While everybody from Internet sites to local TV stations were saying superstar singer Fergie and fiancée Josh Duhamel’s romance had fallen on hard times Luxe Life knew better! Just because the 33-year-old Black Eyed Peas soloist was on the arm of eccentric movie director Quentin Tarantino, on an incredible night of birthday party celebrations in Vegas, didn’t mean “trouble in paradise” for Fergie and Josh.

In fact every time the lights went out and the cameras were turned off they were together—and they were only apart in public with him watching her protectively from a safe distance! “It was her birthday and Quentin’s simultaneously—and Josh just wanted them to shine without the spotlight being taken off them and turned on his romance with Fergie,” I was told. “Plus the fact that she’s not pregnant and he didn’t want the reporters and photographers focusing on that all night long.”

The ploy worked. People even thought they’d split up and next morning the reports of them being separated were everywhere. But we know they spent the entire trip from start to finish together and we got the photos of them together at the Bare Pool Lounge in The Mirage.

Here’s the rundown as only Luxe Life can get: It was two-years ago that Fergie and Quentin were introduced to each other, hit it off as friends and discovered they shared the same birthday. “We have to celebrate sometime together with a big party,” promised Quentin. And now 24-months later they managed to pull it off with a 10-hour extravaganza with not one, not two but four back-to-back birthday bashes!

It began with a private jet for Fergie and Josh from Los Angeles to Vegas. I’m told they sipped champagne, held hands, kissed and cuddled throughout the 35,000 foot, 45-minute flight. Then first stop for Fergie and Quentin with a 100 family and friends entourage was The Beatles Love by Cirque du Soleil musical The Mirage. Fergie with Josh and Quentin joined actress Darryl Hannah, rocker Kid Rock, former wrestler turned actress Stacey Keibler to all go backstage after the show to meet the cast and crew as Luxe Life first reported on Friday. The first birthday cake of the evening made from cupcakes was rolled out for Celebration No. 1.

Then they all headed to the Bare Pool lounge for Celebration No. 2—a cocktail-dinner reception with exotic fire and belly dancers atop a glass floor that covered the pool. Video-clips from both Fergie and Tarrantino’s careers were projected on large-screen backdrops as they all sipped on Veuve Cliquot champagne. Josh kept a very low profile under a baseball cap while sipping margaritas. Also there Grindhouse actor Eli Roth, Hollywood hunk James Lesure, actor-rapper Rza and Diablo Cody. The chefs from Stack restaurant put on a feast for royalty serving up mini-mac and cheese poppers, tuna tacos, spicy crab with crispy rice, mini Kobe sliders, wings buffalo style and mini pizzas plus displays of jelly donut munchkin holes, mini cupcakes and mini crème brulé!

Celebration No. 3 followed at The Beatles Revolution ultra lounge where yet another birthday cake was served. On the red carpet Fergie stopped to sign autographs including a birthday card from 16-year-old Alexandra Flores from Riverside, California who was visiting. At the stroke of midnight break-dancers from Cirque’s Love show entertained the birthday group with Fergie grooving alongside DJ Questlove and Quentin. A giant multi-tired chocolate cake with “Revolution” spelled out down one side was wheeled out by the beautiful female staff all holding sparklers. Among those joining for that was Emily Wynne-Hughes, lead singer of all girl punk band Go Betty Go, actress supermodel Esther Canadas, actress Vivica Fox and Miya Granatella spinning a little dance with the birthday couple!

The group reveled in the non-stop action and moved onto Jet nightclub for celebration No. 4—with superstar rapper Nelly, R&B princess Keysha Cole and Polo Da Don joining the ever-increasing star-studded crowd with Kid Rock playing guest deejay for the pre-dawn shindig! Yet another cake—this one from Jean-Philippe Patisserie—was rolled in representing the joint record and movie careers of Fergie and Quentin depicting half “Glamorous” and half Kill Bill!

The moment their official souvenir photos were finished Fergie dug into the cake and with hands full of the gooey delight started a full-on cake fight with Josh, Quentin and the other guests! She told everybody: “This was the best birthday I’ve ever celebrated. Everything in my life is perfect.”

