VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Tweaked names offer platter of problems

Thursday, April 3, 2003 | 10:36 a.m.

Nervous lawyers? Pesky in-fighting musicians? Both, really.

VegasBeat just wanted to do a nice mention of ESPN's Al Bernstein and report that he was going to interview members of the Platters, Coasters and Drifters when Bernstein hosts a live show from the Sahara this afternoon (and again next Thursday).

But we were told that we couldn't use all those familiar names, people representing the various musicians politely informed us.

The proper names for the trio of acts are "The Platters, Cornell Gunter's Coasters and Beary Hobb's Drifters."

"If you mention (the acts) please state the full show name. This is a legal requirement by the producers," was the e-mail message we received.

Thankfully, two other Sahara acts who will also be on "Al Bernstein's Sports Party," Ronnie Rathers and Steve Wyrick, were a lot less particular with how they were billed.

Exactly what all these people have to do with sports is another question altogether.

It is becoming fairly typical for vintage acts -- from the Beach Boys to the Temptations to Paul Revere and the Raiders to continue on with lineup changes and legal squabbling over which ex-band members can use the group's recognizable name.

Book ready

VEGAS magazine is taking shape.

The high-end national glossy under the direction of Michael Carr is comfortably aiming for a July debut.

Carr is on the verge of signing a "deal memo" with SoBe News Inc., the company that publishes Miami Beach's Ocean Drive magazine. The deal should help to secure some national advertising accounts for the promising publication.

No editorial lineup has been announced, but Ocean Drive has such contributors as Tama Jamowitz, Roxanne Pulitzer, Michael Musto and photogs Patrick McMullan, Patrick Demarchelier and Ron Gallela.

VEGAS magazine and the Sun are both under the umbrella of the Greenspun Media Group.

Spear-ed

Gotta love this one.

Seems a patron at the Palms with a view of the pool noticed that Britney Spears was sunning herself on the hotel's outdoor patio the other day.

He immediately got his video camera and started to record the newly pudgy Pop Tart as she lay there, adjusted herself, rolled from her back onto her stomach, rubbed oil on herself and sipped a beverage.

Then he took the approximately 30-minute tape and offered it for sale to a supermarket tabloid newspaper.

No immediate word on whether the sale was made.

Shop stars

The Forum Shops at Caesars have had more celebrity shoppers than usual lately.

Among the recent sightings reported: Jill St. John and Jane Seymour looking at handbags at Judith Lieber; Meatloaf at Stuart Weitzman; Mike Espy (Bill Clinton's agriculture secretary) and Kenny G (separately!) at MaxMara; Anaheim Angels pitcher Francisco Rodriguez at NikeTown; and Mike Tyson at Gianni Versace.

$eline

Celine's biggest new convert is Wolfgang Puck.

He tells us that before and after performances of "A New Day ... " his Spago restaurant and bar are so crowded you can't get a seat in the place.

Also, the Celine retail store is doing far better than expected.

The store sold more than $70,000 worth of merchandise the day the show opened March 25, according to a Park Place employee with knowledge of the retail operations.

The day before they sold more than $60,000 worth of T-shirts, key chains, mugs and so on.

Trinkets continue to move at a furious pace.

Finally, the best Celine item we've seen so far appeared this week in the satirical publication The Onion.

It lists several faux perks that come with her three-year, $100 million deal, including a "Good luck phone call before each show from Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn," an "All-Rene-can-eat breakfast buffet" and an "Olympic-sized reptile pit for ritual sacrifices."

VegasBits

Tony Orlando turns 59 today. Maybe he'll sing "Happy Birthday" to himself when he takes the stage at Suncoast. He plays there at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday ...

In other birthday news, Wayne Newton turns 61 today. Maybe he'll sing "Happy Birthday" to himself when he takes back the stage in his showroom at Stardust on Sunday ...

In still more birthday news, Alec Baldwin turns 45 today. He is expected to play Friday in a charity golf tournament at Royal Links Golf Club that his brother, Stephen Baldwin, has organized. It is a benefit for at-risk Las Vegas teens. Ben Affleck is also on the expected guest list. Maybe Ben will get Jennifer Lopez to sing "Happy Birthday" to Baldwin. Maybe not ...

Actor Steve Guttenberg had dinner at Piero Selvaggio's Valentino restaurant at The Venetian on Sunday night ...

This doesn't happen often: a show at the Riviera's Le Bistro Theatre not only sold out before lunch, but a second show was added. Last Monday comedy hypnotist Dr. Scott Lewis' 7 p.m. show filled up, so he was asked to do another show in the vacant 10 p.m. slot, which he agreed to do. It also sold out, Lewis says ...

Wanna be considered for a new "Got Milk?" ad campaign? Candidates will be auditioned at a sipping at 4 p.m. today at the Smith's supermarket at 8951 W. Charleston Blvd. and at 4 p.m. Friday at the Smith's at 6130 W. Tropicana Ave. ...

Sorry, our bad. Guinn did in fact go back to talk to Robin Leach at the Celine opening after Guinn had initially passed by the assembled media on the red carpet. VegasBeat regrets the error.

From Sun wires

Incensed fans walked out of Pearl Jam's concert in Denver on Tuesday after lead singer Eddie Vedder impaled a mask of President Bush on a microphone stand, then slammed it to the stage.

Most of Vedder's antiwar remarks earlier in the show were greeted with mixed cheers and scattered boos. But dozens of angry fans walked out during the encore because of the macabre display with the Bush mask.

"It was like he decapitated someone in a primal ritual and stuck their head on a stick," Keith Zimmerman of Denver said. "It kinda blows away the Dixie Chicks."

Why, Robin, why?: Holy dog poop, Robin!

Former "Batman" actor Burt Ward, who played sidekick Robin on the 1960s TV show, was ordered by water quality authorities to clean up the runoff from his Great Dane Rescue Center in Norco, Calif., after unsafe levels of fecal bacteria were detected in a creek.

But with all the horses and farm animals in Norco, Ward said, he wonders why his rescue center is under fire.

"The urine from my 30 dogs couldn't possibly compare to the urine produced by the 70 horses I'd be allowed to keep on my five acres," Ward said.

Neighbors said there is no comparison.

"When you have 100 dogs sitting in 100 degree heat, their (excrement) is going to smell," neighbor Kris Fogle said. "In the summer that's all you can smell. It washes into the creek and it just sits there."

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