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 think of very few exciting things set definitively to happen next year (unless CityCenter does something with The Harmon stump). This will be a year where the new Vegas wares are laid out with CityCenter adding the wow and locals just hoping that in the end Las Vegas recovers enough tourists to begin opening and building anew next year:
10. The fate of the endless “fixation” of Criss Angel’s Believe that has now lasted over a year.
9. The number of shops to open in the Crystals Mall at CityCenter.
8. Will the Las Vegas Monorail avoid filing for some form of bankruptcy protection?
7. Will CityCenter add more entertainment and/or a headliner venue beyond Cirque’s “Viva Elvis”?
6. How is “Viva Elvis” received by old fans and a younger generation?
5. Who will be added to the lineup at Caesars’ The Colosseum?
4. Will there be a shakeout in the high-end nightclub industry due to market over saturation, debt and the economy? Ditto the topless bar industry?
3. Will Las Vegas shift away from the current model that requires every entity of the resort to be a profit center? Will shows, concerts, events, attractions, shopping or, dare it, fine dining, join room rates as bargains to entice tourists here and increase visitor volume in 2010?
2. Debt and casinos. Will many of the big players in Vegas be able to service or restructure their debt?
1. Will more people come to Vegas in 2010, more than ever before, way more than 40 million tourists, and with many of them also being new Vegas visitors who are on average wealthier than guests in year’s past to fill all the new nightclubs and elite hotel rooms? The experts seem doubtful.
But who could argue Las Vegas would be the ultimate spot to celebrate an end to the world’s great recession? (Photo: Lanie Crossman)
While not a big casino opening, I’m kind of looking forward to see what Steve Wynn & Co. have in mind for the design of the Encore Beach Club.
Okay. I’ll take a stab at your inverse order bottom 10 list….
#10: You got that right, Richard. That “endless” shit means just what it means. Endless. That stupid word that Cirque du Soleil created…”fixation”…is just that….a stupid ass word that means they want to give everyone the idea they are going to repair this show, but they’re using this gobbleygook word they created because it makes them sound like they know what they’re doing when in actuality they really don’t have the slightest clue. The hand wringing goes on because they don’t have the cajones to kick their no talent hack so called star out on I-15 and hire someone else (or even close the show down). And, I can’t tell you what to do, Richard, but I strongly suggest you don’t go back and see if that show is “fixated.” To me, if I had a choice between doing that and being stampeded to dusty bits and pieces by rhinos and elephants, I’d have to do the logical thing. I’d be pleading to give me a running head start and screaming “HATARI!!!!” at the top of my lungs.
#9: I think you worded that wrong. How many are going to CLOSE pretty damn quick because of lack of business?
#8: No. Bankruptcy will be forthcoming. They only have so much operating money and it will fizzle out soon, with no opportunity to ask for taxpayer assistance (because that will be soundly rejected). They can’t meet any goals. They originally projected tickets at $2.50 apiece with a projected ridership of 50,000 per month in 2004. That never, ever happened. Not even close. The only thing that will ever help them is if Las Vegas Boulevard, between Tropicana and Sahara, were closed to traffic. And that is NOT going to happen.
#7: No. City Center will coast only with Viva Elvis, a show that has already had (according to Norm Clark and a few others) a few Elvi people fired from the cast and it has been re-worked. The sad thing about that show is they are already starting out like the aforementioned Ass Cringel BeLIEve show and “soft showings” or whatever you call it where they say it ain’t the real thing but they want to charge astronomical prices already for an inferior show so they can soak the viewing public with their patented version of highway robbery. I guess that’s in case the owner of Cirque du Soleil in Canada wants to go on vacation and get blasted into outer space again.
#6: I’ve already read that some people have seen parts of this show and say it is like heavy metal Elvis stuff. And to the older folks, Elvis was DEFINITELY not heavy metal. Maybe the younger folks can get into it, but the jury is still out on that one.
#5: I say Bob Dylan. But the only reason I say that is because I know Richard here is a Bob Dylan freak and I know he went apeshit nodding his head and jumping up and down in agreement over what I just typed.
#4: If you ask me, the high end night club industry with Paris Hilton sashaying around and stumbling and falling and drooling drunk and walking into walls, will soon phase out. It won’t be happening anymore. Because it will be revealed for what it is…an appearance that you are getting something for your money, but you ain’t getting nothing. The greed for money by the operators and owners of these rip off joints will do them in. Strip clubs are different though. They’ll coast along and still make money. They are a constant here in Las Vegas. It fits in with that “Sin City” atmosphere everyone comes here expecting.
#3: Very interesting concept, Richard. I say the “big three” corporate entities that own casinos on the Strip are screwing themselves. Why? Because they are competing against EACH OTHER. They are not competing to try to attract the commodity they really need…the tourist. So, they will continue along and compete against each other and lose out. Because the tourists will say to hell with it and go to the locals casinos and/or Fremont Street. The trend is going that way. If they downsize and provide for tourists, then they’ll be okay. But not the way they’re going now.
#2: No. Hell no. Restructure and/or service is out of the question. They want that MUHHHH NAY! Period.
#1: I agree with the experts. It’s going to be a rough 2010 for casinos in a “one horse” (only gambling and tourism) town. It’s going to take quite a few years for the unemployment percentage to go down. Las Vegas will feel the crunch. Because the rest of the U.S. is feeling it too. So, for now, Las Vegas will be populated and run by the homeless, unemployed, poor, and habitated by people who have had their businesses and homes foreclosed upon. But that’s okay….WE STILL LOVE THIS TOWN, DAMNIT!
Just my take on it. Happy New Year!!!!!
Cool, there is actually some good points on here some of my readers will maybe find this relevant, will send a link, many thanks.