Red Carpet Report: Amy Purdy, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Paul Zerdin, ‘Nutcracker,’ Locks of Love
Former Las Vegas resident, student and massage therapist Amy Purdy will be front and center for the NBC-televised Summer Paralympics from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, starting with the Sept. 7 opening ceremony. Amy was 19 when bacterial meningitis sent her into septic shock, and doctors gave her a 2 percent chance of survival. Her legs were amputated below the knee, and she lost her kidneys.
Incredibly, two years later, she received a kidney transplant from her Las Vegas father and began snowboarding seven months after getting prosthetics. One year after the amputation, she finished third in a Mammoth Mountain snowboarding contest and won a bronze at the 2014 Paralympics.
Now, not only will she be hosting the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Paralympics for NBC, but I’ve learned exclusively that she also will perform a four-minute solo dance routine at the opening. A symphony orchestra has recorded the music track to play in the stadium. She’ll wear an Israeli designer’s creation mixing technology and fashion innovation.
Amy was a contestant on Season 18 of ABC’s DANCING WITH THE STARS with Las Vegas professional and five-time champion Derek Hough, making it to the finale where she finished runner-up to Olympic gold medalist ice skater Meryl Davis.
Amy, the author of the bestselling memoir “On My Own Two feet: From Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life,” will cover the Paralympics as a reporter for NBC Sports from Rio through the closing ceremony Sept. 15.
Her husband, Daniel Gale, flies into Rio on Monday to celebrate their first anniversary. They competed together on CBS’ THE AMAZING RACE. I’ll talk by phone with Amy during a rehearsal break today for a future story.
MARIAH RETURNS
There always seems to be controversy when superstar singer Mariah Carey returns to continue her residency at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace. She’s back again tonight as her new, nearly nude promotional photographs raise a ruckus with airport authorities in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with moves to ban the shots as “too provocative and sexy.”
Mariah has a nine-show run through Sept. 11, but no news yet on dates for next year. Her return comes amid Wicked Whispers + Racy Rumors that she tossed her billionaire fiance James Packer’s computer through a hotel window because he was playing a Beyonce song on it.
James gave Mariah a $10 million, 35-carat diamond engagement ring, and the duo are expected to marry this fall. Mariah promises that her Caesars resident shows will have all 18 of her No. 1 hits, but clearly no Beyonce songs!
BRITNEY PREVIEW
Hold on tight because if you think you’ve seen our Planet Hollywood headliner Britney Spears do just about everything on the MTV Video Music Awards, executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic promises that Sunday’s broadcast from Madison Square Garden in New York will be “something you’ve not seen her do before. It’s going to separate her from her previous VMA performances.”
Britney is set to open the always-controversial show with “Make Me” with rapper G-Eazy, the lead single from her new album “Glory” that is released Friday. Our story about Britney is in Friday Neon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Jesse added: “It’s amazing to have her back since the last time was 2007, to have her in such great form with a huge hit. She’s super relevant and current.”
Britney stars in her resident show BRITNEY: PIECE OF ME at Axis at Planet Hollywood tonight and jets to New York on Thursday. She had to reschedule her weekend shows at Axis but will fly back in time for next Wednesday’s performance.
ANOTHER CLOSING
We’re sad to report that our WW+RR from last week has come true, as confirmed Tuesday night by colleague John Katsilometes in KATS! in the Las Vegas Review-Journal: AMERICA’S GOT TALENT winner and Planet Hollywood headliner Paul Zerdin’s resident show MOUTHING OFF is closing Sept. 4.
Paul’s show premiered May 14. We wish talented and fellow Brit Paul the best in his future endeavors.
NUTCRACKER AUDITION
When our beloved Nevada Ballet Theatre hosts its open house today starting at 5 p.m., there’s an opportunity for attendees who seek showbiz stardom. The annual event kicks off an exciting new season of classes for all ages including ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, hip-hop, contemporary, theater dance, music and movement that starts Monday.
But as part of the open house at NBT studios on Inner Circle in Summerlin, attendees can register to audition for THE NUTCRACKER, the popular, annual, winter classic production now at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.
LOCKS OF LOVE
Here’s a beautiful charity event you can support all day today. The Rio’s Spa and Salon hosts its seventh-annual Cut-a-Thon to benefit Locks of Love. Tresses donated during the annual event will be used to create wigs and hairpieces for children fighting chemotherapy, scalp burns and alopecia areata.
Locks of Love is a nonprofit that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in America and Canada battling medical hair loss.