At the end of last year, on KNPR, I listened as three Vegas commentators picked Holly Madison and CityCenter as the two biggest positives in Vegas to emerge in 2009. An over 8 billion dollar resort on the one hand and a young woman on the other. And, her show, Peepshow, is currently on a two month hiatus. She won’t be performing in Vegas again until March 1. Still, the amount of attention Madison generates here is jaw dropping. Consider that Madison arrived in Vegas on the arm of Criss Angel less than two years ago as someone best known for a reality show she was about to leave.
But Madison’s upbeat sense of fun and obvious passion for Las Vegas have helped her achieve a level of buzz this city usually reserves for those who have spent many more years in the public eye. Yet, Madison is currently one of the most visible symbols of Vegas in the national media. And, she does not just perform here, she sells Vegas as hard as anyone in recent memory, certainly any headliner. She is currently writing a book about Vegas for young women. That is a good marketing idea, of course, but the book also reflects her fascination and devotion to Las Vegas.
Madison does every red carpet in town; she gives new production shows a little press by showing up to see them all; and, of course, she is on hand for it seems every local charity benefit.
Combined: Madison charmed a city, that was not looking to embrace her this time last year.
Even now with Peeepshow on hiatus, Madison is still out there promoting Las Vegas in the national media. Watch this clip from a couple days ago, on the “Chelsea Lately” show. In the clip you can get a good glimpse of what interviewing Holly Madison is like or even talking to her after the recorder is off. In our interactions as in this clip she comes across as an honest yet politic person who is witty yet remains giggly and focused on being positive. This is the personality Madison has used to charm Vegas.
My favorite exchange here is when the host was pressing her for intimate details about her time with Angel:
Interviewer: “You had sex with him, right? Are you going to talk about it in your book?”
Madison: “No, I am talking about fun things to do in Las Vegas.” Ouch!
(Photo Holly Madison at her 2009 Halloween party: Sarah Gerke)
I must admit I was wrong about Ms. Holly Madison. But when she first showed up in Las Vegas, she was draped on the arms of an idiot who confirmed it himself that he used her to promote a horrible show he headlines and to deflect attention away from the fact that the show was indeed bad (as it still continues to be). “Fixation.” Yeah. Sure. Right. Like that’s REALLY going to happen. If it does, then the Luxor is indeed a sacred burial sarcophagus for ancient Egyptian mummy pharaohs.
As it is turning out, Ms. Holly Madison markets Las Vegas much better than the LVCVA ever will; as evidenced by them continuing to come up with dumb ad slogans that don’t work, not to mention all the bigwigs who make six digit a year dollar salaries but all they do is sit around wave their hands wildly in the air and say things will get better for Las Vegas, as if willing it to happen is enough to earn their lofty sums of money.
As it always goes whenever some semblance of that knucklehead over at the Luxor is mentioned, you are going to be flooded with comments shedding Ms. Holly Madison in a bad light by his fanatical goth wannabe fans who only judge him on his television appearances. And they can be easily ignored when you look at the truth of the matter. His fans tend to just throw controversy out the window by proclaiming “Las Vegas has it out for Criss Angel.” So be it, but most sane thinking people see that he has created all this himself. He has done many transparent self serving, spoiled brat things to continue with the bad boy douchebag image, not to mention that he has no talent and no ability to have a rapport with a paying Las Vegas show room audience. Ms. Holly Madison can be judged solely on past things, but her present and future seem to be brighter here in Las Vegas. Criss Angel? His past, present and future in Las Vegas are all consistent. Bad. Horrible. Someone who is not worthy of notice.
But Ms. Holly Madison seems to being doing well for herself. And from the clip on the show you linked to, she has credibility and genuineness. And I noticed she is very humble about her abilities in Peepshow; wherein she offers self deprecating remarks about her own performance in it. She does not dwell on past mistakes. She has moved on and makes things better and is cheerful; a wonderful emissary for Las Vegas. And I see that Peepshow values her. Because they extended her contract beyond the normal three months.
Nice article.
