VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Sorrentino sore over radio giveaway

Friday, Dec. 19, 2003 | 10:49 a.m.

Each Christmas Eve, entertainer Stephen Sorrentino has a small, private gathering of friends at his west valley home.

So to say he was angry when he heard a KDWN 720-AM radio DJ invite all of his listeners -- and give out Sorrentino's home address and phone number on the air -- is a bit of an understatement.

"I was listening and heard the guy say some good things about me, which was nice. Then I heard him invite the world to my party," Sorrentino told us after Wednesday's broadcast. "I don't know the guy and hadn't invited him to my party. I wasn't that upset until my phone started to ring. People were calling and asking me if there was going to be food at the party and how many guests they could bring."

"I must have gotten 60 calls that hour. Good for them for having a lot of responsive listeners, but I was furious."

Sorrentino promptly called the station and demanded he go on-air with jock Peter Allman, who offered an on-air mea culpa.

Allman said that he had received a brochure about the party and thought it was a public party, like many events he was invited to.

Sorrentino said he didn't create brochures announcing the event, but allowed that mixups can happen.

Calls to Allman were not returned Thursday.

Still, Sorrentino says he will have to hire security to keep away unwanted crashers.

"If nothing else, I have some new material for my act," he said. Sorrentino next opens for Dennis Miller at Paris Las Vegas at the end of January.

Piano payer

Terrazza (Caesars Palace) pianist David Osborne says he can easily tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

"When I went to the White House to play for Bill Clinton, I had to pay all my expenses myself -- flights, rooms, food, everything," Osborne told VegasBeat Thursday. "But when I went to play for President Bush, they picked up all my costs."

Osborne performed in Washington on Sunday for an audience that included the president and Laura Bush, Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond"), Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish, Ashanti and Andrew Card, the president's chief of staff.

"But the person I was most nervous playing in front of was Van Cliburn," who was also in attendance, Osborne said. "He is one of my true idols."

Osborne added that the president was especially ebullient that evening -- because Bush had announced on national television that morning that Saddam Hussein had been captured.

Catchy tune

Listen closely to the songs if you go to see the new Julia Roberts movie, "Mona Lisa Smile," which opens today.

The one to watch, or listen, for is "The Heart of a Girl," by Elton John and his longtime collaborator, Bernie Taupin. It'll be easy to pick out -- it is the only contemporary tune from the film, which takes place in the 1950s.

We hear that the song will be one that John and producer David LaChappelle are looking to incorporate into Sir Elton's Caesars Palace shows, which start in February.

Light green

As we first reported a few months ago, club impresario Chris Barish sold his interests in Light, Caramel (both Bellagio) and Mist (TI) back to MGM Grand.

The deal was just finalized, and we hear Barish got $10 million for his interest in the three nightspots.

MGM spokesman Alan Feldman was unable to immediately confirm or deny the $10 million figure.

Barish was not reachable Thursday, but he has been keeping busy spending his new bankroll. He is backing Marquee, a new New York club, which opened this week with celebs such as P. Diddy, Benicio Del Toro, Matt Dillon, Chelsea Clinton and Jeremy Shockey in attendance at Tuesday's opening party.

Duck gathering

Las Vegas infomercial producer Ben Kalb is quackers over his University of Oregon roots.

But since the school doesn't have an organized alumni chapter, he is putting out the call, so to speak, for all erstwhile Ducks to come as his guest to the Foundation Room (Mandalay Bay) on Sunday, where the first steps will be taken to start an official alumni chapter.

It is part of a big Duck weekend, Kalb points out, as Oregon plays Alabama in basketball at the Vegas Shootout at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night.

Band width

The Consumer Electronics Show returns to Las Vegas Jan. 8-11.

In our view -- not being techno geeks (not that there's anything wrong with that) -- the best part of the show is all the high-priced talent that companies such as Microsoft, IBM and the like bring in to entertain themselves.

For example, Epson is hosting a private concert by Huey Lewis and the News at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel to introduce what it calls two new categories of home-entertainment products.

Also expected to address various CES gatherings: Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who made his fortune as a co-founder of Broadcast.com, the leading provider of multimedia and streaming on the Internet.

VegasBits

Fantastique: Sunday is locals appreciation day at Paris Las Vegas. Anyone with a Nevada ID -- and a guest -- can ride for free in the glass elevator to the top of the 50-story faux Eiffel Tower. The ride normally costs $12 ...

Navel base: Las Vegas sculptor Carl Young will be doing live castings of belly buttons and hands at The Rio's Markham Gallery on Saturday afternoon. People are invited to volunteer as models or just watch, or can commission Young to do a sculpture of themselves for a unique holiday gift ...

Award: Restaurateur Kerry Simon was presented with the Governor's Tourism Development Award in a ceremony Wednesday at Caesars Palace. The award goes to new off-Strip businesses that invest at least $1 million in the Las Vegas area. Simon Kitchen and Bar opened last year at the Hard Rock Hotel ...

Popular: Because of an overwhelming response, Temple Beth Sholom has moved its Jan. 11 Man of the Year dinner honoring Michael Gaughan to the Suncoast. It had been scheduled to be held at the temple, but its 420-person capacity has already been reached.

From Sun wires

Stephen King, 56, will be home for the holidays.

The author was released from the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor on Wednesday after spending 25 days in the hospital fighting pneumonia and complications from a 1999 accident, his spokeswoman told the Associated Press.

Olsens ready for college: New York University has invited twin teen actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to join the class of 2008, People magazine reports.

The twins, 17, will be enrolled next fall at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, a college within NYU that allows students to tailor their own curriculums.

Counting down: Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, stars of Fox network's "The Simple Life," will help count down the final moments of 2003 on "America's Party," airing live on New Year's Eve from Las Vegas.

Ashanti, Metallica, Puddle of Mudd, Hootie and the Blowfish and Keith Urban will be among the performers, Fox announced Thursday. The show will be broadcast from The Venetian.