VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Stars shine light on club celebration

Monday, Feb. 10, 2003 | 9:20 a.m.

Light. Bright.

Not literally -- the capstone Bellagio nightclub Light is dark as a coal mine, and louder than a kindergarten class at recess.

But the star wattage at its one-year anniversary party Saturday night was blinding.

Some light was reflecting off Bruce Willis' polished skull. More was emanating from the pearly whites of supermodels Estella Warren and Molly Simms. Stephen Dorff's seemingly unwashed hair was glistening.

A lot of light was reflecting off the many baubles hanging from the former Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell. The water in sober Backstreet Boy AJ McLean's drink was sparkling, as were the diamonds in Marshall Faulk's Super Bowl ring and the bubbles in Robin Leach's champagne.

Boxer Sugar Shane Mosley had a certain glow about him, fresh from his no-decision bout with Raul Marquez at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Several in attendance asked Owen Wilson to perform some karate moves -- "Shanghai Knights," his new movie with Jackie Chan, opened last week.

But Wilson politely declined, chatting instead with brother Luke Wilson, fellow thespian John Corbett ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") and film producer ("The Fugitive") and Planet Hollywood creator Keith Barish, who was there with his son, club owner Chris Barish.

Nabob New York art dealer Tony Shafrazi (well known for his 1974 spray-paint attack on Picasso's "Guernica") wandered into the club after the Andy Warhol opening around the corner with Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art directors Marc Glimcher and Andrea Bundonis.

Other Las Vegas notables dancing to the beat: Palms owner George Maloof, socialite and "Coyote Ugly" owner Jen Worthington, Chef Kerry Simon, MGM exec Scott Ghertner, scenester Michael Shulman, and Club Paradise VIP director Luke Cannella.

There were even celebrity sightings in the potty. Spotted in the men's loo were Christian Slater and Vincent Young, who played Tori Spelling's boyfriend Noah Hunter on "Beverly Hills 90210."

The only thing more strange than celebrity toilet time was talking to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst when Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U" started to blast through the speakers.

Durst had a recent brief but well-publicized pairing with the Pop Tart, and is said to be devastated she dumped him. "Honestly? I feel like saying, '(Blank) you Britney' for what happened," Durst said, before jumping up onto one of the raised dance platforms.

And we don't know why

Two funny fellows, Dana Carvey and Stephen Sorrentino, invited VegasBeat to sit in the wings and watch their Paris Las Vegas show Sunday night.

Since one of Carvey's bits is his mimicking of Leach ("I am Robin Leach -- and I don't know why!" Carvey booms), we thought it would be funny to bring the Rich And Famous One to the show with us.

We introduced them in Carvey's dressing room backstage, where Leach marveled at Carvey's method of preparation.

"It looked like an explosion had taken place at a yellow sticky-pad factory -- and I don't know why," Leach said.

Carvey makes numerous pre-show notes on yellow paper.

Onstage, before a sold-out room of more than 1,300, Carvey ended half of his bits by pointing stage right to Leach and exclaiming, "I don't know why!" The crowd loved it and Leach was swarmed afterward.

Sorrentino proved to be at least Carvey's comic equal as he left the audience in stitches with his version of Wayne Newton singing "Stairway to Heaven" and Pee Wee Herman doing another Led Zeppelin classic, "Whole Lotta Love."

Kids, alright

VegasBeat got several calls asking exactly who the "kids," as Andy Warhol referred to party guests (and everybody else), were at the opening of the "Andy Warhol: The Celebrity Portraits" show at Bellagio's Gallery of Fine Art on Saturday night.

Our Sunday item focused on his wig's $400 salon visit.

So, due to popular demand, some of the kids in attendance were Michael Ovitz (the former Disney exec known as The Most Powerful Man in Hollywood), New York-New York Chief Executive Officer Felix Rappaport, Randy Morton, Von Heinz, fashionistas Josh and Meital Grantz and David Mugrabi, whose family loaned most of the work on display.

Also listening to Liza Minnelli's delightfully catty audio narration was the beautiful Adeana Shendal and her KVBC Channel 3 anchorman husband, Jim Snyder; KLAS Channel 8 anchor Lisa Johnson; KUPN anchor and Channel 8 entertainment reporter Kate Maddox; Sandy and Roger Peltyn; MGM MIRAGE exec Jenn Michaels, art aficionados Conrad and Maria Janis, Esty Neuman of Fashion Concepts and John Smith and Rhonda Kilstein of the Andy Warhol Foundation.

Check out ...

CNN's Larry King at the Carvey show Saturday night at Paris Las Vegas ... King and Carvey (separately) post-performance at Charlie Palmer Steak at Four Seasons ... Saturday night at ghostbar: Major leaguer Kenny Lofton, baseball's $252 million dollar man Alex Rodriguez and pugilist Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... Fifty-odd floors below at Rain in the Desert (also on Saturday night) Los Angeles Clipper Elton Brand was telling anyone who would listen: "I should be in Atlanta this weekend." That's where the NBA All-Star Game took place ... also at Rain: "Baywatch's" David Hasselhoff ... Former "Monty Python" player Eric Idle at The Rio to see Penn & Teller Thursday night ... Carl Icahn at his Stratosphere property on Friday ...

From Sun wires

Voters for the Razzies, an annual spoof of the Academy Awards, have a message for Britney Spears and Madonna: Don't quit your day jobs as pop divas.

Spears' teen buddy flick "Crossroads" had a leading eight Razzie nominations and Madonna's island-romance bomb "Swept Away" received seven, including worst picture and worst actress for both movies.

"Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," also received seven nominations, among them worst picture and director for George Lucas, creator of the sci-fi saga.

The other worst-picture contenders are Eddie Murphy's comedy "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" and Roberto Benigni's version of "Pinocchio."

Razzie "winners" will be announced March 22, the eve of the Oscar ceremony.