Columnist Kate Maddox: Couple marries amid media mayhem

Kate Maddox

Friday, Feb. 4, 2000 | 8:29 a.m.

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

The German strangers who tied the knot at the Venetian on Tuesday did so with an audience of disbelieving shoppers and curious tourists, as well as with about five or six TV cameras jammed in their faces as they took their vows.

Martina Steindorf, a 30-year-old German government worker, and Gerhard Spitz, a 35-year-old sales agent, exchanged vows on a bridge over the Venetian's Grand Canal. If you recall, this was the wedding where the bride and groom never laid eyes on each other until they were pronounced man and wife. Literally. The two wore masks over their faces during the ceremony and only removed them when the minister instructed Spitz that he could kiss his bride.

The German radio station that set the two up, after narrowing down an applicant pool of 500 needy listeners, was on hand to capture the "romantic" nuptials. One of the DJs had his microphone shoved in the face of the bride during the vows -- broadcasting a virtual play-by-play of the action on a live satellite feed to Germany.

On a more positive note, despite the intense media hoopla, the bride and groom appeared to be practically oblivious to the zoo around them. Steindorf, who wept when Spitz proposed over the phone on German airwaves last week, and her new hubby kissed passionately (and for quite some time) when the minister completed the vows. It looked like the start of a beautiful marriage ... as long as they get each other's names right.

Dinner for the couple and 10 family members and friends was specially prepared by Chef Eberhard Muller of Lutece -- the Venetian's newest fine-dining restaurant. It seemed appropriate -- after all, when your first date also happens to be your wedding night, you're going to want to make it memorable.

The bride and groom ditched their entourage on Thursday and headed to Carlsbad, Calif., for a brief honeymoon. And on Monday it's back to Berlin to get started on their marriage and making one another's acquaintance.

The host's of Fox's "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire" will be former Miss America Leanza Cornett and actor/comedian Jay Thomas.

The producers had hoped to land Marla Maples, Donald Trump's ex, as the host, but she passed on the opportunity. Cornett, who is the co-host of Lifetime's "New Attitudes," is a good replacement. As a pageant pro, she should have the insight to help the ladies win the coveted prize -- life with a multimillionaire.

The show tapes live at the Las Vegas Hilton on Tuesday.

The L.A. Times reports that Tony Curtis and his wife, Jill, are building a Vegas vacation home. The million-dollar house, at Del Webb's Anthem Country Club, should be completed in June.

Curtis, who's keeping his mansion in Bel-Air, called Vegas a "very interesting and engaging city ... (with) many excellent restaurants and shows." He added that he needed a change in life and that his new 4,000-square-foot home will also include an art studio to accommodate his love of painting.

Tom Jones is making music with the younger generation these days. Jones, who scored big-time with his remake of Prince's "Kiss" a few years back, is banking on the success of older acts like Tony Bennett, who seem to have found a certain niche with younger audiences and kept their careers alive.

Jones has signed with British mogul Richard Branson's new record label, V2. What's unusual about that pairing is that the other acts on V2 are mostly super-hip young bands whose big hits have been with the club-going generation. And I don't mean old-school supper clubs. These acts are popular with the all-night, underground, rave-until-your-curfew crowd.

Jones will be on the same label as groups like techo-wizard Moby, hip-hop group Jungle Brothers, rockers Stereophonics and Top-40 act Blessed Union of Souls.

Whatever his reasoning may be, Jones, who will turn 60 in June, has already begun marketing his "cooler" image in Europe. In the fall he released a record on which he duets with current chart toppers on classic cover songs.

V2 hopes to repackage the European version, titled "Reload," to include more American acts and then release it sometime this year in the U.S. One of the songs will be Jones, backed by the Pretenders, doing his version of Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life." Here's to longevity.