When it came time for Fergie and Josh to secretly get to their hotel suite they succeeded in a cat-and-mouse espionage game with the waiting in hiding paparazzi. Meantime though Quentin hooked up with the all-female punk rock group The Deadly Seven. He invited Greed from the group to party with him long into the night and told the girls: “I love new exciting dangerous things.” The punk-paupers delivered seven pizzas to his hotel room for breakfast—all with D7 spelled out in different toppings and paying homage to his first scripts of Captain Peachfuzz and the Anchovy Bandit. The D7 girls who will play the famed LA Viper Room in June also gifted Quentin with a slew of old toy favorites from Creature of the Black Lagoon and Frankenstein Monsters to a Ricky Martin fan book.

Fergie and Josh were left quietly resting before their return flight home but my lips are sealed about the wild and crazy adventures of Quentin and the D7 punkers. “This was the absolute ultimate birthday blow-out,” I was told. “You just have to simply call it glamorous—and one everybody involved will never forget.”

It’s been a whirlwind first 72 hours for the 51 Miss USA contestants since they arrived at their host Planet Hollywood Resort.

Their first night, with an Asian themed buffet dinner, gave them an opportunity to meet their new roommates for the next 15 days of competition. Relaxing with each other in the spacious lounge of the new celebrity-studded Koi restaurant they made new friends, snapped photos of each other and text-messaged family and friends back home. Incidentally congratulations to Koi being named that night “ best new restaurant” by the American Concierge Association’s southwest division.

Reigning Miss USA, Rachel Smith told me that because she crowns the new winner on April 11 she had to move out of her official apartment in New York to get it readied for the next Miss USA. “That was 27 boxes worth of clothes and souvenirs from traveling the world the last 12 months,” she said. “That went smoothly enough and I flew to Vegas with just three suitcases—and of course one got lost temporarily! Thankfully I forgot to bring the crown with me so the pageant lawyers will fly it out in time for the telecast.”

The live broadcast Miss USA President Paula Shugart, my former colleague at our old Star Search TV series, told me will showcase Vegas to over 100 countries around the world—many faraway viewers seeing the Strip for the first time ever. For 26-year-old Andrea Duke, Miss North Carolina it was also her first ever visit to Vegas. “There’s a few of us who are also seeing Vegas for the first time—a couple of the girls have only been here once before. It’s amazing and overwhelming. Hopefully we’ll get to see a lot of your sights and attractions even though it’s early to bed under curfew each night.” For 21-year-old Candice Crawford, Miss Missouri, she’s hoping Vegas is close enough for big brother Chase Crawford who stars as Nate Archibald on the hit TV Gossip Girl series, to jet over and watch the finals! Courageous 20-year-old Abbey Curran, Miss Iowa one of the five youngest in the pageant patiently and bravely fights Cerebral Palsy yet told the other beauty pageant contestants she’s not letting it stop her bid for a pilots license!

Next day all the contestants visited Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at The Mirage. Reigning queen Rachel got help from Greg Sabataso, assistant curator of dolphin care, in training Duchess—and then our personal-pick favorite Miss Nevada, Veronica Grabowski along with Miss California Raquel Beezley and Crystie Stewart, Miss Texas took their turn.

Over the weekend the entire group dined at Trader Vic’s Lava Lounge at Planet Hollywood Resort’s Miracle Mile Shops and singer-pianist Jimmy Hopper performed a special concert for them. The girls also participated in a sock-hop fundraiser in the resort’s Stomp Out Loud theater for a new branch of the Best Buddies charity for our favorite Vegas organization Opportunity Village.

Today (MON) all 51 girls get down in earnest with the serious part of the contest with early interviews and then tour the Nellis Air Force base to meet the famed Thunderbird pilots as another group works with Habitat for Humanity. Tonight the blonde and brunette beauties will attend the exuberant musical Stomp Out Loud at Planet Hollywood Resort and then dance the night away at the nearby Privé nightclub. Tomorrow (TUES) we’ll feature some of their first swimsuit and gown portrait photos—then Luxe Life will join them all again on Wednesday for a special On Top of Cloud 9 charity dinner at Maggiano’s in the Fashion Show opposite the Wynn and Encore resorts!

