Stars give all to USO

Lisa Snedeker

Monday, Nov. 12, 2001 | 8:24 a.m.

Las Vegas entertainers made music and magic together for the first time Sunday during a sold-out benefit for the USO.

"People think Las Vegas is heartless," said Wayne Newton, who is the new USO chairman. "But here we are with a packed house and all the performers, I think that says volumes about our town."

Other stars sharing the Mandalay Bay Events Center stage included: singers Jessica Simpson, Robert Goulet and Rick Springfield; comedians Carrot Top and Rich Little and magicians Siegfried and Roy.

All proceeds from the Veterans Day show "Las Vegas Salutes the Spirit of America," which featured more than 40 acts, will go to the United Service Organizations Centers. The centers provide entertainment and other services for military personnel.

While 7,500 tickets were sold at $25 each, it was not immediately known how much money the fund-raiser took in because patron and corporate donations had not been tallied, show organizers said.

Newton, along with teen pop starlet Simpson, country singer Neal McCoy and comedian Rob Schneider, begins a weeklong Thanksgiving tour today for U.S. troops -- 14 shows in seven days. The tour is expected to stop in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Korea and Bahrain in the Middle East, among other places.

In October, Newton took over organizing the USO's circle of entertainers from Bob Hope, who served as the USO celebrity frontman for almost all of its 60 years.

Singers Clint Holmes and Earl Turner, impressionists Bill Acosta and Bob Anderson and the musical-comedy group the Scintas were among those who decided to put together Sunday's USO benefit following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We wanted to do something," said Holmes, who performs at Harrah's.

All the entertainers, musicians and stagehands involved in the show donated their time.

"Everyone is working for free," magician Lance Burton said. "That never happened before today."

One Las Vegas resident said he attended the show because of the opportunity to see a wide variety of talented performers in one place.

"And it's a special event," said Keith Lane. "I usually don't get choked up, but I did."