VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Combatants find their weigh at Bally’s

Wednesday, July 16, 2003 | 10:34 a.m.

There was a big weigh-in at Bally's on Tuesday. Similar to many staged boxing weigh-ins, it was a delightfully silly event.

Noted Paris Las Vegas/Bally's oddsmaker Johnny Avello was there to make book on the bout.

Famed fight announcer Michael Buffer ("Let's get rrrready to rrrruummble!") introduced the combatants.

"On my right, with over 1,000 career kills and seven times resurrected ... Freddy Krueger."

On cue, iconic madman actor Robert Englund -- in full Freddy garb, finger knives and all -- emerged on the Jubilee Theatre stage.

Buffer then introduced Krueger's opponent, actor Ken Kirzinger, in his famous Jason Voorhees outfit.

The stunt was a promotional event for the upcoming New Line film, "Freddy vs. Jason," which opens Aug. 15.

Freddy, the psychopath star of Wes Craven's "Nightmare on Elm Street" films, and Jason ("Friday the 13th") took some mock questions from fake media and throughly entertained an invited audience of radio station contest winners, many of whom yelled profanity-laced comments at the stars.

Avello makes the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Freddy a 2-to-3 favorite over Jason, despite Jason's size advantage. Jason weighed in at 275 pounds on his 6-foot-6 frame.

Avello also posted some prop bets, such as the over/under on kills by each in the movie, and the method by which Freddy or Jason is killed.

Chainsaw came in at 10-to-1, drowning 12-to-1, electrocution 15-to-1, hit by car 40-to-1 and hockey stick 100-to-1.

Next stop

Is Don Marrandino going to resurface at Planet Hollywood?

Marrandino -- who abruptly left Wynn Las Vegas on Monday after bolting the Hard Rock Hotel in December to join Steve Wynn's showcase property -- was an early choice of Robert Earl to manage his new Planet Hollywood, the current Aladdin.

But Marrandino ended up signing on with Wynn, and Earl tapped Mike Mecca from Station Casinos (also Marrandino's alma mater).

Messages left for Earl in his Orlando, Fla., office and Marrandino weren't returned late Tuesday.

Out of town

Former Strip headliner Darren Romeo has resurfaced. He now stars in "Siegfried & Roy presents Darren Romeo, the Voice of Magic" at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla.

A reviewer in the St. Petersburg Times gave the show a rave review this week.

Please, disappear

Can't escape spam. Even recorded computer-generated telephone spam. We got some the other day, supposedly from Lance Burton.

The phone rang while VegasBeat was sitting here at Gossip Central on Monday night. If I wanted to answer two questions, I was going to get two free tickets to see Burton, the headline Monte Carlo illusionist, the voice on the other end said.

Query No. 1: Am I a Nevada resident? And No. 2: Do I make more than $47,000 per year?

They seemed like weird questions to come from a magician. But they were both answered and the voice on the tape said I would get another call with info on how to pick up the tickets.

"I want to make absolutely, perfectly, 1,000-percent clear that these calls are not coming from Lance Burton," Burton spokesman Wayne Bernath told VegasBeat Tuesday. "We have gotten many, many complaints and we're trying to find out who is doing it. We suspect it is a time-share company that bought tickets in bulk and are now using them as an incentive to get people to listen to their sales presentation, which we are not comfortable with."

Chipped

We certainly hope he uses the chainsaw before his first martini.

On Thursday, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will use the power tool to cut the ribbon at the official opening of Ice House, a new downtown restaurant and lounge.

Oh, yes -- appropriately, the ribbon will be encased in a block of ice.

VegasBeat walked through the place (the site was once used for an actual ice house) Monday with mayoral aide Elaine Sanchez. The retro cool decor -- especially the upstairs lounge -- includes wonderful old Vegas photos, a bar top actually made of ice and an outdoor patio.

VegasBits

Stalled: An article in the current issue of the respected trade journal Ad Age says some Chrysler dealers feel Celine Dion's TV commercials aren't having enough of a positive sales impact for them -- but the company will stick with her anyway, for now ...

Ruling: Peggy Ann Quince, the first black woman ever appointed to the Florida Supreme Court (by Gov. Jeb Bush in 1998), stopped in to see Soul Desire at the Big Apple Bar at New York-New York on Sunday night ...

Broadway West: Several familiar shows are part of the Broadway at the Aladdin 2003-04 season, which kicks off in October, including "42nd Street," Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Starlight Express" and "Cats," along with "The Full Monty," "Rent" and "Stomp."

From Sun wires

Actress Cameron Diaz is seeking an injunction barring the release of reportedly nude photographs taken at a private modeling session more than a decade ago, before she was a star.

In the lawsuit, Diaz claims she did not sign a photo release and that a release produced by the photographer is a forgery, Diaz's publicist said Tuesday. He would not describe the nature of the pictures.

A spokeswoman from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office confirmed Tuesday that investigators searched the apartment of photographer John Rutter as part of a continuing investigation.

Madonna falls into the Gap: Madonna will be the new face for Gap's fall multimillion-dollar ad campaign.

Gap's spokeswoman would give few details Tuesday on the campaign, set to break July 28, other than to say it also features hip-hop star Missy Elliott.

Over the past several years, Gap has enlisted a diverse group of celebrities in its advertising, including India.Arie, Lisa Marie Presley, Christina Ricci, Anjelica Huston and Dennis Hopper.

Ford visits White House: Former President Gerald Ford is returning to his old digs at the White House today to celebrate turning 90 years old -- one of only four U.S. presidents to reach that milestone in life.

Ford, who turned 90 on Monday, joins John Adams, Herbert Hoover and Ronald Reagan as the only former presidents to become nonagenarians.