In these tough days for the record industry it’s rare that a group debuts a new second album right in the No. 1 slot but that’s what award-winners Danity Kane have done with their Welcome to the Dollhouse. It proves that Sean “Diddy” Combs has an eye for talent because he “manufactured” the girl-group for his TV talent search show. They were the first American pop and R&B girl group signed to Bad Boy Records and were “created” on the third run of the Making the Band reality television series, for MTV. The group is made up of singers and songwriters Shannon Bex, Aundrea Fimbres, Aubrey O’Day, Dawn Richard, and Wanita “D. Woods” Woodgette.

To start their celebration the members of Danity Kane got their energy up with a dinner at the Fix restaurant in the Bellagio—and then their hair really flew loose at the party that followed in The Bank nightclub. Screaming fans went into a flashbulb frenzy overload and our first-lady of the lens, Denise Truscello was in the center of the action for Luxe Life. The quintet hopped on the raised banquettes and danced the night away. Joining in the fun but at separate tables were rapper Lupe Fiasco and San Diego Chargers NFL star Shawne Merriman.

The ladies even performed their current hit single “Damaged” from the skybox overlooking the dance floor and the crowd went “out of control.” It was 4 a.m. before everybody decided it was “time to call it a night.”

It glitters in gold—inside and out! It shimmers in silence without slot machines and smoking! It’s Vegas deluxe—and billionaire real-estate developer Donald Trump has imported a little of his carved Manhattan skyline to the Vegas strip.

Instead of “spy in the sky cameras” there are ornate chandeliers. Instead of blackjack or craps tables there are columns and counters of rich Italian marble—and every feature and fixture in the 64-story resort is gold trimmed! Donald must have made a few runs on the Fort Knox bank! He shelled out $1.2 billion to build the tower and its 1,282 suites. He broke ground on July 12, 2005 and completed construction four months ahead of schedule. From groundbreaking to move in, the monumental masterpiece ran 32-months start to finish! He plans a second 64-story tower when the shaken real-estate market corrects in about a year.

First residents and guests—including some secretive headline VIP’s—begin checking in this morning (MON) and Luxe Life won an official sneak preview. Donald, daughter Ivanka and son Donald Jr. have been hands on throughout the construction and interior decorating—and they will be here April 11 for an 11 a.m. red-ribbon cutting flanked by all 51 contestants in the Miss USA pageant that he owns!

The gorgeous grandeur begins in the strikingly spacious lobby that’s large enough for a Superbowl match-up game. The two-sided lobby bar complete with its own bar menu will be open daily until 2 a.m. and is set to become a power-elite hangout. There are 25 barstools on each side along with two restaurants—one a 65-seat formal culinary wonder and another that’s an informal casual dining scene. Trump’s personal chef from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Joe Isdidori is running the new food palaces. Be sure to order Mr. Trump’s Bibb wedge salad and Mr. Trump’s steak fries with truffle mayo from the menu! I love the look of the H2Eau pool and its separate bistro up on the tower’s seventh floor complete with heated outdoor pool, sundeck and 1,500 square-foot sophisticated fitness center. It’s a staggering birds-eye view of the entire valley wind-blocked by the towers of The Venetian, Wynn and the new Encore.

Donald picked the bathtubs and linens personally for the suites and Ivanka shows her eye for detail and beauty and the neo-Japanese bistro cuisine. She personally designed the line of custom-designed uniforms for the staff right down to the white-gloved regal doormen and the restaurant servers! TV screens are even hidden as part of the glass mirror in the elegantly appointed bathrooms. Donald also personally insisted on the wet treatment rooms in the 10,000 square-foot superb spa facilities—certain to make you salivate. “It’s the highest level of luxury for any hotel in the world,” said the developer who confirmed nightly rentals of the combo condo and hotel start at $349 and move on up. “Some residents will live here using it as a second home and never renting out to guests. Some are investors who will use our rental program to offset their acquisitions,” Steve Shalit, its managing director told me. Harrah’s/Flamingo president, Don Marrandino is one of the first buyers to put his suite into the rental program for investment purposes.

This Vegas property joins the Trump International hotel towers in Manhattan and Chicago but will serve as the ultimate flagship of a new hotel empire stretching all the way to Scotland, Panama, Mexico and Dubai and closer home in Honolulu, Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans and Toronto. The New York hotel is one of only three hotels in America to have received a double Mobil Five-Star rating for both its hotel and restaurant and a Five-Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Science. It was named the No. 1 hotel in the USA by the prestigious Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler magazines. Donald promises his new Vegas property will be even better in elegance and excess than Manhattan!

