VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Dion holds court (and show) for Jackson

Monday, Nov. 10, 2003 | 10:29 a.m.

VegasBeat always says not to bother us on the cell phone to check if we received an e-mail. However, if there is genuine breaking personality news -- such as something as monumental as Michael Jackson, Elvis and Celine Dion spotted together at Caesars Palace -- then start dialing.

Well, two out of three ain't bad.

Seems that Dion's "A New Day ..." was an hour late in starting on Saturday night at The Colosseum at Caesars. Diva Las Vegas held the curtain until the King of Pop finally arrived.

But before she introduced him, no one in the usual sold-out audience of 4,100 knew why the show wasn't starting, and they were not happy about the late star.

First, after about 30 minutes of unexplained delay, large swaths of the crowd started chanting "Elton John! Elton John!" a reference to the next headliner coming to The Colosseum.

After 45 minutes, there was an announcement that the wait was because of "technical difficulties."

But there were no apparent technical difficulties at the just-opened $95 million facility -- at least none that would hold a production up for 45 minutes.

Most shows in town are pretty punctual and end after precisely 90 minutes because of the hotel's interest in getting the crowd back to the casino.

We've seen several performers, such as Dana Carvey, actually tell the audience that they would like to perform longer, but they'd be fined $10,000 if they didn't clear the room on time.

But when you are waiting on an intergalactic presence such as Jackson, the rules can bend a little.

After an hour delay, Dion came out to perform. At her usual break point early in the show when she first addresses her audience, she told the crowd -- minus what one witness said were 200 or so folks who got frustrated waiting and left -- there was a special guest among them.

Then theater cameras zoomed in on Jackson, and the crowd exploded in cheers when his mug filled the giant LED screen behind the stage.

After the show Jackson visited Dion briefly in her lavish dressing room.

Vegas Rhapsody

As VegasBeat first reported a few weeks ago, a production of London's popular Queen-based musical,"We Will Rock You," is heading to Las Vegas.

Now we hear that producers have found a possible venue -- Paris Las Vegas.

Paris' corporate parent, Park Place Entertainment, has been inspired by the revenue generated by the nightly "Mamma Mia!" sellouts at Mandalay Bay. Park Place reps reportedly have contacted Brit scribe and "We Will Rock You" producer Ben Elton about housing the show at Paris.

But first up for the Paris stage: Jay Leno. Sources in Burbank, Calif., and at the hotel say that "The Tonight Show" likely will be broadcast live from Las Vegas for one week during the May sweeps period next year.

Lake view?

Overheard by VegasBeat at a McDonald's in Lake Havasu, Ariz., on Saturday afternoon (we wanted to finally see London Bridge): Mariah Carey is househunting in the area.

Actually, according to a large man who was ordering a potpourri of selections from the Dollar Menu, Carey was looking at some real estate in the resort community with an eye toward building a home there.

Yes, this is a gossip column, but can Ronald McDonald be trusted as a source? We'll see. Calls made Sunday to Carey's reps to check on things were not returned.

VegasBits

Playerz: Seems like every NFL player whose team has a bye week ends up in Vegas. Terrell Owens led a group of idle San Francisco 49ers up to ghostbar (Palms) on Saturday night. Also in the house: Actor Mark Wahlberg, boxer Michael Moorer and Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean ...

Party of 6: Rep. Shelley Berkley and hubby Dr. Larry Lerner sat with ad exec Terry Shonkwiler, his wife, Rhonda, and Vegas food writer Jack Bulavsky with his wife, Marilyn, at the Simon & Garfunkel show Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena ...

Support: Among the folks stopping into the KCEP 88.1-FM studios for the fall 2003 membership pledge drive last week were Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Earl Turner, Anthony Gourdine (Little Anthony and the Imperials) and Janine Gil and LuAnn Sorrell of KLAS Channel 8 ...

Clubber: "Less Than Perfect" star Sara Rue partied at Light (Bellagio) on Friday night ...

Birthday: Regular Vegas headliner Sinbad (the comic's real name is David Adkins) turns 47 today.

From Sun wires

Is John Grisham worth $75,000? Organizers of the Novello Festival of Reading think so, though they "gulped" at the author's speaking fee.

Ultimately, though, administrators of the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg, N.C., decided that the master of the courtroom novel would strengthen the festival by drawing a big crowd to the annual event's final night.

The 2,100-theater for Grisham's speech today sold out quickly.

New royalty: The Countess of Wessex, wife of the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, has given birth to a girl by emergency Caesarean section, Buckingham Palace said Sunday.

The palace said the baby was born just before midnight Saturday several weeks prematurely. Doctors at Frimley Park Hospital south of London said mother and daughter were "stable."

The former Sophie Rhys-Jones 38, married Prince Edward, the queen's fourth and youngest child, in 1999. The child, the couple's first, is eighth in line to the throne.

N.J. woman crowned: A retired emergency room physician from New Jersey topped 34 other contestants from across the country to win the Ms. Senior America Pageant.

Dr. Sandra Greco, 61, of Oceanport won the crown Saturday night at the Golden Phoenix Hotel Casino in Reno after singing "Misty" during the talent phase of the pageant.

Greco, a Chicago native who has two children and one grandchild, was an emergency room doctor at an Evanston, Ill., hospital before moving to New Jersey in 1983.

Miss Afghanistan wins award: Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai, condemned in her homeland for parading in a bikini at the Miss Earth contest in Manila, Philippines, won the pageant's first "beauty for a cause" award on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Samadzai, the first Afghan in three decades to take part in a beauty contest, failed to make it to the contest's semifinals. But judges announced that, for the first time, they were handing out a "beauty for a cause" prize. They awarded it to Samadzai for "symbolizing the newfound confidence, courage and spirit of today's women" and "representing the victory of women's rights and various social, personal and religious struggles."

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