STRIP SCRIBBLES
*Wicked Whispers & Racy Rumors: Cher is the one superstar who stays out of the public limelight and avoids the paparazzi at all costs. She much prefers her “hermit” lifestyle but the Caesars Palace headliner made a rare nightclub visit on a trip back to Hollywood. She joined friends for a party at the Foxtail but when photogs learned she was there she made a hasty split with her face covered keeping to her self-imposed rule that nobody ever sees her without full makeup, which some grungy gossips say can take as much as six-hours preparation! … What kind of hiccup has Tera Patrick run into at the Hard Rock Hotel? I’ve heard that plans for her to dance at her new Helles Belles pleasure gaming pit complete with stripper poles have been changed as the stage turned out to be too small for the porn star and her five-girl dance team. So she’s had to relocate with a new dance striptease schedule to the Body English nightclub instead. Also plans for her husband Evan Seinfeld’s new rock band to open Carey Hart’s new Wasted Spaces rock lounge and tattoo parlor on July 1 and play again at the official July 16 gala opening have also allegedly been changed for now.
*An interesting TV reality show casting-call audition is to be held at Tao in The Venetian this coming Saturday. Die Hard and Cliffhanger director Renny Harlen is one of the producers behind Heavenly Match where three exciting fun guys and three girls, all total strangers, sit down at a dinner table to see how long it takes them all to partner up—or not! At the casting Renny will select six English speaking and six Spanish-speaking contestants to film it in dual-language versions back to back.
*Today (TUES) is the day that rockgroup Coldplay releases its new album Viva la Vida, which you can listen to at myspace.com/coldplay. I mention this because tickets for their July 19 show at MGM Grand’s Garden Arena have just gone on sale and you can get a sneak preview next Friday, June 27 when they play on NBC-TV’s Today Show.
*One of my all-time favorite non-Strip restaurants is the unique Marche Bacchus French bistro and wine market on the Desert Shores lakeside. Just 10 miles from the Strip the hidden gem boasts almost 1,000 different French, Australian, Italian and American wines. Owners Jeff and Rhonda Wyatt were regular customers of the bistro for eight-straight years, they loved the unique eatery so much that they bought it when the original owners retired back too France! Now they’ve brought in Jean-David Groff Daudet as the new executive chef.
Formerly from the French Burgundy wine region where he ran the acclaimed Le Trou Poinchy for 12 years. Jean-David was previously at Pamplemousse in downtown Vegas and ate at Marche Bacchuis on his days off!
*Sad to report that Wall Street bankers revealed yesterday (MON) that April visitors to Sin City declined 1.5 percent year over year to 3.3 million people. Occupancy was down 3.8 percent to 90.0 percent vs. 93.8 percent in April 2007. Clark County gaming revenues decreased 4.8 percent year over year to approximately $850 million. Convention attendance increased 3.9 percent, as the number of conventions held increased 28.2 percent to 2,623 from 2,046 in April 2007 but unfortunately the number of delegates per convention is down significantly year over year. On a brighter Wall Street news note the bankers noted that Boyd Gaming and the Olympia Group has received preliminary approval from the North Las Vegas Planning Commission to build a casino on its future Park Highlands master planned community development site. Final approval should come July 2. When completed, the property will include 1,200 hotel rooms, a 100,000-square-foot casino, convention space, and a number of restaurants and other amenities. Construction will begin after Boyd opens its Echelon Place on the Strip opposite Wynn and Encore in late 2010.