Sexy girls wearing next to nothing or sweaty strongmen chasing a tiny ball while clad in helmets and tight padded pants; take your pick. Since I'm a fan of British, nonstop action soccer, and don't particularly care for Kevin Federline's new insurance commercial shown during last night's Super Bowl, I vote for the luscious ladies.

For the first time in Vegas history, a choreographed Pussycat Dolls casino has opened at Caesars Palace and more eyeballs were on the girls than the big game.


Luxe Life was there for the weekend debut with Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin (above, center) casting a careful eye over her eight stunning fishnet stockinged, caged go-go dancers, the beautiful blue-sailor-hot-shorts knockout blackjack and roulette dealers, the Pussycat Dolls clothing and lingerie sales assistants and the uniquely uniformed cocktail servers. The crowd was so large that Caesars president Gary Selesner ordered the pleasure-pit opened an hour earlier than planned! "Definitely unique and mighty impressive," he shouted to me, while Robin told me: "Wow! This is incredible. The turnout, the reaction is way more than anybody expected. Now from our soft-opening we'll fine tune everything and work out the kinks and be absolutely perfect for our grand-VIP opening on March 3."


Luxe Life has learned that pop-queen Christina Aguilera will probably dress up as a Doll that night to perform the opening ceremonies after her Mandalay Bay concert. You can't miss the Pussycat Dolls casino because of all the excitement, but as a public service here are the exact directions: look for the PURE nightclub, Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill and Sir Elton John's retail store and there right in the middle of the action is the POW of the Pussycats!

Incidentally, not all the stars of sports flew to Miami for the super Bowl. New York Yankee Derek Jeter dined at N9NE Steakhouse in the Palms alongside UFC commentator Joe Rogan and, at a separate table, 'Sopranos' actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Then Jeter hit the Playboy Club for pre-dawn blackjack fun with Pittsburgh Steelers' Clark Hagan. Both guys returned for a second consecutive night and then on night three, Derek got 10 pals together for a blowout bash at TAO in the Venetian. But, by day four, he was back at the Playboy Club for the big-game, ordering pizza from Nove to go with his champagne. Then he went to the high-limit blackjack tables and got so involved for several hours he even had burgers and sandwiches delivered right to the table!


Also taking in the game at Playboy was Suge Knight and Clark Hagan one more time. Downstairs in Nove was baseball great Roger Clemens. Over at PURE, Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, UFC fighters George St. Pierre and Keith Jardine, joined by comedian Damon Wyans (seen below), who also hit TAO the next night with another 10-strong group! (Can't these guys ever have just a quiet dinner a deux?) Tennessee Titans wide receiver Drew Bennett held court at Wolfgang Puck's Bar & Grill in MGM Grand.


BRITNEY'S SECRET WEAPON RETURNS HOME
Hometown hero and soul-star Ne-Yo is one very very busy overnight sensation. But now he is coming home to play. The 25-year-old R&B singer, who is also a major hit songwriter for other chart-topping singers including Beyonce, was last back in the hood where he grew up, the day after the December Billboard awards, but that was to catch up on some home-cooking and inspire the kids in the school he once attended. Ne-Yo, real name Shaffer Chimere Smith and raised in Vegas, will be home again February 16, over All-Star weekend to perform at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay and obviously catch the big game. He's juggling the writing of new songs for Vegas' own Celine Dion, plus Whitney Houston's comeback album and Alicia Keyes. And Luxe Life has learned that Britney Spears, who was recording here last week at the Palms, and Rihanna have tapped him for in-studio duets and producing winning tracks. His first-single 'All Because of You' has just been released and you can even hear it on his MySpace page. He's getting ready for the Spring Scream Tour and hopes his new still untitled album will be ready and released to coincide with the criss-cross travels across America. First up though next Sunday's Grammy's where he goes up against Rio headliner Prince for 'Best Male &B Performer' with "So Sick" and you can catch him in the current " Stomp The Yard" movie. All pretty incredible and fantastic for the teenager who still admits he pays strict attention to what Mom tells him to do!

CELINE & RENE'S GAMING CONTROVERSY
Just as Luxe Life predicted, news of Celine Dion's husband, Rene Angeli's incredibly big poker and craps betting numbers first revealed last week set off a firestorm of controversy. (Click here for that story and click here for the extraordinary statement Caesars Palace issued afterwards at his request). Emails from fellow players have poured into us confirming his very frequent and very large $$ bets and two-at-a-time $20,000 markers! However, according to Cardplayer.com, the Internet poker authority, Rene has lifetime poker winnings of almost $350,000. The website even lists the last 10 tournaments he's played in; mostly at the rival Bellagio rather than Caesars, where he was thought to play more often.

One extraordinary email even related that Celine had urged him not to play at Caesars when she was performing there because it caused "image problems." For the record though, here's just a couple of his big wins: $62,175, $16,150, and $11,720 in Bellagio No-Limit Hold'em Tournaments and $24,405 in the Festa Al Lago Classic.

ALL OR NOTHING

It wasn't just a "football only" weekend. Ultimate Fighting Championship stars brought more bare-knuckle, mixed-martial arts excitement to the Octagon forUFC 67: All or Nothing. This sport keeps on exploding in popularity and front row tickets this past weekend at Mandalay Bay hit the $1,000 mark. Wesley Snipes, Charles Barkley, Kevin James and a group of Hollywood's newest young actors and actresses turned up in the front row cheering section with major shout-outs for UFC headline champion Chuck Liddell but big boos for Tito Ortiz and lady love Jenna Jameson, particularly when he whipped out his camera to snap photos of Rampage Jackson's walk to the Octagon. (I'm told that's a major no-no between fighters.) Early yesterday, after all the blood and guts for glory, ring announcer Bruce Buffer (right) threw a party at PURE, which brought in Paris Hilton's parents, Kathy and Rick Hilton (seen below), after their FIX dinner in the Bellagio, along with M.C. Hammer (above). Champion Chuck held his official festivities at Studio 54 in MGM., but by 3AM, all of them had regrouped and wound up partying at Tryst in the Wynn till dawn.



