Priscilla Presley to be lauded by NBT, Nigel Lythgoe … and Vince Neil

By John Katsilometes

Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 | 4:55 p.m.

Having just performed a legal glissade this week, Vince Neil is taking an active role (if not the actual stage) in Saturday’s Nevada Ballet Theatre Black and White Ball at Aria.

Neil will be addressing the well-heeled audience briefly and from the front of the stage at Saturday’s annual NBT charity event. He’ll be entrusted with the mic just after a segment performed by members of the “Viva Elvis” cast. It might seem an unlikely fit -- well, not “might,” it is an unlikely fit. Suffice to say, Neil is more likely to deliver a searing rendition of “Shout at the Devil” than hang out with the folks who bring “The Nutcracker” to Paris Las Vegas each holiday season.

But it makes some sense if you know that Neil and NBT Woman of the Year honoree Priscilla Presley are close friends. At least, close enough that Neil once resided in Presley’s guest house in Beverly Hills a few years ago. (Not sure of why, but now we have something to ask Priscilla Presley about Saturday night.)

What really raises eyebrows here, of course, is that Neil was just this week sentenced to 15 days in jail, to be followed by 15 days of house arrest, for a DUI and speeding offense he committed in June. He begins his legal tour stop Feb. 15 at Clark County Detention Center.

Aside from being the world-famous frontman of Motley Crue, Neil is the boyfriend of KSNV entertainment reporter and longtime NBT supporter Alicia Jacobs, who last year introduced Woman of the Year Marie Osmond and who, two years ago, was on the arm of the man introducing Presley, “American Idol” producer and "So You Think You Can Dance" creator Nigel Lythgoe. You’ll remember, likely, that it was Lythgoe who spent $10,000 to buy Jacobs her dog Star, a scene-stealing Cavalier King Charles who really enjoys licking faces.

Also in the program are our own Robin Leach (in the “paddle raise” to benefit the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, future home of NBT), and NBT co-founder Nancy Houssels.

Most telling, on the program’s official schedule, Neil is listed only as “guest speaker” and is given exactly 1 minute to speak: From 10 to 10:21 p.m.

One minute? That’s 3 1/2 fewer minutes than the Motley Crue classic “Dr. Feelgood.”

Clearly, the meter will be running. The advice to Mr. Neil: Make it count.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.