Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003 | 9:54 a.m.
Maybe this human cloning thing isn't such a bad idea after all.
That way, one could have attended all of the fabulous New Year's Eve events that Las Vegas hosted on Tuesday.
Everyone from Angie Dickinson to the Rev. Al Sharpton was in town for the countdown.
And embattled Las Vegas hypnotist Marshall Sylver was back up to his old tricks. We saw him use his "subconscious reprogramming" techniques to convince ubermodel Heidi Klum to leave Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis' side and stand next to Sylver for a photo.
An estimated 300,000 revelers jammed the Strip for the spectacular fireworks display, while thousands more packed into Las Vegas casinos, bars, clubs, concerts and various private parties.
Most of the celebrities who participated in the national Fox broadcast ended up at Venus, the club inside The Venetian, including the show's host, Ryan Seacrest, and performers Ja Rule, Ashanti, Dru Hill, Sisqo, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and Sheryl Crow. At Curve at the Aladdin, the seven members of the "Real World Las Vegas" cast hosted a party, and a few got somewhat more real than usual as the night -- and alcohol consumption -- progressed.
Cast member Steve Stippler reminded us that even though he was on a television show, he is not an actor.
"One can't just go on a reality show and say, 'OK, I am an actor,' " Stippler said. "No, you're not an actor. I think it is disrespectful to people who have been studying the craft for a long time."
So how does he pay the bills these days?
"I get paid to appear at events like this."
Trishelle Cannatella said that the show is perhaps not as real as it appears.
"Let's just say that MTV is very skilled at what they do."
A somewhat more refined crowd filled up Fran and Richard McDonald's 38th-floor penthouse apartment at Turnberry Place.
Among the revelers enjoying a terrific view of the fireworks were Dickinson, Sonny King, Doug Saunders, Rich Little, Lesley Gore (who came with her mother), Clint Holmes (who also came with his mother), producer Joey Battig, Bob Anderson and famed attorney F. Lee Bailey -- who spent the entire night on the balcony smoking cigarettes.
And, in the Which One Doesn't Belong Department, Carrot Top made an appearance.
The talk of the party was the baubles hanging from Debbie Mack, who came with her artist husband, Bill Mack.
She was adorned with a $100,000 chinchilla coat and a 20-carat canary emerald-cut diamond, said to be a gift from the Sultan of Brunei.
"That damn media" was the focus of attention at the party Mike Tyson tossed.
Tyson and guests all seemed to agree that the Fourth Estate has been wrong in its criticism of O.J. Simpson for appearing at a USC football practice in Florida on Saturday as the team prepped for tonight's Orange Bowl appearance against Iowa.
Simpson himself was a no-show, but Glenn Leonard and Ali Woodson of the Temptations did croon a few of their famous songs.
At the Hard Rock Hotel, the Chili Peppers showed up at Nobu after their first Las Vegas concert on Monday at The Joint -- and were turned away, despite the fact that Flea was fully dressed. The restaurant still would not let the band in for a late dinner after the doors had shut.
So band members wandered across the hall to Simon Kitchen and Bar, which was more accommodating. They liked it so much they came back for dinner before their New Year's Eve show the following evening. That's when we saw Sylver, who was sitting with a large party in the back of the restaurant Tuesday night.
"X-treme Cuisine" co-author Robert Earl (he wrote the book with his pal, skateboard god Tony Hawk) introduced Kiedis and Klum to Sylver. Sylver, who once had a hypnotist show on the Strip and performed his act on David Letterman's show, was the target of a Nevada attorney general probe for allegedly bilking customers through a Millionaire Mentorship Program he operated out of his home.
Sylver charged participants $5,000 apiece with the promise that they would double their money through his investment strategies or be entitled to a refund. Several investors sued him, but no criminal charges have been filed.
Anyway, when Earl introduced them, Sylver whispered something to Klum, and she immediately posed for the camera.
VegasBeat would have been remiss if we did not ask Kiedis and Klum about their own newly public posing. Klum left her hairdresser husband, Ric Pipino, in October and hopped onto a plane for Australia to be comforted by Kiedis.
They have been virtually inseparable ever since.
"We're not getting married anytime soon, I can tell you that," the diminutive Kiedis, who was wearing glasses and a starched white shirt, told VegasBeat.
"Right now we are good friends -- and that is more than enough for me," Kiedis said, as his longing gaze retured to the Victoria's Secret stunner. "And I hope she'll come to our show tonight."
We also ran into comic Kathy Griffin, who was headed over to the outdoor patio at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris Las Vegas to eat and see the fireworks. She had just returned from performing for American troops overseas.
"I love Las Vegas. And there is no better place to ring in the New Year than right here on the Strip," Griffin said.
Siegfried & Roy feted their show's cast and crew at their annual party at The Mirage.
Guests included Neil Sedaka, Darren Romeo, Frank Marino, Jack Jones, Marty Allen, Penn Gillette and Monti Rock III.
At ghostbar atop Palms, Robin Leach did a live Fox remote with George Maloof and Tara Reid as Vince Neil, Ice-T and Reggie Jackson looked on.
Earlier, I went with my family to lunch at Spago at the Forum Shops at Caesars. The ubiquitous Leach was at one table, and Josh Hartnett was at another.
But it was the booming voice coming from the table by a front railing that really stopped me in my tracks.
No mistaking that baritone: It was the Rev. Al Sharpton.
When Sharpton, Tawana Brawley and I traveled to the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta together, his luggage was mainly edible. Not the bag, but its contents: chicken, rice and beans, and cartons of Hawaiian Punch.
At Spago, the reverend and I caught up for a while, and he introduced me to Gene Collins, who heads the Las Vegas office of Sharpton's National Action Network.
They were planning their upcoming national convention.
archive
