Columnist Kate Maddox: Contestants groomed for Vegas

Kate Maddox

Friday, April 20, 2001 | 5:05 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column also appears in the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach her at 259-2309 or kmaddox@lasvegassun.com.

Things didn't quite go off without a hitch Thursday night at the taping of "Surprise Wedding II." If you're waiting to be surprised, read no further, skip to the second item.

If you really couldn't care less whether the men agreed to unscheduled nuptials, well, read on.

Of the seven men, only one didn't go along with the ambush. The rest spent Friday morning at the courthouse finalizing paperwork. The would-be groom who declined an impromptu, onstage wedding ceremony had a brilliant excuse. Taking the high road, he claimed that, yes, he did want to marry his sweetie. But no, he didn't think a Fox special was the "appropriate venue." There ya go, buddy. Got outta that one and she can't even get mad at you. Nice move.

To watch the drama unfold, tune in mid-May when "Surprise Wedding II" airs on Channel 5 during sweeps week.

You knew it would happen again. The producers of "Surprise Wedding" had to hightail it from Paris Las Vegas late Thursday to Honduras and start setting up for yet another Fox Part II: "Temptation Island II." Yes, you heard right -- Honduras.

Fox is quickly assembling another cast of himbos and bimbos to lure four happy, unmarried, childless (we hope this time) couples into cheating and lying and breaking up.

With a probable writers' strike looming, this is the kind of quality television we can all look forward to in the months ahead. And, really, what could be more romantic than summer in Honduras?

There's a hot new show being shopped on the Strip that has more than one big hotel interested. "Dummy" is produced by Richard Frankel Productions, the same people who brought audiences "STOMP," "Tap Dogs" and the current Broadway hit, "The Producers," which opened last week in New York.

The "Dummy" is ventriloquist David Strassman's 13-year-old alter ego, Chuck Wood. Strassman has toured Europe and earned rave reviews from the tough Brit critics. The London Independent said, "Strassman has achieved what many considered impossible: He has made ventriloquism hip." Uh, right.

Whether or not this is true, or even humanly possible, doesn't seem to matter to some entertainment execs in town. On the hunt for the new "next best thing," look for two major properties to duke it out over who will get to sign the Wood.

Six years ago, after spending more than a decade dancing with Siegfried & Roy, Paige Fleming wasn't quite sure what to do with her life. She was aware that her showgirl years were up, but wasn't ready to throw in the towel professionally. So Fleming took inventory, invested what little cash she had, hired a couple of assistants and started Nevada Woman magazine.

Now a viable success story (Fleming is publisher and CEO of the upscale women's glossy), the former dancer will be featured on HGTV's "The Good Life." The program focuses on stories of people from all over the country who have dramatically changed their lifestyles, usually to something more meaningful and fulfilling.

See how Fleming went from dancer to becoming one of Nevada's most respected businesswomen when "The Good Life" airs tonight on Cox cable channel 64 at 7:30 and 10:30.

If you watched "Survivor" Thursday night, you witnessed chef Keith Famie propose to his girlfriend over the Internet. But the real deal, complete with ring, special music and surprise, came last month in during a trip to Las Vegas. And that time, he did it in person.

On March 2, the 41-year-old from Michigan took honey Katrin Koivu on a gondola tour at the Venetian and proposed. Sure, he did it to the stylings of Engelbert Humperdinck's "After the Lovin'," but he did it nonetheless. Famie's Australian proposal might have been seen as clever, and sentimental, "Survivor" politicking, but the Vegas version was strictly about the romance.