Columnist Kate Maddox: Britney spears no-name openers

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, July 25, 2000 | 10:17 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at kmaddox@lasvegassun.com.

I know, I know, those Britney Spears concert tickets are burning a hole in your pocket. You can't wait to see pop's reigning princess and her crew take the stage on Aug. 4. And those hives you've been getting are merely from holding your breath until you can find out who will open for the little (or not so little) miss.

Well, it might not be pretty, but at least the wait is over. Personally, I'd skip the starters, grab a snack at the MGM food court and walk in just in time for "hit me baby one more time."

The acts scheduled for openers include Mikiala, a not-even-one-hit-wonder-no-name teen singer, a group called A*Teens, four youthful Swedish popsters who do covers of old ABBA hits (ouch!) and Aaron Carter, the prepubescent little brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter.

If you're worried because you don't have these guys' posters on your walls, fear not -- I suspect you're not alone. After those three acts, even I might be screaming, possibly crying, for Britney to take the stage.

The so-called "activities" that prompted accused murderer Margaret Rudin to complain about her cellmates, Sandy Murphy and Jessica Williams, were apparently so, ahem, noisy, that Rudin was kept awake most nights. You'd think the woman would at least be entitled to some peaceful sleep until her trial. However, it was the "comforting" -- which was all that was going on there, according to Murphy attorney John Momot -- that Ted Binion's convicted killer was bestowing on her roomie that was causing all the racket.

As a result, Rudin's been getting zzz's in her own private cell. And Williams and Murphy have also been separated -- comfort will now have to continue without the other's help. Both Williams and Murphy deny the charges of "inappropriate conduct."

From the you've-got-to-be-kidding-me files: A phony press release touting a Sunday service at the Universal Church for Life Enhancement (recently in the news for holding up the plans for a strip club in town) called for speakers including former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones, Councilman Michael McDonald (delivering a sermon on ethics) and Councilman Gary Reese.

The release was all in good fun and reminiscent of fakes sent during the Binion murder trial jabbing local politicos and heavy hitters.

Even the phone number, which interested parties are instructed to call at the bottom of the page for an "inspirational recorded message" from the church's pastor, is a snow job. The number actually leads to a female voice advertising the Crazy Horse Too, a popular strip club.

Well, at least it's a good thing no one took this baby for the real thing and advertised it, phony phone number and all, in the morning newspaper in the Religion Notes section. Doh!

Those mistakes of youth are coming back to haunt Las Vegas "Survivor" Kelly Wiglesworth. Not only was her credit card binge a national story for a few days, now her former marriage might make headlines.

Wiglesworth was just 23 in 1997 when she got involved in a noisy domestic dispute with her then-husband. Las Vegas police arrived to quiet things, but when the cops ran a check on Wiglesworth, her outstanding warrant for credit card fraud in North Carolina came up and she was hauled off to the slammer. At least the husband wasn't going to press charges for battery: After hearing his wife would be charged for the nasty cut on his nose, he insisted the injury was the result of a dog bite, not the result of his wife.

As much as Wiglesworth probably wants to put the past behind her, it looks like this little story will hit the national press. "Access Hollywood" just called. They want a copy of the police report.