MOVIE STAR PLAYGROUND
Headline stars Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth, (seen left) who are about to start an eight-week shoot of their new '21' movie all around Vegas, did "research" at the Playboy Club at the Palms. Kevin took a quick walk through, but Kate stayed most of the night playing blackjack and enjoying Dom Perignon champagne and Grey Goose vodka at a reserved booth in the middle of the gaming lounge. '21' is the true story of the Boston college students who created an infallible mathematical solution to beat Vegas casinos. Ironically, the Vegas gambling haunts that booted the real troublemakers from town are now hosting the movie maker stars! The cast is shooting at the Aladdin, Hard Rock and Red Rock using some of our city's real-life dealers. Kevin, by the way, will be on the red carpet this Saturday as a special guest with 'Desperate Housewives' Teri Hatcher, pop-queen actress Hilary Duff, 'Mindfreak' magician Criss Angel, comedian Brad Garrett and yours truly at the star-studded Keep Memory Alive Gala for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute fundraiser at the MGM Convention Center. ... Actor Laurence Fishburne, Full Tilt poker pro Phil Ivey, 'King of Queens' star Kevin James and famous Philippine actress Aubrey Miles were all at separate tables at Tangerine in TI. Despite chilly, after midnight temperatures, Fishburne and his friends took in the Strip view from the Tangerine patio until the early morning hours while drinking signature Tangerine martinis. Next night at TAO, the legendary actor make a 1AM appearance at the hot spot's weekly Sutra party and after enjoying the sounds of DJ Skratchy departed the party. Also at TAO bistro, film star Zoe Saldana, dining with her sister and three friends on sushi and kobe beef, plus fashion icon Kenneth Cole and actor Bokeem Woodbine in the TAO nightclub.

SICK SOLD OUT CELEBRATION

To celebrate four sold out shows at the Luxor this weekend, comedian Artie Lange partied at the Hard Rock's Body English nightclub with co-producer Jeff Beacher and a flock of audience members they'd invited over from his last late show. Artie challenged Wee Matt, one of the Beacher's Madhouse "little people" stars, to a chug-a-lug beer contest, but unfortunately in all the excitement he threw up on Artie's legs and that became the central comedic conversation on Artie's co-anchor raps with shock-jock Howard Stern this morning on Sirius satellite radio, as he told the radio gang it was something he'd never ever seen before. Artie's Vegas trip, before jetting back to New York, was such a success he'll be back for at least three more gigs this year. Also partying with them was Wesley Snipes, Criss Angel, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Joe Rogan, Rampage Jackson, Chris Masterson, Andrew Keejan, Laura Prepon, Eric Balfour and Tito Ortiz with Jenna Jameson.

STRIP SCRIBBLES
Happy Birthday congratulations to Lisa-Marie Presley, celebrating her 39th birthday bash over the weekend with mom Priscilla in tow and Roseanne Barr in the party group. They dined at TAO and then hit the upstairs TAO nightclub watching all the dancing revelers from an upper-deck VIP skybox rather than in the VIP dance floor section. Next night, Priscilla and Lisa-Marie sat up until 2:30AM, sipping cocktails at Caramel ultra lounge in the Bellagio. Earlier in the evening, Lisa Marie and mom were part of a group to see Cirque du Soleil's Beatle musical LOVE at the Mirage, only to narrowly miss former hubby Michael Jackson, who caught the late show!! ... Just asking if 'American Idol' judge Simon Cowell is moving in as Ryan Seacrest's neighbor at the Panorama condo towers overlooking the Strip, after millionaire-owner Laurence Halllier gave the boisterous Brit a private weekend tour. ... The hit Fox Sports TV 'Best Damn Sports Show Period' was all over town this weekend filming at Steve Wynn's Tryst nightclub, Caesars race and sports book, the Lake Las Vegas golf course, Bellagio's Mix ultra-lounge and an incredible cooking segment with star chef Martin Heirling of Sensi in the Bellagio. (Click here for our review of his amazing restaurant.) ... Strip headliner Vinnie Favorito, who has his own nightly show at O'Sheas, was the guest panelist on my friend Byron Allen's 'Comics Unleashed' latenight TV comedy show on the CW network early Super Bowl Sunday. Vinnie is a favorite for roasts of Larry King, Jerry Springer and Tom Arnold, commuting back and forth between Vegas and Hollywood for them. ... And finally, my gossip-guru friend, Norm Clarke makes me very happy that my favorite London emporium, Harrods is coming to Vegas. British rumors grow that owner, Mohamed Al Fayed -- father of the late Dodi Fayed killed in the headline making Princess Diana car-crash -- will partner with MGM Mirage bosses for the world's ultimate megastore to be built at City Center close to the Luxor.

TONIGHT'S TIP
If you have any stamina leftover from Super Bowl Sunday parties we know where the boys are. Go to rumjungle at Mandalay Bay because it's "Spoil You Rotten" night where all the girls skip the line and drink for free!

TOMORROW'S TEASE
An incredible, rare and exclusive rendezvous with Michael Jackson. Now that the all-time King of Pop has moved to Vegas, he talks to the first time after returning from his 18-month, self-imposed exile in Dubai and Ireland. In our amazing world exclusive, he talks about plans for his new show, living in Sin City and his love for the art of magic.

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