Vegas Popular

Nobody throws a party like Vegas can, and the glitz, the glamour the over-the top extravaganza that we take for normal everyday life around here, wound up splashed on TV screens around the world when we hosted yesterday's NBA All-Star Game. I don't ever remember seeing a basketball game that featured a flock of feathered sequined sexy showgirls surrounding Mr. Vegas Wayne Newton as he belted out 'Viva Las Vegas!'


The star power center court and on stage was staggering. Siegfried & Roy bravely showing the world that he can walk, Danny Gans proving he's far more than just a man of many voices as he performed the National Anthem, Flamingo headliner Toni Braxton wowing with victorious voice and dazzling dance moves, Christina Aguilera (seen below) bouncing to a boogie-woogie stomp-along and the cast of Cirque's 'KA' adventure drumbeating out a Vegas victory march!


Cheering everybody on was a star-studded lineup on the court and around the arena including my former boss, media mogul Rupert Murdoch from the days when we launched his 1st USA publication The Star! Also just some of the glitterati visible view: Jay Z and Beyonce, pop royal Prince, Cameron Diaz, Adam Sandler, Steve Carell, Chris Tucker, Ludacris, Usher, Nelly, Michele Wie, Paris Hilton, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver with 14-year-old son Patrick. David Hasselhoff and, shoulder-to-shoulder with me on the red-carpet, star chef Bobby Flay filming for his Food Network show and tennis champion Boris Becker filming for his German TV talk-show. Click here for more celebrity photos!


After using my booming voice to announce Toni Braxton's sizzling sexy song and dance show to the global audience, I had to catch her backstage. "I am never nervous," she told me. "But this time I was nervous. Normally any nerves vanish after the first ten seconds but I was nervous the whole time. I have done World Cup and Super Bowl but this was more nerve-wracking than anything else. I had to change my normal type of sad love songs to something that had the crowd wakeup and sing and dance along with me. It was a great experience, the energy has been fantastic, and the only thing bad this week has been the traffic because it took me two hours just to get to the hotel next door!! I hope we get a hometown team because I would have courtside seats and learn everything there is to know about the game. Shaq's kids and my kids go to each other's birthday parties so I'd really be a huge supporter if he came here."

So, I asked Shaq, since he's a major million-dollar investor of the PURE nightclub in Vegas, how his business investments are going. "I check on them everytime I come to town," he said. "Everything is going good with all of them. I'd like to invest more in Vegas; maybe even a hotel."

Ludacris and I finally got to chat about the new Fergie single 'Glamorous,' with its deliberate references and shout outs to me. "I grew up with you," he told me. "That voice is very distinctive. I always used to watch Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. Loved that show and it completely fitted in with what I was doing with Fergie." He and I had just missed each other the previous evening at the new Cafe Martarano restaurant in the Rio. Ludacris commented: "That is one of my favorite restaurants, if not my favorite. The food was insane right?


Danny Gans (seen above singing the Star-Spangled Banner) told me he originally was going to do a vocal impression of me to sing the National Anthem! "Seriously though," he chuckled, "It is such an honor. The producers came to me and said we have seen your show many times and we would like you to do this. I thought great I will put something together maybe Ray Charles and Tony Bennett, or you Robin, but they said no we want you to sing it as Danny. I thought what a great compliment that is. And I said can I bring a couple guys from the band and we will work up a harmony thing and that is what we did. I was nervous, but it was a good nervous.


I caught up with Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria (seen above with Prince), who's set to marry her San Antonio Spurs hero Tony Parker this July in Paris, and here's that candid exchange:

RL: What advice did you give your fiance as he went off to work this morning?

EL: Take some aspirin, because it was a long night of partying at Pure last night.

RL: So he's going to be a little sluggish! Do you love basketball?

EL: Yes I love it. It is a fast game and everything can change in a matter of seconds.

RL: Will you support a Vegas team if we get one?

EL: Absolutely.