Named “Developer of the Year” he’s also the only real-estate banker to have a star on the prestigious Hollywood Walk of Fame! In addition to appearing on The Apprentice reality show his Los Angeles based production company is also readying a new TV reality show transforming “troubled girls into elegant ladies”—and he’s already sent an invitation to former NY Governor Elliot Spitzer’s “call girl” headline maker to participate! Donald has also signed former Beatles wife, Heather McCartney Mills as one of the judges for his April 11 NBC live telecast for the Miss USA pageant here from the Planet Hollywood Resort.

“Vegas is a really exciting dynamic center,” Donald told me. “I wanted to make a big bold statement with my first project on the Strip. We’ve succeeded with Trump International Tower and I am very happy and proud of our accomplishment.”

I remember two decades ago standing with Donald at the top of his first luxury tower in Manhattan when he vowed to single-handedly re-carve the New York City skyline. With more than 25 massive skyscrapers and resort-casinos worldwide now he’s still not stopped building. As I stood in a three-bedroom top-floor super suite here at the weekend I looked down at the booming neighborhood construction: the $5 billion Echelon resort already rising from Boyd Gaming, the $3 billiion Fontainbleau Resort just across the Strip and the proposed $5 billion recreation of the New York Plaza Hotel that ironically Donald once owned. Once again “The Donald” sits right in the center of it all.

“This is my Vegas debut but by no means is it my last,” said Donald. “This will be the first of many for your city.”

Now that Rio headliner magician Penn Jillette has been knocked off the Dancing with the Stars show Luxe Life is keeping an eye on the two remaining Vegas connected stars: actress Priscilla Presley dancing with pro-partner Louis Van Amstel and former Vegas Academy student Julianne Hough who is teaching Adam Carrolla.

Be sure to click back to Luxe Life tomorrow for our exclusive interview with Penn about his brief experience on the show and how his loss cost silent partner Teller $350,000—plus the overnight photos of tonight’s ABC-TV live challenge between Priscilla and Julianne.

Meantime Johnny Avello, director of the Wynn race and sports book has revised the odds (for entertainment purposes only) of the remaining dancers. He picks Kristi Yamaguchi to win at 7-2 odds and says Priscilla should make it through to the top five at 8-1 odds. He adds that Julianne and Adam should last at least one more week with odds of 25-1 of winning. Johnny thinks the final battle will come down to Kristi versus Jason Taylor and that Marlee Matlin is a 7-5 odds favorite over Priscilla as to who will remain longest.

*Get-well greetings from all of us at Luxe Life to super-singer Celine Dion battling such a serious throat infection she has been forced to wear a surgical mask.

The 39-year-old former Caesars Palace headliner has had to postpone concerts “down under” in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and two shows in Sydney as part of her first world-tour in 10 years. She’s on a 48-hour bed rest regimen ordered by doctors.

*Our sultry Sirens of TI successfully battled the beauties of Playboy at Hugh Hefner’s famed Los Angeles mansion to wrap up the five-day golf-week celebration.

The sexy Sirens opened the awards ceremony with a special performance and then basked in the glow of the fans’ non-stop meet and greet autograph and photo session.

*Celebrity chef Kerry Simon entertained System of a Down’s John Dolmayan to dinner at his Cathouse restaurant in the Luxor—and then they joined magicians Criss Angel and Nathan Burton with the luscious ladies of the X Burlesque show in the Cathouse Loungerie. While “separated” from Miss USA girlfriend, Veronica Grabowski representing Nevada, Mindfreak star Criss returned the next night for dinner in the restaurant.

*Comedienne Roseanne Barr took time out from her headliner gig at the Sahara to laugh out loud at improv comedy rival Wayne Brady at his Venetian showroom. … Singer Toni Braxton and her husband checked out DJ G Squared’s set at Blush boutique nightclub in the Wynn while next door at the Tryst nightclub Tom Green and Scott Van Pelt partied into the night. … Former middle-weight champion Fernando Vargas sipped a drink while basking in the sunshine on the Stripside patio of the Hawaiian Tropic Zone at Planet Hollywood Resort’s Miracle Mile. … Before her own show at Planet Hollywood Resort, stand up comedienne and Monster In Law actress, Wanda Sykes took in The Beatles Love by Cirque du Soleil musical at The Mirage.

