learning that his brother, Blake Krikorian, had died.
Adam returned to Rio in time for the gold medal finals, and it was a highly emotional TV moment when the team placed all their medals around his neck. Chef Barry tells me that he’ll have them hanging from his arms Saturday as he prepares dinner for the champions.
Also, the opening events of the Summer Paralympic Games from Rio are tonight where our Las Vegas heroine Amy Purdy will open the ceremonies with a four-minute dance that integrates computer technology with her costume. Our story with Amy was posted Friday.
HAILED A HERO
Former UFC champion and Las Vegas resident Miesha Tate was hailed a hero after carrying a 6-year-old girl with a broken arm down three miles of Mt. Charleston from Mary Jane Falls to reach medical help. Said Miesha in an interview with Chet Buchanan’s MORNING ZOO on KLUC:
“Her meekly built mother was struggling to carry her daughter, Kai, down the mountain, so I offered to carry her. It was roughly a two-mile descent, but we made it without slipping or falling. I wasn’t concerned about falling down while holding her.
“I was more worried about the guys claiming to have broken arms trying to get me to carry them down the mountain. It was all good. I’d been looking for an extra workout anyway.” The MMA athlete wrote up her Good Samaritan act on her Facebook page with photos.
ONE MILLIONTH FLYER
All month long, our friends at Slotzilla at Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas are celebrating the upcoming Millionth Flyer. On Sept. 28, 10 lucky flyers will receive a golden bracelet before one is pronounced the Millionth Flyer.
He or she will win a one-year, free-flight pass and $1,000, one-tenth of 1 million pennies that will be paid to the other nine contestants. Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who once rode Slotzilla against me in a $5,000 bet to benefit Opportunity Village (we tied), will be there to celebrate the milestone.
Add up the total feet flown by 1 million riders, and its 1.275 billion, the equivalent of a trip to the moon, or 132 flights around the globe, or 455,032 flights across the USA. The flyers are launched 1,750 feet across the entire length of FSE.
LIP SMACKING
On the heels of its successful culinary walking tours of the Strip and Downtown, Lip Smacking Foodie Tours plans to launch Boozy Brunch Tours every weekend. The 150-minute tours will visit chef Brian Malarkey’s Herringbone and chef Michael Mina’s Bardot Brasserie at Aria.
Lip Smacking just landed in Trip Advisor’s Top 10 list of food tours. It also will provide brunch at Lemongrass if you prefer dim sum, Thai coconut sticky rice and mango.
POLE FITNESS
Today marks the start of the five-day Annual Pole Expo returning for its fifth year to the Hard Rock Hotel. It’s the largest event in the world for pole fitness. Thousands of fitness enthusiasts from 50 countries are attending the expo organized by Las Vegas’ Fawnia Mondey, who contributed a guest column for me posted Thursday.
Tonight’s opening ceremonies feature Jalles Franca from MICHAEL JACKSON: THE LEGEND and Tomoko from ITALY’S GOT TALENT. The exploding sport highlights athleticism, fitness art and competition.
CIRCUS RINGMASTER
Did you ever dream of running away to join the circus? You get the opportunity Thursday to audition to become the next ringmaster of Ringing Bros. and Barnum and Bailey. A leader in producing live family entertainment has launched a global search for a ringmaster who will preside over its new CIRCUS XTREME.
Throw your hat into the ring to pre-register for an in-person audition at Ringling.com/Ringmaster. On Thursday, candidates will sing “We’re On a Quest” and a song of their choice at Fern Adair Conservatory of the Arts on East Patrick Lane for the job.
UBER EATS
Today is the official launch of the Uber Eats app in Las Vegas, the Uber driver service that delivers food to your home 24/7 in a four-mile radius with more than 150 restaurants participating in the Valley. If you have the Uber app, you’ll find a new crossed knife and fork button to open Uber Eats.
