'Mindfreak' magician Criss Angel risks his reputation tonight when he'll be roasted by a celebrity crowd of Strip stars, plus yours truly! It's his idea of a birthday blast gone bad! (Happy Birthday though Criss!) Call it magic with mayhem as he is insulted, humiliated, zapped and zinged, all for the sake of a laugh-filled TV special as part of his on-going A&E 'Mindfreak' series. It'll all start innocently enough at 7PM tonight with cocktails at the Luxor, where he's now living and filming. Then, 30 minutes later, the dirt will fly. Criss is magic's new #1 bad boy of extraordinary illusions and he's winning raves for his brain-boggling, baffling bewilderments, from walking on water, floating 60-feet high in the Luxor's atrium and plotting how not to catch on fire when he balances on the powerful Luxor lightbeam, which is so powerful it can be seen from the Moon! We'll have the close-up star-photos here tomorrow, but meantime here's a couple of my stinging one-liners:
"They wanted to have him roasted by a close friend, but they couldn't find one so I came instead."
"We wanted to give him something he really needs but nobody could figure out how to gift-wrap a bath-tub!"
He knows we love him, even though we still can't get him to tell us how he miraculously makes his magic happen!
MEGA MONEY
Ever since party heiress Paris Hilton got branded the "good girl" in all of new best friend Britney Spears' panty-less antics in Hollywood, demand for her appearances has shot sky-high and so has her fee! When she's invited to open a spa or host at a party palace, her business reps are now asking for $350,000 per appearance because the buyers are guaranteed phenomenal worldwide front page press and TV coverage! However, two Vegas properties nixed the mega-money fee in recent days, saying it was just too high. But Paris' people refused to budge from the new going rate! Meantime, the NBA scores big time, because I've learned exclusively that serious talks are underway for Paris to host the All-Star Weekend celebrations planned at the Hard Rock when new owners, the swank Morgans Hotel Group, have their official grand-takeover party she'll host that Presidents Weekend on February 17.VINCE'S VICTORY
A warm welcome home to Motley Crue singer Vince Neil, who lives just around the corner from me here. The Motley Crue/Aerosmith tour has just wrapped and he told me: "It's good to be home for the holidays"! To celebrate the booming success of his new Strip-front tattoo-parlor and the holiday vacation from the road he and stunning knockout wife, Leah, hit PURE at Caesars to host a party to show off the newest Harley Davidson motorcycles and hot models wearing the sexiest motor-cycle fashions and the next night he did it all over again at the Tangerine in Treasure Island after dinner at the upstairs Asian eatery, Social House, just named by USA Today as 1 of the top 10 spots to celebrate New Years Eve!
BACK IN THE FOLD?
Rock 'n' roll superstar, and fellow Brit, Rod Stewart has had a love-hate relationship with Vegas over the years as the result of a nasty legal feud withthe Rio Hotel and its owner, Harrah's. His refusal to perform at a New Year's Eve concert years ago resulted in a massive lawsuit where a judge ruled against the musician. It honestly looked as if he'd never work the Strip again. But time heals all and he'll be back March 17, but nowhere near Harrah's. Instead, he'll be singing for his supper for the rival MGM empire. Tickets went on sale over the weekend for the MGM Grand Garden Arena show, where he'll use that trademark raspy voice to perform on a circular stage so fans can see him up close anywhere on the 360-degrees! Rod, who has stuck to standards for recent CD releases, returns to his rock classic roots this time around with the hits of his 30-years in the business, since abandoning his original job as a grave digger! For his Vegas show he'll be backed up by a 9-piece rock band and three very sexy, smoldering singers!
PLATINUM PARTY PEOPLE
Gorgeous 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actress Zoe Saldana brought her two sisters (left) in tow to TAO for dinner and dancing. Zoe, who also co-starred in 'Guess Who' and 'Center Stage' along with Mariel and Cisely, feasted first on Kobe Sashimi, Lobster Wontons and Pad Thai Noodles before working it all off on the dance floor!) ... The gorgeous new showgirls of Jubilee from Bally's also hit TAO for dinner and dancing, and how could I resist buying them champagne to celebrate the holidays? ... My pal Rik Leventhal (below) from FOX News returned to TAO with his gal-pal for a mini-vacation from New York, just a month after having such a great time here celebrating the news network's 10th anniversary, but he spent much of the evening on his cell dealing with the Castro death rumors out of Havana!
NEW FACES
Congratulations to Amanda LaTona and Aidan O'Brien (above with Don Marrandino) who will be seen around the USA as the new image and faces of the Flamingo Hotel's year-long 2007 advertising campaign. I was among the judges of the Review-Journal's Image contest and Harrahs/ Flamingo President Don Marrandino announced them as the winners. Only a Vegas resident for six months, Florida-born Amanda, 26, is the lead vocalist of the Groove Kitty band at Mandalay Bay. Fans love her and the girl-group so much that the old Coral Reef Lounge is to be renamed mid-February as the Kitty Club and the band will be renamed The Girl Gangstars! You can catch that new look starting New Year's Eve.
STRIP SCRIBBLES
More on that 18th Century bordello themed entertainment dining and ultra lounge complex planned for the Luxor that Luxe Life first revealed last week and immediately made headlines around the world. I've now learned that the working title for the unique project is 'Cathouse!' ... Our favorite Strip singer, the gorgeous and sexy Toni Braxton (right) will fly off from her Flamingo run to New York for New Year's Eve to sing live from Times Square for the FOX TV, 90-minute midnight special being hosted by 'So You Think You Can Dance' hostess Cat Deeley and 'American Idol' singer Chris Daughty. Live remotes will be added to the show from the New Orleans Sugar Bowl with FOX's Morning Show hosts Juliet Huddy and Mike Jerrick and from the Orange Bowl in Miami and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, California ... Happy Birthday to the Orleans celebrating today its 10th anniversary with 12-hours of free champagne being poured starting at 9AM!TONIGHT'S TIP
You just won't know which of the three rooms at Jet Nightclub in the Mirage to hangout in. First the gorgeous girls of Red Models will be wearing those Naughty or Nice outrageous erotic fashions from Leg Avenue, then the normally topless dancers from Spearmint Rhino will keep their bras on to still make Santa's helpers look ever so sexy! In the House Room, man of many musical hats Josh Wink -- producer, remixer, record label owner, DJ and performance artist -- will be kicking up his own kind of musical ruckus!
TOMORROW'S TEASE
Sly Stallone leads a battalion of boxers and a squad of sports stars into town for the Vegas premiere of his new and 6th 'Rocky Balboa' (preview) movie. Plus, we join Jamie Foxx and Fergie for a wild night of partying to celebrate his 39th birthday at not one, but two rival nightclubs, and our cameras are with them every step of the way!
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1. Cool on Criss Angel, he's great and hot. His career is great but he needs to hook up with more hot female celebs to really make it and maybe get into movies. Pam anderson would be a great start
lisa goods at 11:42PM on Dec 25th 2006