‘Tis the Season… you know the Christmas Holiday celebration has officially arrived when the Bellagio’s Conservatory & Botanical Gardens creates its picture perfect annual display.

So come Saturday morning (Dec 1), the horticulturalists there will combine the nostalgia of the season with the wonders of modern technology to create a picture-perfect holiday display. Visitors from all around the world are wowed by the unique money-no-object exhibits as festive arctic animals and an oversized “Seasons Greeting” card will bloom to life with the help of thousands of live flowers. In the center of it all, a dazzling holiday tree laden with sparkling lights soars skyward while holiday music plays in the background. A paved walkway framed by a giant holiday wreath invites visitors to stroll through a fanciful winter scene. The 21-foot-tall wreath will feature natural greenery, pine cones and holiday-red berries, and will be festooned with a brilliant, two-foot-wide gold ribbon. Slim-cut Evergreen firs and red Amaryllis will border the walkway and complete the captivating display. The dazzling centerpiece of this beautiful exhibit will be a towering 42-foot-tall White Shasta Fir ablaze in an intricate, state-of-the-art LED display.

Adorned with brilliant holiday lighting, sparkling chrome accents and delicate crystal jewels, this impressive holiday tree will be surrounded by oversized, 14-point mirrored stars. A stunning eight-foot tall, red-mirrored millennium star will top the dazzling creation. At the tree’s base, dancing fountains will leap amongst a sea of vibrant red and white poinsettias to a choreographed music and light display. Giant holiday ornaments, ranging in size from four to eight-feet tall, will accent this glittering scene. There’s also an endearing colony of Emperor penguins atop a craggy bed of icebergs: 22 portly birds sporting Santa hats guarding brightly colored gifts. State-of-the-art animatronics’ technology will bring three of them to life. The animated penguins will attempt to decorate a 30-foot-tall holiday tree while on a tipping ladder. Another whimsical tableau has six reindeer in mid-flight as they leap from icy tundra into a snow-filled sky. Each reindeer has been encrusted with 110 lbs of whole pecans and the brilliant yokes are made from cranberry-red, dried botanicals. The reindeer will soar over the giant greeting card which features a snowy woodland cabin scene made of white carnations, terracotta roses, yellow mums, blue statice and pine cones. Each bloom has been carefully hand-planted by Bellagio horticulturists and will be kept fresh by a specially designed water drip system.

Here are the fast facts: The centerpiece Holiday Shasta White Fir from Mt. Shasta, California measures 42 feet high and has 4,000 feet of state-of-the-art animated lighting and more than 12,000 holiday lights. The secondary tree amidst the perky penguins is 30 feet tall with over 200 ornaments and 5,000 mini-lights. The living Holiday card is eight feet tall by ten feet wide with an envelope that features the Bellagio seal stands 13 feet tall and eight feet wide. It took 110 lbs of whole pecans to decorate each one of the six reindeer! The winter wonderland remains open until January 5.

To date, Landry’s Restaurant chairman and CEO, Tilman Fertitta has spent $100-million renovating his Golden Nugget resort casino downtown–and he’s convinced its equal or better to anything that a rival Strip property could offer. And he’s not stopping yet! His 14-month project added new restaurants and amenities and revamped existing facilities there, but as he told me at the opening of Rich Little’s new engagement in the Nugget showroom: “We’re now under construction of a new tower, and once we get it completed alongside the existing building, we will have the finest luxury suites anywhere. And our spa can match the best in the world.”

I asked how he felt having a shining four-star golden property in the downtown corridor when all the neighboring hotels looked dowdy and aged by comparison.

“Naturally, if I could, I would buy everything and renovate them as well to bring them up to our standards. But it’s beginning to happen, and downtown is alive and well with a new energy and getting better every day,” he told me. “We’re setting a high standard and we won’t stop adding to it with different attractions. With all the new condos coming on line downtown, they will match our standards and hopefully the owners or new owners of the other hotels will step in and make major upgrades over the next few years. I am very bullish on what’s happening now downtown, and our Mayor is doing an incredible job at bringing it back to a premiere destination. I don’t know any other official who could have championed the cause so well.”