@hollymadison123 IS positive.She’s POSITIVELY a free loading, no moral ethics,trashy,idiotic DOUCHE ho!Sorry<3 @crissangel
there’s not enough BOTOX or SILICONE in the world to make HM’s career last 2 yrs let alone 10 yrs in LV (like @crissangel)
making that happen is talent in itself!Hate on @crissangel all you want,he will still be there when that b*tch is forgotten!
HM got”more than a normal”3 month contract w PEEP(all she’s good for)and @crissangel got 10 yrs w Cirque & he’s talentless?
boys will always side w HM over @crissangel. Tell me…Cirque would partner w someone that has “no talent”?
btw- I am not a”goth”fan of @crissangel that has only seen the tv show. Have you seen me??
I find it interesting in the interview that she is writing a book for young women about what to do in Las Vegas and clearly does not put Believe on the list. She said in the interview she is not going to mention Angel in the book.
At one point, while they were dating, about the only kind words they had to promote the show was a quote from Madison about Believe being good. I watched fellow Luxor performer Carrot Top as well as other headliners in Vegas avoid even giving lip service to the show being good. Instead, they either make a joke (Penn being interviewed on television and joking about the size of Angel’s cross) or answer a different question like Carrot Top did that night (at a stage event in front of a live audience) by saying he was good friends with Criss Angel. But Carrot Top never mentioned his opinion on Believe only of Angel.
Looking back, I can see clearly now that Madison was working hard to promote Believe for him. I don’t know that he quite got that. And, now she is doing a guide book for young women in Vegas and apparently they don’t need to hear about or see Angel’s Believe. Then there is the gay slur incident from earlier this month. At a certain point you wonder who is left to be the audience of his fans? But the deeper problem has nothing to do with Criss Angel’s personality. The problem is Believe is not a good show. And, that is getting a lot of notice, because this is a Cirque show. All of Cirque’s shows in Vegas except Believe have great merit. So, because of Cirque’s credibility, Believe stands out more than if it were just another lousy magic show. Thanks for reading. Yrs., Richard
Judging by some of these comments I’m guessing that there’s no school today
Dissing your ex….. is so lame…what a ho….Criss is a wonderful guy…very sensitive and creative…..this b*** has no heart and needs to shut up…..ugly bimbo who banged a grandpa to be famous….yuck!!! PROSTITUTE!
Holly Madison is obviously a woman on the rise. Being beautiful, charming, & (most importantly) GOAL-ORIENTED is a sure-fire recipe for success.
These people leaving rude comment after comment need to take a look in the mirror & say “Gee, perhaps if I set goals for myself and worked hard to achieve them, maybe I would be too busy to leave negative comments degrading another human being’s success”
Just try on some of Holly’s optimism, you might find it suits you.
just because u dont like HM is no reason to be that hateful and immature. I wasnt a big HM fan when she was on GND but think she has done really well for her self since leaving the mansion, and that she has shown more of her true self since coming to vegas which i think is great. n all this about her only being with hef to be famous… maybe thats how it started i dont honestly know, but i think she truely loved him, and it was just time to move on by the end of it. when she first started dating him, his gf were not as well known, or publicised, at least not outside of the states as they now are since GND started so how can you justify that comment of her only wanting to be famous?
think i have finish my rant for now x
I was recently in Vegas and saw both shows – Peepshow and Believe. And I can tell you from an impartial point of view, that Believe was terrible and Peepshow was interesting. I don’t care about Criss or Holly – but her show was definitely better. She showed a lot more talent in her show than Criss does in his.
http://www.PlatinumPassportsInc.com – Party Las Vegas
I saw Chelesa the other night when Holly Ho was on. Criss as we know is not a saint but he has never bashed Holly HO. The bimbo has some nerve to go on TV with many viewers and bash Criss Angel. Who the hell does she think she is. Her claim to fame is and has been showing off her FAKE boobs and posing nude. Criss Angel you have to admit has worked very hard to get where he is and Holly just has to show off her nake body to get anybody to care. I think Holly HO is an upset 30 year old who couldn’t get an 82 year old man to marry her and then decided to bash Criss when he wouldn’t marry her.
