VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: No matter where you go, Vegas is there

Friday, April 25, 2003 | 4:43 a.m.

You can take VegasBeat out of Las Vegas, but it is never terribly far away. Sitting at my mother's kitchen table in East Hampton, N.Y., on Friday, every time I turned a page in a newspaper or magazine, there was Las Vegas, front and center.

Both the New York Daily News and the New York Post on Friday had stories on Howard Stern ranting against CBS Television president Les Moonves during his Thursday radio broadcast from the Hard Rock Hotel.

Stern called Moonves a "snake in the grass," among other things. The radio bad boy ripped his corporate boss because Moonves had recently signed a seven-figure deal with Telepictures -- the company Stern is suing for allegedly stealing a show idea from him.

In the Friday New York Times, the cover of the Escapes section had a story headlined, "Forget the Chips, Try the M&Ms." The article featured things that kids can do in Las Vegas, including everything from Siegfried & Roy to the Circus Circus midway to the New York-New York arcade.

In the paper's Metro section the day before, it had a front-page story on the new Cirque du Soleil show, "Varekai." Later, skimming through the current Vanity Fair, there were full-page ads for Las Vegas itself and Tabu, the new MGM evening destination.

Tired of the Vegas assault, I put on the TV. "CSI" was on -- special Friday night edition.

Las Vegas producer Jaki Baskow is now representing boxing great Joe Frazier. She is shopping him around as a potential casino host.

Eighty-year-old Ed McMahon will co-host "Jimmy Kimmel Live" the week of May 19. Brilliant move.

McMahon has tremendous appeal to that young, hip demographic that Kimmel is trying to reign in. And I just know that the senior audience that McMahon is courting with his new deal at The Orleans hosting Bingo tournaments is sure to love Kimmel's frat-boy sense of humor.

Teen sensation Charlotte Church took in a performance of "Mystere" when she was in Las Vegas last weekend for a gig at the Aladdin.

Game show legend Bob Eubanks is coming to Las Vegas. He is scheduled to host the Bally Gaming Celebrity Slot Challenge for Charity next Sunday afternoon. $1 million is up for grabs for the winner.

Sign me up! The International Suntanning Education Institute is having its annual convention June 23-26 at the MGM Grand.

The Vegas Valley Book Festival last fall was a rousing success. This year's event, scheduled for this fall, promises to be even better. Organizers have lined up Rudolfo Anaya as the keynote speaker. He is described as the founder of modern Chicano literaure, and is also a professor at the University of New Mexico. Also on the list is political cartoonist Dan Perkins, better known as Tom Tomorrow.

The list of performers at the May 21 Academy of Country Music Awards show, hosted by Reba McEntire at Mandalay Bay, is pretty much completed. Toby Keith and Willie Nelson will perform their duet, "Beer for My Horses." Also slated to perform: Brooks & Dunn, Alabama, Kenny Chesney, George Strait and Martina McBride.

Siegfried & Roy seemed to greatly enjoy the Thursday late-night performance of "La Femme" at MGM Grand.

Swedish sensations The Sounds will make their U.S. debut on "Last Call with Carson Daly" when the late-night NBC show comes to the Hard Rock Hotel next week. Do not scoff at Swedish bands. Remember ABBA?