*A near year-long remodeling of all rooms and suites at the Mirage will get underway mid-February. The total transformation involves new mattresses, new bedding, new light fixtures and new A/C units. The King guest rooms will be colored citrus and ruby, and the Double Queen rooms will be mulberry and saffron with modern lifestyle designs being incorporated into a high-end residential feel. Mirage execs promise the head-to-toe interior makeover will be done by December ’08!

*Financial newspaper Barron’s says among the large, pending buyout transactions, Harrah’s provides investors a good risk/reward opportunity given the recent pullback in share price. HET shares have fallen to $87.14 from near the buyout price of $90, and that spread gives an annualized return of 18%, assuming the Texas venture capitalists mega-billion transaction closes as planned on January 31, 2008.

*In a ginormous $25-billion project, a British-based, real estate leisure development company plans to recreate the Las Vegas-styled Strip as its own city on 5,000 acres in eastern Spain over the next ten-years. Preliminary plans call for 32 hotels, five theme parks, and a stadium and conference center.

You can tell the 150,000 fans of the National Finals Rodeo are getting ready to invade town next weekend because country comic Rodney Carrington, who always wears his trademark black Stetson, begins his King of the Mountains long run tonight at MGM’s Hollywood Theater. He’ll be there nightly throughout the cowboy convention at 10 p.m. through December 15, but will have one midnight show on December 8… Juice Newton makes the 20-minute drive down the I-15 worthwhile to Primm Valley and the Star of the Desert Arena when she sings for her supper through Saturday night.

It’s yet another Hollywood invasion as Nicky Hilton joins her celebrity partners, Nick Lachey and Wilmer Valderrama to open their new Company American Bistro alongside the hot new LAX nightclub at the Luxor. Luxe Life also has the full rundown of Saturday’s Great Santa Run when Opportunity Village hopes to win a new Guinness Book world record and Sunday’s third annual Las Vegas Marathon.

A brand-new multi-media website with daily breaking news updates for all the luxury lifestyle secrets of Vegas, plus all the latest celebrity happenings. Stay tuned for all the exciting details. You can catch our Luxe Life daily headliner teasers every morning on the Rick Dees 93.3 FM radio show in Los Angeles and our weekly Luxe Life wrap-up on the ABC radio network.

When visiting Vegas, be sure to see Las Vegas Magazine in your hotel suite featuring a print edition of Vegas Luxe Life, and an incredible directory of attractions, shows and restaurants.

VEGAS- THE ONLY PLACE TO PLAY!

Congratulations to race driver Helio Castroneves and his Vegas Dance Academy partner Julianne Hough on winning the final Dancing with the Stars TV-show last night.

Spice Girl Melanie Brown, who recently married here in Vegas, and Maksim Chmerkovskiy wound up in the number two spot while Vegas headliner Marie Osmond and Jonathan Roberts landed in the third spot.

My predictions were completely correct—and exactly as I said 10-weeks ago from the first show of Season 5! After meeting both Helio and Julianne at the Andre Agassi charity fundraiser at MGM earlier this fall I reiterated my prediction again.

It was the second consecutive win for Julianne who captured Season 4 victory partnering with speed skater Apollo Ohno.

Our Caesars Palace headliner, super-songbird Celine Dion performed two songs on the telecast with former Vegas contestants Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton also appearing—but not dancing, as did all the other previously eliminated contestants. Wayne’s doctors wouldn’t let him sing or dance because of his current heart-infection, and Floyd admitted he’s nursing a sore ankle with only ten days to go before his Dec 8 world welterweight championship fight here against Ricky Hatton at MGM.

Said Helio: “I wasn’t expecting it, so I am shocked by the victory. I thought Mel because she’s an incredible dancer. The mirror-ball trophy will look so good between my two Indy 500 trophies.”