Holly is a used up twit. Somebody needs to slap the bitch for thinkng who she is when she is nothing.
The wasy she talked about her ex was disgusting. What did he do to her???? He always had nothing but good things to say about this backstabber. I feel sorry for him cuz he spent too much money on this HO, and what he gets now ? what a ho… :///
I’ve never liked Holly, not even when she was on GND. The only reason she has some semblence of fame is because she was Hugh Hefner’s #1 woman.
Holly has never had a job that wasn’t related to her looks. People say she’s so talented, but can she sing or dance? Can she act (in a role where she actually has to become someone, not just herself making an appearance, a la House Bunny)? All she really seems to be able to do is get naked, and anyone can do that!
Also, Peepshow isn’t “Holly’s show”. Peepshow was a Strip show before Holly came to town, and it will still be one after her contract is over. All of this parading around Vegas like she owns the place is silly – she hasn’t even lived there full-time for a year! Honestly, were I the mayor, I would rather have someone else as the Vegas horn-tooter. The day that Holly Madison leaves Las Vegas will be a Godsend.
Holly HO get the hell out of Vegas!!!!!!
Add to the above comments GOLD DIGGER.
Think about it here. She says she loves Hugh Heffner, and wants to have children with him despite him saying “No”. She keeps pestering the guy until finally he makes it clear in no uncertain terms that they are not going to get married. Next thing she does is drop him like a bad habit. So much for love…
Not too long after, Criss Angel opens up his act @ Luxor, and suddenly she’s all over him now saying how much they’re in lover together.
This stupid bimbo wanted to marry Criss after what 6 minutes of dating – lol.
That is why she is bashing Criss Angel because he too didn’t want to marry her.
I give Criss Angel credit for being in a room with her for more then 10 seconds. She is such a twit.
Holly Madison is a stupid BIMBO.
She has no talent at all. Lucky for her she can promote her breast.
I have met Holly Madison and she is an intelligent, mature, charming, and witty individual. She has an inner beauty that glows and even outshines her obvious physical beauty. Some may try to tear her down, but I came away surprised and thorougly impressed with this woman. I am a far bigger fan of hers now than ever before. Way to go, Holly!
There is no doubt Ms Madison is an interesting character.
Some on this stream criticized her for “dumping” Hefner after 8 yrs – a man in his 80’s who claimed she was the love of his life, the lady he wanted to be with for the rest of his life, but for whom he would not be monogomous, nor divorce his wife so he could marry her, and waited until it was too late to conceive kids to consent to try to get her pregnant. I think she made the best decision for herself. She still has pleanty of time to find a good man who WILL marry her and consent to kids. Hefner was unwilling to change his lifestyle for the one he claimed to love with all his heart – it happened to Barbie Benton (another “love-of-his-life”), too, if you’ll recall.
Regarding her promotion of Vegas … as a native, I have seen many big celebrities promote Vegas in many ways (the Rat Pack comes to mind). While I will not concede she is the biggest promoter of all time, she definitely is going above and beyond what could possibly be expected of her by anyone. Granted there is a good amount of self-promotion involved, but when did that become a negative thing to do? She obviously learned a great deal about the subject from her years with Hefner and the GND show, and is using her knowledge and experience to promote her show, primarily – not a bad thing to do. But she is also drawing a great many people to LV from around the world during a major economic downturn, by reminding all who will listen how fun Vegas is, and how much there is to do here. To all of you naysayers on this stream, what are YOU doing to bring commerce here, and can you compare your exposure to hers?!
As far as Angel is concerned, her comments indicate she was basically dumped by him. How many people have good feelings toward an ex when that happens? She may have said more than she should on the Chelsea Lately show, but Handler was pressing her very hard, and she resisted engaging through most of the interview, and relented only in the end. Only she and Angel know why they broke-up, and it’s important to remember it was a rebound relationship that lasted only about 4-6 months, depending on who’s version you choose to believe.
And what is with the emotional responses – are one (or more) of you Criss Angel??! If not, it’s not really your place to judge – try adopting Holly’s consistantly upbeat attitude and maybe you’ll feel less inclined to judge others so harshly – just a thought!
