Monthly Archives: December 2009

Gay bashing at “Criss Angel Believe”

Criss Angel’s “Believe” at Luxor is widely agreed to be the worst big ticket show on the Strip. And, if you don’t know that, it may be because the erratic star of the show has generated more notice than “Believe” does. So far Angel’s highlights in Vegas include threatening to poke [...]

10 things in Vegas to watch in 2010

This is a community that has rarely done well at stasis. Las Vegas annual round-ups are usually about previewing all the new things about to open. Not this year. Even last year there was CityCenter to expect as well as some projects that wound up not opening at all. Beyond Cirque’s “Viva Elvis,” I can [...]

Paris Hilton’s Vegas Wedding?

In 2009, Vegas went bust, and the six figure hosting fees for nightclubs dried-up, and some are probably pleased that, perhaps as a result, Paris Hilton has spent a lot less time in Sin City than in years past. I have interviewed Hilton more times than I can remember. And,  I actually [...]

Obscenity Charges Stand Against Former Vegas producer

Pornographic filmmaker John Stagliano lost a key ruling today in his attempt to get the charges thrown out against him in an adult to adult obscenity prosecution brought by the Bush Administration’s Justice Department.
Stagliano is known in Vegas for creating perhaps the greatest adult show in this city’s history, The Fashionistas. [...]

Vanity: the Vegas nightclub

Sometimes the perfect promotional trinket comes along. And, this time the Hard Rock delivered it in the form of a mirrored invite for the grand opening of their truth-in-advertising nightclub named: Vanity.  Also, a neat fit for a Vegas nightclub slogan “It’s all about you.”
Of course, if you really want it [...]

Las Vegas: the new Pepsi

For years Las Vegas has wanted to advertise and market itself in the Super Bowl of television advertising, also known as the Super Bowl.
The NFL, however, aggressively snubbed Vegas. The league was unwilling to take advertising from casinos, or even for Las Vegas as a tourist destination. But the Vegas tourism industry was not [...]

Tiger’s privileges

On one level I am baffled about the fury unleashed on Tiger Woods. His problems are the ultimate private family matter. Unlike a reality show contestant he actually has a talent that people admire. Still, in the marketplace you sell image, and so I can also understand why his sponsors do [...]

Vegas Now for the Future

The reality as we end 2009 is that there has never been a better time to be a tourist or a worse time to own a business in Las Vegas. There is some payback to this. In recent years, Las Vegas specialized in a sort of insistent gouging: deals loaded up with fine [...]

Priscilla Presley: front row for CityCenter

There is something else that distinguishes the opening of CityCenter: almost no emphasis on celebrity attendees. Since Paris Hilton attended the opening of the Palms in 2001, celebrities have played a crucial role in the roll out of most new casinos even if indirectly through shows and nightclubs.
The one celebrity who is connected to [...]

CityCenter: Awesome

It was MGM-Mirage chairman & CEO Jim Murren’s moment in the sun, literally  MGM-Mirage could not have scripted more perfect weather. The sunny day today might be the first bit of luck CityCenter has received from the universe that kicked everything, (all documented by the media) including a moment where the [...]

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