Mel added: “I’m not going to deny it; losing was a terrible thing.

Marie was eliminated at the opening of last night’s show after trailing badly in the judges’ voting the night before. Her army of doll-collector fans simply didn’t muster enough votes to overcome the narrow margin between Helio and Melanie. However, it’s still an extraordinary achievement for Marie because she’s been roiled by turmoil the past few months: she split with husband Brian Blosil after 20-years of marriage, she fainted during one of the October telecasts of Dancing with the Stars having dropped 30lbs in rugged rehearsals, her father died earlier this month the day after she’d appeared on Oprah to mark the Osmond family’s 50-year showbiz career. On top of that, last week during a Larry King interview she admitted that her 16-year-old son, Michael had entered rehab to battle a substance abuse problem.

“The show gave me something that I knew was solid, something I can count on. It’s been one of the best experiences of my life,” she said. Now we’re waiting for word if Marie will go ahead with her Christmas show set for the Suncoast up in Summerlin on December 21, 22 & 23 or appear on the DWTS tour which is scheduled to hit the Orleans Arena here on December 30. Marie will definitely return to Vegas with brother Donny for ten-days next July at the MGM Hollywood Theater!

Celine won raves for her songs, “My Heart Will Go On” and “Taking Chances” on the show, so now make sure you click into Luxe Life starting tomorrow for our daily countdown of the final 13 shows that Celine will perform at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace. It all ends on Saturday night December 15, and then in February our favorite Lake Las Vegas resident will begin an extraordinary year-long tour around the world starting in South Africa in a special performance for Nelson Mandela’s charity!

Rock musicians often get bad raps because people only know them for their wild antics quickly reported in the tabloids. But we’ve got a wonderful secret to share about the incredible generosity of Motley Crue’s singer, Vince Neil. Now, as you know, he’s a neighbor and good friend and he’ll probably be upset that I’m telling you this story. But I wanted you all to know that he’s one heckuva decent guy—and to show his support of our military he sponsored a great bunch of our Marines to a Vegas weekend, and Vince picked up the entire tab.

He booked them rooms at the Flamingo so they’d stay right on the Strip and eventually wound up treating them to free tattoos in his Vince Neil Ink tattoo parlor and had them sit right in the stage front row when he gave a concert there, too! He picked up the whole tab—including the beer bar bill!

Vince, who just finished with the Rock and Roll Fantasy camp here in Vegas, told us it was an awesome experience playing alongside such veterans as Roger Daltry and Slash, teaching music to corporate boardroom executives.

“It is great to see these people get together and perform. There are like 40 guys here. There are so many here, I can’t think of them all, they come in and we are the camp counselors, to give support to these guys. I am a little hoarse. I have been singing today. We have people 15-50; a lot of young people and old people. They are excited to be here. It is neat. I wish I would have done something like this when I was a kid. It is neat to talk to people that you actually look up to in music.”

Vince took the opportunity to tell my ABC News radio producer, Al Mancini that for now Motley Crue is taking a brief break. “We just finished up the tour, so a little vacation time. We will be in the studio in January. Hopefully a new record in the spring, and a new tour in the summer. A brand new studio album, not a greatest hits album, we only have nine of those.”

Vince also talked about having the only tattoo parlor on the Strip: “I was going to put a tattoo shop in Harrah’s on Tahoe, and the opportunity came up to do it here on the Strip, so that was amazing, it has been doing great, we actually have gambling like Blackjack and three-card poker, and rock and roll music while you are waiting to get a tattoo. We had to get rid of the girls from the original opening. We did a lot of remodeling, we learned from early mistakes as businesses do. I can’t even get in to get a tattoo. We’re doing so much business, it took me three days to make an appointment.”

