Columnist Kate Maddox: ‘Storm’ washes up bevy of celebs

Kate Maddox

Friday, April 20, 2001 | 9:03 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at 259-2309 or kmaddox@lasvegassun.com.

"Storm" finally blew into town on Wednesday night. And so did Ricky Martin and Gloria and Emilio Estefan. (The Madonna rumors were false. Sorry, official word is that it was a Material Girl look-alike that had the audience buzzing.)

Martin seemed to enjoy the show, although he ducked out early. He was scheduled to give post-show "Gee, that was the best!" commentary, but opted to hit his private jet a bit sooner than planned. He was off to Australia.

Seated in the VIP area, Martin watched the loud, strictly Spanish, $20-million extravaganza with show producers and friends. He winced once or twice when a blond, blue-eyed "Storm" star sang the Martin hit "The Cup of Life."

Estefan, who walked the red carpet with her daughter, Emily, made a brief post-show party appearance at rumjungle.

Steve and Elaine Wynn, Robin Leach and "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" author John Gray were also spotted in the opening-night crowd.

As for the show, well, I'm no critic, but I heard the buzz. Buzz wasn't all that great. Seems the audience wasn't prepared for the Latin numbers and lack of "Storm" storms. One surprised attendee suggested producers rename the production "El Stormo."

It's still rocky over at KTNV Channel 13. On Wednesday reporter Kit Williams was abruptly yanked from covering the Margaret Rudin trial.

The Rudin trial press pool, a close-knit group, was shocked by the news. "It just doesn't make sense," said one reporter. "Kit's the expert. She knows this trial better than anyone."

Even more puzzling is that Williams is the only media representative to have established correspondence with Rudin. The two mail each other regularly and Williams recently nailed a post-trial one-on-one interview with Rudin.

For now Williams' replacement will be Mark Sayre, who was recently demoted from anchor to reporter.

Williams, who said she "can't talk at this time," is reportedly very upset and confused by this latest KTNV decision.

"Surprise Wedding II" was taped on Thursday at the Paris Las Vegas. The second coming of Fox's game show for the maritally challenged enlisted the help of Michael E. Minden, one of Las Vegas' premier jewelers. Minden was the guy who designed and created "Ringzilla," the giant rock Darva Conger sported when she wed Rick Rockwell.

The "Surprise Wedding II" brides visited Minden's shop to be sized for diamond bands (courtesy of Fox), but the men had to be fitted onstage -- if they agreed to go through with the proceedings.

Minden was also tapped to design the XFL championship trophy, which will be unveiled today in Los Angeles by Vince McMahon.

Business is going so well for Melinda, First Lady of Magic at C2K that company brass wants her to expand. A proposal is on the table for the temptress magician to add at least two more shows to her weekly schedule -- Melinda performs eight times a week at the Venetian nightclub/showroom.

The bad news is that C2K also reportedly wants to phase out impressionist Andre Philippe Gagnon. According to one insider, Gagnon's shows aren't doing as well as Melinda's and he has apparently been asked to reduce his performances from five to three shows per week. The source also says Gagnon won't be happy with the cutback and will soon shop for a new Las Vegas venue.

In the meantime David Copperfield has been checking out the C2K showroom, hoping to nail a 12-week-per-year deal.