Columnist Kate Maddox: Two-fisted celeb secures Martin tix for locals

Kate Maddox

Friday, Nov. 12, 1999 | 10:26 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, only in the Las Vegas Sun. Reach her at kmaddox@vegas.com or 259-2309. To subscribe to the Sun, call 383-0400.

With "La Vida Loca" spreading through town this week, some Las Vegans did their darndest to get front-row seats to watch Ricky Martin shake it Thursday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The Mark and Mercedes morning show on KMXB 94.1-FM this week challenged listeners to a celebrity call-in contest. The audience had to get a celebrity to call in to the show and ask for the front-row Martin tickets on their behalf. The person who got the "best" celebrity won the two seats for Thursday's concert. The celebs were rated in three categories: 1) level of celebrity 2) difficulty in obtaining said celebrity to call in to the show and 3) the quality of the celebrity call.

And the winner was ... Evander Holyfield. Holyfield, in town for his big bout Saturday night with Lennox Lewis, took a break from his monstrous training schedule and called in on behalf of KMXB listener Suzi Hutchings.

Hutchings, a Las Vegas loan officer, canceled her daily appointments and spent 10 hours on the phone trying to reach Evander. She gave the cause all of her effort because she wanted to win the tickets for her 14-year-old daughter, Gia -- who is a huge Ricky Martin fan.

After being passed from person to person in Holyfield's camp, Hutchings' persistance finally paid off when the boxer returned her call and said that he would do her the favor. Thursday morning, Holyfield called the crew over at 94.1 and asked for the tickets, and Suzi and her very grateful daughter were front and center to see Ricky Martin perform.

Other celebrities calling in for the contest included Kevin Sorbo, rapper Eminen , John Daly, Marla Gibbs, football hall-of-famer Dan Fouts, local attorney and Senate hopeful Ed Bernstein and '60s idol Fabian.

Local entrepreneur and businessman Fred Nasseri is hoping to top the charts with his newest venture -- a hit song.

Nasseri is putting out a CD with a catchy single entitled "I'm Singing To You." The video for the song, best described as a contemporary dance tune with a spiritual message, drew a big-name celebrity to the video shoot at Nasseri's home in upscale Quail Ridge Estates.

King of Las Vegas Wayne Newton made a cameo appearance at the nighttime shoot earlier this week. Newton, the soon-to-be headliner at the Stardust, shot a scene or two with Nasseri and then hopped his private jet to Branson, Mo.

The music video, which will apparently include about 12 to 15 celebrity cameos when all is said and done, is being directed by Sherman Halsey. He is an award-winning music video director who has created memorable videos for a number of top performers including country stars Brooks and Dunn, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

Stay tuned for the rest of the celeb appearances in Nasseri's video -- this is going to be one big production.

Englebert Humperdinck, who was recently inducted into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame, had such a terrible case of the flu that he had to cancel his run at the Monte Carlo last week. And that wasn't the only gig he declined.

So sick was Enge that he turned down a guest appearance on NBC's "Veronica's Closet," which stars Kirstie Alley and chronicles life in the lingerie business.

The magazine, which reports on all things cigar, will host two "Big Smoke" evenings for stogie lovers. Dozens of complimentary cigars, as well as food from a handful of top local restaurants -- including Andre's, Delmonico's, Emeril's New Orleans Fish House and Morton's -- will be the fare for party guests.

Las Vegas is home to many cigar-smoking high rollers and the evening promises to be quite a blast -- if you can stand the smoke.

Saturday night's heavyweight bout between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis at the Thomas & Mack Center will bring out plenty of fight-crazy celebrities.

Stars scheduled to make appearances include Bruce Willis, Michael Douglas, Eddie Murphy, Starr Jones, Vince Young of "Beverly Hills 90210," Ben Affleck, Andre Agassi and LL Cool J.

All of the celebrities will most likely proceed to the exclusive post-fight party at Planet Hollywood directly after the main event.

The entertainment at the party is scheduled to be Willis and his band. The state-of-the-art invitations to the private soiree include Robin Leach's well-known voice inviting guests to come and party with mega-star Willis.