*While a new executive chef is being recruited for the Company American bistro at the Luxor, Pure’s corporate chef Michael Sellman is leading the kitchen line of MGM/Mirage chefs there. He reopened with new “grazing” and “starter” menus highlighting double-braised pork short ribs, applewood smoked bacon and cheddar sliders and a chocolate butter cream tower with chocolate fudge sauce! Celebrity investors Nicky Hilton, Nick Lachey and Wilmer Valderama are “staying the course” after last week’s gourmet-star chef defections over the new friendlier men approach.

Entertainer-impressionist Gordie Brown debuts his brand-new hi-energy musical-parody show at the V Theater inside Planet Hollywood Resort’s Miracle Mile. … Film icons Cicely Tyson and Richard Roundtree are among the stars and VIP guests attending the Grandparents Salute Foundation charity champagne dinner at the downtown Plaza Hotel. Mayor Oscar Goodman will welcome the musical greats in concert including Deniece Williams, Friends of Distinction and Taste of Honey … ladies get complimentary champagne if they show up in their lacy lingerie for the return of Madame Mondays at the reopened Cathouse loungerie in the Luxor with TV personality Tenniel Gacayan hosting first night. … Rock of Love 2 reality star Lacey throws away the cash at the Money for Nothing party in Privé at Planet Hollywood Resort. … Citizen Cope rocks at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay.

As we sweat out the nail-biting tension of Priscilla and Julianne fighting to remain on Dancing with the Stars our just eliminated magician Penn Jillette spills the secrets of his failed fancy footwork in an exclusive Luxe Life interview and reveals how his partner Teller lost a shot at $350,000! Is the romance between Heidi and Spencer from The Hills on or off? We’ve got the torrid tale of their turmoil on a Vegas visit and the provocative photos of cast-mate rival Audrina Patridge showed her garter belt and fishnet stockings hosting the sassy sexy and somewhat scandalous Vegas Pussycat Dolls. How could we resist showing you one teaser shot?

Luxe Life meets up with sensational singer Joss Stone and also has the world exclusive on the first-ever ultimate all magic-themed Abracadabra hotel, restaurant and entertainment complex planned for the Strip—even the bellmen and concierge staff will be conjurers, jugglers and magicians!

Get ready for our brand-new multi-media website with daily 24/7 breaking news updates for all the DeLuxe lifestyle secrets of Vegas plus all the latest celebrity happenings. In a few days we’ll complete the final logo designs and get ready to reveal all the exciting details of the launch. Our weekly Luxe Life wrap-up is heard on the ABC radio network to 300 stations around the world.

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!

Four special birthdays were celebrated last night (THUR) all at once at the Cirque du Soleil The Beatles Love musical—with superstar singer Fergie and movie director Quentin Tarantino leading the star parade at the Mirage.

Fergie with actor-boyfriend, Josh Duhamel of the former Las Vegas NBC-TV series on her arm, and Quentin of Kill Bill fame, were accompanied by almost 100 friends and family including actress Daryl Hannah, headline-making musician Kid Rock and hip-hop producer and rapper Rza. The large group moved and grooved along with the favorite Beatle hits and led the standing ovation for the cast at the end of the show.

During the performance Fergie sipped white wine, which spy-witnesses tell me denies recent rumors that she’s pregnant. My sources tell me she and Josh were a “romantic duo holding hands and sharing more than two kisses during the show.”

Following the performance, the entire group enjoyed a special backstage birthday celebration with The Beatles Love cast and crew with a sparkling birthday tower of cupcakes. It was just the beginning of the Vegas birthday weekend celebration: Fergie with Josh and Quentin continue their party at the adjoining The Beatles Revolution Lounge and then at the nearby Jet nightclub.

Meantime those other two birthdays? My twin grandkids Jack and Meg also were at Love—and since Fergie is her favorite singer that surprise was the ideal way to kick off their 12th birthday celebrations. “I just wish I’d remembered to bring my autograph book” said Meg.

Luxe Life will have the full photo report of Fergie’s birthday weekend celebrations on Monday.