Her castmate James Denton (above) revealed he'd tried to start out as a basketball player: "Junior College but it was nothing to brag about," he admitted. "I was short and slow, and that is a bad combo. I'm 6'1" and I never grew beyond that so that was it. I did win the 3-point contest in the All-Star celebrity game. It was fun playing with Jamie Foxx, Reggie Bush and Ladanian Tomlinson, but there was no defense so it wasn't that serious for us but the fans loved it." Wayne Newton was the game's assistant coach and he said he's definitely sticking to his day job. "Hopeless, useless; if we hadn't had a real coach I would have taken them to the land of nowhere."


California's First Lady Maria Shriver told me that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's foot injured in a Sun Valley skiing accident at Christmas is now OK, and he's finally able to start flying again. "My 14-year-old son Patrick asked me a year ago if we could come to the All-Star game so I kept the promise I made. I am a big sports fan anyway. I had four brothers growing up so I like to do these things with my kids."

Sixteen-year-old golfing sensation Michelle Wie told me she thought Vegas is awesome. "I'm underage," she said, " so I can't really do too much but I have been looking at what's going on, have met a lot of people but didn't play any golf this trip. I did the last time with President Clinton. Vegas is very much like Palm Springs very desert, very beautiful and very good for golf." She told me that despite her height she would never have made it as basketball player as she can only jump two inches off the ground!


Comedy actor Steve Carell (seen above) admitted he hadn't been to Vegas in seven years. "It has grown," he told me. "I am always surprised about just how big it is. I brought my brother here seven years ago on his first visit and he just couldn't believe a place like this existed. What would he say if he saw how much it had changed since then? It would be interesting to see what an archaeologist will dig up and find in 2,000 years time."


David Hasselhoff had hoped to bring his two daughters over from California for the game, but was unable to find them any empty seats on return flights back home because of Vegas playing host to record travelers. He'd also failed to connect with Dallas Maverick's German born star player Dirk Nowitzki. Said David: "My song 'Looking for Freedom' was #1 in 1989 when the Berlin Wall was torn down. He was only 11 but he would practice his free-throw shooting while singing the song. He saw me in a concert and I became his childhood heroes. Now I'm the one following him. I tried to get together with him here. He was at the Hoffbrau House but I am working so it's been hard to catch him."

STRIP SCRIBBLES

Not content with the celebrating the big game with his own black on black party at the RAIN nightclub in the Palms last night, Diddy kept it rocking up in his Hugh Hefner Fantasy Tower suite this morning. Dave Chapelle, Hef Girl Next Door Kendra Wilkinson, Busta Rhymes, Gabrielle Union, Allen Iverson and Playboy Bunnies from the Playboy Club all squeezed into the luxury-suite. ... Hard to believe that not everybody wanted to see the game or hit the big celebrity parties afterwards. Singer Rihanna went to the Brenden movie theaters at the Palms to watch Nicholas Cage's new action thriller 'Ghost Rider.' ... And at The Beatles' Revolution Lounge, there was Good Charlotte's Joel Madden, Paris Hilton's gal pal Nichole Richie along with 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes plus their G-Unit crew. ... Even after a big-game you've got to eat properly, and just where did some of the VIP's go off to? Arnold Schwarzenegger took his family to dinner at Fiamma in MGM Grand where Queen Latifah was also holding court. Lovebirds Eva Longoria & Tony Parker had a quiet dinner a deux away from the maddening crowds at Wolfgang Puck's Spago, inside The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. Around the corner at BOA Steakhouse, James Pickens Jr. plus Scott Padgett of the Memphis Grizzlies, Shawn Marion of the Phoenix Suns and ESPN correspondent Greg Anthony both ex UNLV Running Rebel teammates as is the restaurant's operating partner, Clinton Clausen. Miss America host and Dancing with the Stars sensation Mario Lopez stopped in for a quick bite, but did not bust out any famous dance moves!

TONIGHT'S TIP
Get some rest. Get some sleep. We're bounced out of the court drained from every piece of energy over the past seven days of nonstop festivities.

TOMORROW'S TEASE
Luxe Life has one of the most sensational photo-layouts ever published of the sexy X Girls who premiere their new Strip show at the Flamingo this coming Friday. This is the unveiled sneak preview at all their glory! Plus, Toni Braxton gets her Walk of Fame star; The Killers win big in Britain and a scandalous new advertisement that will kick up its own controversy!

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