Friday, July 18, 2003 | 9:34 a.m.
Karaoke has gone legit.
Long the bane of musical purists, this form of entertainment imported from Japan more than two decades ago is drawing huge crowds on Monday nights at Bootlegger Bistro.
And the crowds aren't typical karaoke fans, those folks who harbor a secret desire to be in show business or think (often erroneously) that their voices are every bit as good as Celine Dion's or other celebrated performers.
Many in the audience at the Bootlegger are already in show business. There are no delusions about their talent.
Harrah's headliner Clint Holmes is a regular, usually joined by Bill Fayne, his musical director for more than 25 years.
One recent evening Tony Sacca, a singer who created a syndicated television show about the las Vegas entertainment scene 18 years ago, stepped up to the mike and sang "Mack the Knife."
He didn't need the karaoke TelePrompTer to remind him of the words. He did quite nicely without assistance.
Others who have entertained include:
Interspersed with the celebrities and near-celebrities each Monday night are a host of non-entertainers who gather up enough nerve to appear in the same spotlight as the professionals.
From about 9:30 p.m. until well past midnight on Mondays, the Bootlegger is where the ethereal world of entertainers meets the real world of karaoke, which has given the common man a shot at the spotlight.
This is where almost any Joe Blow can rub shoulders with the likes of comedian Sandy Hackett (whose father Buddy died recently) or vocalist Jimmy Hopper, who has one of the best free shows in town at the Bellagio's Fontana Bar.
Clinton in charge
At the heart of karaoke night at the Bootlegger is Kelly Clinton, a longtime Las Vegas entertainer who sings, dances, clowns and uses her charming personality to keep the fans hooked.
"The person at the helm is very important in karaoke," Sacca observed shortly before he took his turn at the mike. "It's important that the host keep the timing correct, otherwise the crowd can get bored very quickly and walk out."
But there doesn't seem to be any danger in a mass exodus at the Bootlegger.
The parking lot begins to fill around 8:30 p.m. and remains full until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., and sometimes later.
Attendance has been growing steadily since Clinton began her gig almost six months ago.
"I never sang karaoke before," said Clinton, who moved to Las Vegas from New Jersey with her family in 1976 at age 12.
In February friends of Erik Gloege, producer of entertainer Dennis Bono's local radio and television shows, gave him a birthday party and hired Jack Greenback, owner of Karaoke Las Vegas, for the entertainment.
Clinton, who has been a professional entertainer since age 19, was convinced by Bootlegger management to put on a little karaoke show for Gloege.
"We did four songs and it was so well-received that afterwards they asked me if I would like to host a karaoke show one night a week," Clinton said. "It was so much fun I said, 'Why not?' "
Clinton has had a long and successful career in entertainment, beginning in 1983 when she performed in a showcase at the now-defunct Maxim and was chosen to join the casino's house band, Mainstream.
She was with Mainstream for two years and went on to perform with Wayne Newton, Engelbert Humperdinck, Hackett and a long list of other entertainers.
Clinton became a comedian, a television host and a performer in commercials.
Before plunging into karaoke (she also has a gig at Harrah's from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays), Clinton was a member of the cast of "Ba Da Bing," a dinner theater at The Orleans.
From 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Tuesday's Clinton hosts karaoke at Lady Luck. Her technical backup is Barry G.
Many of the celebrities who do karaoke with Clinton at the Bootlegger are old friends, such as Holmes.
"When I first started doing it a few friends called and said they heard I was doing karaoke," Clinton said. "They said, 'We will come out and see you, but not to sing.'
"Before you knew it they were picking out songs and putting their names on the sign-up list."
The popularity of the evening, she said, is in part because of her many friends in the entertainment field and in part because of the reputation of the Bootlegger, where many entertainers were already hanging out before she began her gig.
Clinton said she was surprised that at this point in her career she is a karaoke host. She says she hopes to get back into a showroom or some other venue, but until that happens she's happy with karaoke.
"This is just what has come along for me right now," she said. "Of course I would like to be in a show doing a variety of things, singing, doing impersonations, doing comedy. I would love to have a television show.
"But I enjoy what I'm doing. We're just having a great time, getting silly. We just do it as if it's a regular show."
Clinton said it reminds her a lot of when she got her big break at the Maxim years ago.
Frank Link hosted the Sunday night events, looking for new talent.
"Sunday nights were packed," Clinton recalled. "Frank showcased all sorts of talent: bands, singers, impressionists. Celebrities like Wayne Newton and Robert Goulet would stop in -- that's where I started. This reminds me of those days."
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