Who CARES about Criss and Holly’s relationship. My god it was only 4 months. Why is this such a big deal?
Isn’t Holly dating Benji Madden now and Criss is back with his true love Sandra.
Let’s move on.
Holly seems to be a very interesting, upbeat lady. as for the Criss jabbing, she hasnt been any more bitter than anyone else whose been in a breakup. Actually come to think of it I havent even see Criss interviewed to have a chance to jab back! Maybe he would if anyone cared to ask him? why doesnt anyone ask? cause nobody cares, its old news
Very well said KBEES!
I am so tried of seeing Holly Madison and Criss Angel name put together.
Enough of this. It is such old news.
The relationship should have never been in the first place.
As much as I hate to admit it Criss used Holly for PR that is obvious. I love Criss Angel but he should have never used her. It was easy to see he wasn’t really into her and she wanted him to marry her so badly.
I think the best thing for Holly was that he broke off with her.
As I have just said the relationship should have never happened. It was only a 4 month deal and the both got lots of PR for it and are still getting PR out of it.
Cris Angle is a DOUCHE. He was a douche before Holly and he’s still a douche, I have no idea why she ever dated him. But I like Holly she’s a fun, sexy girl and the haters should STFU
I found Holly Madison to be quite sweet and humble in this interview you shared with us Richard. She makes no attempt to blow her image up to the masses, just uses the gifts she knows she has power to claim and that’s it.
She always said her nose and boob jobs helped her gain the career she has now and she makes no apologizes or excuses for it she just states is as is.
She doesn’t try to sell herself to be anything more than what she is and she has a sweet and kindness about her that wins over the masses.
without T & A, Holly HAS no talent
In her upcoming book, I would like to see the people she thanks for helping her reach her goals be Hugh Hefner, Criss Angel and her plastic surgeon(s).
For without them, she’d still be a waitress at Hooters.
“Looking back, I can see clearly now that Madison was working hard to promote Believe for him. I don’t know that he quite got that.”
well said Richard but surely Criss Angel had some sort of clue since Holly Madison was clearly a walking billboard for him; sporting his trademark name brand clothing attire all thru out season 5 of GND & during their entire 4 month union. Let’s not forget her physical transformation contribution from being best known as LoLlYiPoP HoLlY to Gothic Plastic.
Was their REAL love made between Holly & Criss or was it nothing more than a clever media trick?
Criss is a ‘nice, creative, sensitive guy’ and Holly’s a ho? Do any of you know these people??? NO! All that I can see is Criss AND Holly have done really well for themselves, no-one ever really knows what goes on behind closed doors. I understand they put themselves in the firing line being famous but this is ridiculous. Maybe the people on here making childish, bully-like statements should take a look at themselves a little bit?
Georgia M
OH PLEASE!!
When Holly Ho is walking around in Criss’ clothes being his walking advertisement and looking like she doesn’t have a mind of her own and they are both showing off their hickey’s they wanted people to talk so that is what they get when that is what they wanted.
They acted like two childish high school kids in heat and it was so stupid. So glad we don’t have to see that all displayed on the internet anymore.
Who cares “What Holly Madison is really like”. She is just for our sexual pleasure. She loves to have them popping out of her dress and we love to see it.
For those who think HM is down to earth, get psychiatric help. She was the fakest of the GND.
If you truly want to see someone down to earth, watch Kendra’s new show instead. This TRULY is a girl who made no bones about who she was, but retained her genuiness even while partying hardy with Hef. In almost every episode of Kendra, you see her genuinesss shine and the love she shares with Hank is rare, especially in the fishbowl they live in. The shower episode and the episode where she gives birth are just sweet.
The BEST part about HM’s show was the sound effects when she was in the Mayor’s office (the chirping crickets & screeching of brakes was pure genius. I always thought the Mayor of Vegas was your typical sleasebag/drunk Mayor of a party town, until I saw his reaction to HM. He garnered new respect from me in the way he handled the Golddigger Next Door. Even HE knows the ONLY attributes HM has to sell Vegas are her fake hooters (after all the ONLY reason her Peepshow stint was extended was because everyone wanted to see a Playgirl TOPLESS, LIVE). If anyone saw her on “Dancing with the So-Called Stars”, you were all witness to how TALENTLESS HM truly is. The only description that came to my mind was WOODEN.
