VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Celebrities’ fathers left untied

Friday, June 13, 2003 | 5:11 a.m.

What do you get Dad for Father's Day if your pop is Harry Belafonte ?

"I remember one year I made my dad a batik pillow, with a tiger on it and all kinds of elaborate stitching. Most of it was even stitched where it was supposed to be," Shari Belafonte told VegasBeat.

There were also several years that she and her sister, Gina, made their dad cards with macaroni glued to colored construction paper.

Shari Belafonte was one of a number of stars at a Lili Claire Foundation benefit at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas, on June 7.

After the success of the first season of "American Idol," host Ryan Seacrest took his dad, Gary, an attorney, and other family members on a surprise Father's Day trip to Hawaii.

"My dad was a huge influence on me, and since I had moved to Los Angeles we naturally didn't see each other as often as we'd like," said Seacrest, who was also at the Lake Las Vegas gala. "I was fortunate to have some success and was finally in a position to do something like that for him."

Seacrest was born and raised in Atlanta, where his parents still live. He will be in Vegas again Monday, broadcasting his Los Angeles afternoon drive-time radio show from a lounge at the Palms. The public is invited.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in New York recently unveiled a faux Jennifer Lopez, whose cheeks blush when you whisper in its ear.

Now, as part of the museum's continuing move toward more interactive displays, the original London outpost is working on an $86,000 model of Britney Spears.

The museum unabashedly says that Spears' model's chest will rise to simulate her breathing.

Heave-ho, indeed.

Both figures are expected to eventually be on display at Madame Tussaud's branch on Las Vegas Boulevard at The Venetian.

Caesars Palace will officially announce Monday what VegasBeat reported last week: that Mariah Carey will play Las Vegas.

The first stop on Carey's "Charmed Bracelet" tour is July 26 at The Colosseum. Tickets top out at $150 and go will on sale Friday.

Just what has Sandra Bullock been doing in Las Vegas, between her sightings at various local restaurants?

She is apparently researching a role in a potential "Miss Congeniality II," a sequel to her hit 2000 movie where she plays a ditzy FBI agent who goes undercover to infiltrate a beauty pageant threatened by terrorists.

Bullock recently took in the shows, "An Evening at La Cage" and "Jubilee!"

Afterward she spoke with cast and crew and asked specific questions about dressing as a showgirl and as a drag queen.

We should all have such problems: the new Forum Shops at Caesars club OPM has too many ladies in the house.

Since the bulk of its initial marketing campaign was to give away 500 VIP cards to showgirls and female, uh, performers, the club is saturated with women.

"I do what I can, but we need more men in the place to keep them all happy," John Padon, one of the club's partners, told VegasBeat.

To try and rectify the awful problem, the club is tonight kicking off TIPS -- Total Industry Pleasure Sundays. It is offering discount drinks and free admission to all males who can prove they work for tips, from servers to limo drivers to bartenders to cosmetologists.

I wonder if news tips count ...

Staffers from New York's trend-setting PAPER magazine are settling in Las Vegas for a few days to produce their fall fashion issue.

On Thursday publisher Kim Hastreiter met with Steve Wynn before heading to Prana for a party that included former wild child Bijou Phillips and "Sex and the City" wardrobe consultant Billy Erb.