The tattoo parlor might be the only one on the Strip, but its not Vince’s only business: “I have my wine tasting room opening up soon in my vineyard up in northern California; I have my Tequila Tres Rios down in Mexico. I have Dr. Feelgood’s restaurant opening up in Palm Beach, Florida. I have the new Cantina here in Las Vegas, the Vince Neil Tres Rios Cantina that we’re opening across the Strip from the tattoo shop, right by the fountains at Caesar’s. I am on the phone a lot. The stuff is going well. I go to Florida to visit the restaurant make sure it is all-good. I go to Mexico to check on the tequilas there. I go to all the bars to make sure all my stuff is in the bars. It’s a rough life. I have to go to tattoo shops and bars all the time.”

Even if the Hollywood writers weren’t on strike you couldn’t write a better script than this one, because this is fact not fiction!

Just 107 days after their wedding at WYNN and European honeymoon, 84-year-old billionaire Joe Hardy is calling his marriage to 23-year-old manicurist Kristin Georgi quits! He’s filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences.” But don’t feel heartbreak for the lumber store mogul, because he’s already dating a younger girl, college graduate 22-year-old Danielle Golden. Friends say she’s “smitten” with him and Joe’s even talking a fourth wedding!

I’ve known Joe some 15-years and watched his retail 84-lumber and hardware stores spread coast to coast to almost an even 1,000—including one here on Decatur and a second superstore in the works. He is a remarkable man who shows no signs of slowing down in business or love!

I attended his beautiful two-day long WYNN wedding celebrations which included an extraordinary dinner for 30 close family and friends at Paul Bartolotta’s super-seafood Ristorante del Mar there—and also joined Bette Midler, Christina Aguillera and Robin Williams at Joe’s 84th birthday bash in February.

As a generous philanthropist and supporter of numerous charities he’s never hidden the fact he’s “the happy billionaire.” At his Pennsylvania HQ, Joe’s first marriage, back in 1944 to his childhood sweetheart, Dotty lasted 53 years until they divorced in 1997. He quickly met 26-year-old Debra Maley, an assistant at his Nemacolin Woodlands resort and their marriage, which produced two new daughters lasted six-years. (He’s even building a new mansion right next door to the house he built for her and their daughters). Then came Kristin this Spring but, as she said, “The 61-year age gap was too much—you’d think there would be some differences! In his 80’s you’d think Joe would be settling down, but no.”

Unlike his previous wives who were all blonde, Joe’s new gal-pal, Danielle is a brunette so maybe the fourth time is the charm! If there is a wedding, Joe promises he’ll return to Vegas to get it right this time!

The $6 a share cash dividend payout that Steve Wynn gave out to shareholders totaled $658.6 million, actually netting him $143.8 million as the company’s largest stockholder!

Who knows if the marriage is still on or permanently off? Back in 2004 Boulder City fisherman Brian Velvick proposed to Mary Delgado on The Bachelor and she became his fiancée and they moved to St. Petersburg, Florida where he works for ESPN Bass Sports. They turned up together on After the Final Rose, a follow-up special to the ABC-TV series last week, but 24-hours later they were involved in such a punch-up domestic squabble that she was arrested by Tampa police and taken into custody. It’s not the first time that our local bachelor has been involved in domestic disputes, but this time it may have ended a possible wedding!

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Guiliani has been borrowing Venetian mogul owner Sheldon Adelson’s private G-4 jet for his cross-country politicking, and it came to light when the former NYC Mayor had to reimburse the Venetian’s head honcho to the tune of $122,000 per campaign rules!

Finally, time to also catch-up with the remaining photos and fun images from the great official opening of Planet Hollywood. Photographer Tom Donaghue captured Steven Stills and Edgar Winter who played with the Bruce Willis Blues Band along with the exciting Earth, Wind & Fire performance and the Planet’s BET Poker Tournament won by Miguel Nunez.

Tom, who wanted to share his photos with Luxe Life, also managed to “hang” himself off the opposite side of the Strip to get the unique Planet Hollywood center strip shot!