Jewel joins all-stars for Vegas Cares
Sunday afternoon’s (Nov. 5), Vegas Cares show will honor the victims and first responders of the tragic gun massacre on Oct. 1. It will be unprecedented in our city’s entertainment history. It’s almost a “Night of 100 Stars.”
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jewel has been added to the roster of all-star performers that now also includes comedian Brad Garrett, David Copperfield, Human Nature, Lance Burton, Kendra Wilkinson and co-star Jai Alexander, Mike Tyson, Penn & Teller, Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil’s Treasure Island cast of “Mystere,” Rich Little, Tom Green and the Vegas Golden Knights.
There also will be a reunion of the former “Jubilee” dancers in a routine that salutes Elvis Presley and “Viva Las Vegas.” In addition, Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Nevada, Lauren York, will appear in advance of their 66th annual pageant here on Nov. 26, plus longtime residents and The Mirage headliners Siegfried & Roy will make a special appearance.
“No where will you find a better example of Las Vegas community pride than within our entertainment industry,” said Ken Henderson, CEO of BESTAgency, which is producing the benefit. “We were all looking for a way to be part of the healing process and there’s no better way than for each of these incredible entertainers to share their gift with our city.”
Other stars will form men’s and women’s chorales with Keith Thompson, formerly “Jersey Boys” conductor as the show’s men’s choir musical director and pianist Bill Fayne as the women’s musical director.
“It’s safe to say you will see collaborations between these artists that you’ve never seen before and will never see again,” Ken added. “It will be a performance to remember.”
HOLLYWOOD HARASSMENT
In a Los Angeles Times report this morning (Nov. 1) director-producer Brett Ratner was accused of sexual harassment by six women, including actresses Natasha Henstridge, Olivia Munn and Katherine Towne. Brett’s attorney Martin Singer, immediately denied the allegations saying: “I have represented Mr. Ratner for two decades, and no woman has ever made a claim against him for sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. Furthermore, no woman has ever requested or received any financial settlement from my client.”
Brett is a regular Vegas visitor and was the producer and director of the incredible Steve Wynn rooftop commercials that launched his Wynn and Encore hotels.
Brett also filmed Chinese-themed “Red Dragon” in Las Vegas just before the Desert Inn was demolished in 2001 for Steve’s $2.7 billion Wynn resort.
It also famously included an altercation in real-life car chase between a Vegas taxi and a drunken tourists’ auto down the Strip. To date, there have been three “Rush Hour” movies and Hollywood rumors are that “Rush Hour 4” is ready for shooting. A few months ago, Brett launched his new line of Hilhaven Lodge whiskey here in Las Vegas:
Actresses Jamie Ray Newman, Eri Sasaki and Jorina King also described sexually charged run-ins with the director to the LA Times, which also published statements of support for Bret from five former assistants and other longtime colleagues, who said they’d never seen him engage in any misconduct while they worked for him.
HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
• Caesars Palace headliner Celine Dion dressed up as the villain Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty” for Halloween. Her 7-year-old twins, Nelson and Eddy, also took on fierce personalities in their costumes as Mom posed with them for a Happy Halloween Instagram photo for her fans.
• Actress Tara Reid from “The Big Lebowski” and “American Pie” movies made it a mischief night on her visit here to The Golden Tiki. It became party headquarters to celebrate the release of her new Las Vegas-produced movie “Party Bus To Hell” with director/producer Michael Mahal, co-stars Sadie Katz, Stefani Blake, Devani Pinn, along with the cast and crew. Tara wore a shimmery fringe dress with revealing cut-outs as she enjoyed the famous Dole Whips and Tiki Punch Mai Tai while grooving to The Swank Bastards house band.
NEW CABARET
Hollywood celebrities Samantha Ronson, Brody Jenner and TV reality star Scott Disick are among the first DJs to be booked for the new Legends Room cabaret opening on Saturday. “Legends” will have adult entertainers for its exclusive striptease events and you can use Bitcoin for tips because Peter Klamka, a cryptocurrency specialist and Bitcoin entrepreneur is one of the investors along with our Vegas UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar and MMA fighter Nick Blomgren.
FOUR OPENINGS — 1 NIGHT!
• What a night! Not only do we have the start of the World Finals of the Professional Bull Riders but we have three major entertainment happenings. Legendary singer Tony Bennett premieres his new Wynn residency for a run of engagements in the Ecore Theater through Nov. 11. Carlos Santana resumes his residency at the House of Blues until Nov. 12 before his next return on Jan. 24. Jason Tenner, after a three-year run at the Westgate, opens his new residency at the Tropicana. Jason as the world’s most extraordinary Prince look-alike and sound-alike with a tribute to Morris Day and the Time and Vanity 6 promises additional female performers and two new guitarists.