Criss Angel is a businessman first. Although I think his biggest mistake was having ANYTHING to do w/the type of publicity that HM garners, which is nothing but toilet. Her attendance at his show actually HURT tickets sales. When HM was introduced in the audience ad nauseum, night after night, I can remember asking a guy next to me (who was with his much more beautiful than HM wife)WHY he even turned around when she was announced. His response-just wanted to see what a Playmate looked like LIVE. Which is exactly HM’s public. They just want to see what one looks like LIVE, as opposed to the pages of Playboy, period. It isn’t about talent, because there is none.
She’s writing a book about Vegas, which I am sure will end up in some bargain bin. Anyone with ANY STYLE or CLASS does not need to know ANY of the haunts of HM. The only people who will be picking it up are club chicks, but they will thumb threw it, they certainly won’t spend their hard-earned $$ on it and actually purchase it.
She teased Criss Angel about his lisp in the interview, but didn’t seem to mind it when she was thrusting her tongue down his mouth every chance she had, or when the possibility of LIVING OFF HIM was there. And if HE was using HER, why did SHE quickly claim SHE proposed to him, after 3-1/2 months of dating? Just WHO was using WHO?
All I can remember is how SHALLOW HM sounds, every single time she opens her mouth.
I saw Holly in “Peepshow” when it first opened. YIKES! She should NOT go fully NUDE! Her breast looked badly done and her thighs, stomach and butt area needs serious work with her trainer. Wow! For a woman who’s made her living as a Playmate she needs to keep better track of her assets!
I saw Holly in Peepshow a few months ago. I was very disappointed with her performance. For a girl who was a plaything to an 83 year old man since she was 20 she has no sex appeal.
Stiff as a board.
Her breast were a big disappointment. They are hugh but very phoney looking.
Holly obviously has very low self-esteem and evidently hasn’t the brains to get a formal education and to pursue a profession other than the oldest. When she talks about a chocolate vagina or dating an Elvis impersonator or she hates the word panties and leaves out some of the letters when she says it, she is emulating an immature, misdirectd junior high girl. Her comments lack thought or dignity. She better save what money she is making now, because her routine, based on her brand of “hot” will droop quickly. Had she more confidence in herself, she would see herself as superior to what she does. Maybe she is doing the only thing she sees herself as able to accomplish. How very very sad.
Holly has recent went back stage to meet the Jersey Boys and give them all head.
What a talented girl.
Текст лично мне ничего особенного не дал. Хотя для многих может оказаться реально полезным…
Sorry Holly it seems that Criss Angel prefers to date an ugly boney teenager than to date you. Just remember she can’t hold a candle to you. You are talent, beautiful and a grown up woman. This chick sandra is still a child. Look at it this way Criss couldn’t handle somebody as beautiful as you he needs to date a 20 year old who doesn’t know anything about the world yet. Maybe that is why he dates her. Young and stupid!
Watching the sun set with my beautiful girlfriend and my beloved mother… http://tweetphoto.com/32915814
9:04 PM Jul 15th via UberTwitter
Hey Ho did you ever go on Criss Angel Website. Well he has pictures of all the celebs who have come to see his show and guess what? He deleted you. Even Criss is sorry that he dated you
I had it with this bitch HO Holly. To this day she is still bad mouthing Criss Angel. Ho Holly wanted so badly to marry him after dating what 4 days (lol) and now that she can’t have him and she finally got it through he stupid fake bimbo head that he used her sorry ass she won’t let it go and still takes shots of him whenever she can. Hmmm seems to me she just can’t get over him.
I wish somebody out there would just slap this stupid airhead bitch.
It isn’t Criss fault that Ho Holly is such an airhead and fell so in love with Criss Angel (probably because she never had a penis of a man under the age of 86 years old) that she couldn’t see all she was to him was a PR Stunt. We all saw it.