• A $1 million bonus is at stake when the CBS Sports Network and Professional Bull Riders (PBR) conclude an exciting 2017 season with all five rounds of the PBR World Finals live from T-Mobile Arena starting tonight. With five riders separated by less than 500 points and each able to earn up to 3,300 points over the five-day event, the title race to win the bonus and world champion gold buckle is wide open, capping one of PBR’s most exciting and competitive seasons ever. The telecast’s three-man booth is led by Craig Hummer calling play-by-play; analyst and former UNLV student Justin McBride; sideline reporter Leah Garcia;on-the-dirt reporting from Matador bullfighter Shorty Gorham; and inside-the-chutes reporting from JW Hart. Starting tonight the five broadcasts will begin with a 30-minute pre-show on CBS Sports Network, “B&W Trailer Hitches.”
• Marking one month since the tragic mass shooting at the Harvest 91 country music festival tonight’s “Celebrate Las Vegas” opening will include a special tribute video and giant field-sized American flag presentation by Las Vegas first responders. The Mirage headliner Terry Fator will be one of the national anthem singers during championship week. It broadcasts here on Cox Cable Channel 333 and on Sunday afternoon with a three-hour telecast from 1-4 pm. A live CBS Sports Network stream is available through CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App and a full programming schedule, is available at cbssportsnetwork.com.
• He’s now 91 but Tony Bennett is still going strong. The word legend doesn’t even begin to explain the power and appeal of the singer who left his heart in San Francisco. Tony begins a new residency tonight at Steve Wynn’s Encore Theater through Nov. 11. Tony said he keeps going at his age because his concerts are still sellouts.
When I talked with him ahead of our Keep Memory Alive Power of Love gala he told me: “Frank Sinatra was in Life magazine where he talked about his entire life. It was very rare for Frank to talk about it but then he said that I was his favorite singer. That changed my life because of all of his fans. Ever since then, I’ve been soldout all over the world. He changed my career by saying I was his favorite. Throughout life, he became my best friend.
“I’m one of the pioneers of Las Vegas, believe it or not, because I’m so old. I was here when Las Vegas first started; just before the big corporations took over and built these great buildings. To see the change, it’s such a complete city now. It’s really more modern than any city in the United States. I’ve always loved what I’ve done right from the early beginning when my Italian American parents and all my relatives said to me that they liked the way I sang and the way I liked to paint flowers. I was 10 years old when I said, “Who am I? What am I going to be doing?” My family told me that I was good at performing and painting, and it created a tremendous passion in my life that’s continued to this moment where I feel as I get older, I can still get better.
“Music keeps you young. It has to be the right kind of music. I’m a great believer in jazz, which was invented by African Americans. It’s a tremendous art because it’s completely spontaneous and honest. The great thing about it is it never becomes old-fashioned. It stays modern. To this day if you hear a Louis Armstrong record, it sounds like he recorded it yesterday, yet that was many years ago.”
TONIGHT’S TIPS
• The Las Vegas Film Festival and Brenden Theaters at the Palms host the local premiere of “The Fabulous Allan Carr” movie. He was the Hollywood guru behind the “Grease” movie which starred our Flamingo headliner Olivia Newton John, Broadway’s “La Cage Aux Folles” and the Village People disco music.
• Vegas icon, crooner Jimmy Hopper sings Broadway, big band hits, and incredibly some opera with guest Myroslava Khomik at Myron’s Cabaret Salon in The Smith Center.
• Electronic pop group Lany has racked up more than 60 million streams on Spotify with their latest song “Super Far,” plus heading to 4 million views of their music video but after three sold-out nights in new York City are headed to Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel. Here’s the YouTube video:
The trio’s debut album went to No. 8 on the Top 10 digital album charts and opened at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums countdown.
• The new 4-D Experience with 15-minute explosive movies, including the “San Andreas” with Dwayne Johnson and the “Lego” movie premieres at the Excalibur.
• Executive chef Stephen Blandino celebrates the first anniversary of his Americana restaurant at Desert Shores.
• Elton John at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
• Jimmy Hopper at The Smith Center.
• Capturing Pablo at Brooklyn Bowl.
• SEMA after-party at Chateau Nightclub & Rooftop.
• DJ Migos spins the 1s and 2s at Drais atop the Cromwell.
• DJ CEO at The Dorsey at The Venetian.
