VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: In Vegas, parties pass test of time

Monday, Nov. 17, 2003 | 10:35 a.m.

From Leonardo DiCaprio at the Palms' aniversary bash, to Operation G-Sting figure Michael Galardi at Target, weekend bits and pieces, chronologically, from the VegasBeat notebook (in some cases times and incidents were provided by loyal VegasBeat contacts).

Friday

4:35 p.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman walks onto the showroom stage at Flamingo Las Vegas to present the key to the city to Breck Wall in honor of the 45th year of Wall's show, "Bottoms Up," and Wall's 69th birthday. About 500 of Wall's entertainment colleagues, including David Brenner, Clint Holmes, David Saxe, the Drifters, the Platters, the Coasters, the DeCastro Sisters and cast members from dozens of local shows give Wall a long standing ovation.

7:25 p.m.

Dixie Chick Natalie Means and hubby Adrian Pasdar take their love seat and settle in for "Zumanity" at New York-New York.

7:35 p.m.

Carrot Top bumps into Robin Leach in the men's shirt department at Nieman Marcus at the Fashion Show mall. Fellow shoppers gawk at the unlikely pairing.

8:45 p.m.

NiCole Robinson of "The West Wing" makes her way around a Riviera ballroom with Ricci Martin, Dean's youngest son. Martin is emceeing the next night's secret roast of "West Wing" star Martin Sheen. Most of the cast will attend.

11:45 p.m.

Entertainer Chingy raps out several numbers from the stage at Rain in the Desert at the Palms. He is the surprise performer to kick off the hotel's anniversary weekend. Many patrons are surprised that they paid to see a guy they have never heard of as the featured act.

11:58 p.m.

Dennis Rodman tells Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" he was drinking heavily before he crashed a motorcycle outside of the strip club Treasures last month. Then Rodman says he is seeing an alcohol counselor and that he hasn't had a drink in 3 1/2 weeks.

Saturday

12:45 a.m.

Despite goading from several of her friends, actress Jaime Pressly refuses to bowl during a party in the bachelor suite at the Hard Rock Hotel (the suite does have a lane). Later in the day she participates in a fashion show at The Joint at the Hard Rock to celebrate the new Love Jones lingerie store at the hotel.

6:16 a.m.

The VIP host at ghostbar, Marko Greisen, calls VegasBeat to report that Jenny McCarthy was about the absolutely last person to leave the nightclub, which she had done just before Greisen's call. McCarthy had been partying with MTV star Ed Lover and Mekhi Phifer ("8 Mile"), but both left hours earlier.

Noon

Two days before he is set to serve a federal prison sentence for possessing illegal explosives, beleaguered Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano is married to Theresa Ann DeLucio at Bellagio.

The ceremony is hounded by tabloid and other reporters, mainly because Pellicano is also at the center of an FBI probe into alleged illegal wiretapping. His clients have included Michael Jackson, Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise.

7 p.m.

At the Target in the Boca Park Marketplace, on West Charleston Boulevard, strip club owner Galardi and former Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald had an impromptu confab in the store's greeting-card section.

Outside of the store, Galardi was loudly spewing profanities into his cell phone as he walked to his Mercedes.

7:40 p.m.

Scores of local television personalities, including Nina Radetich and John Overall, are at the bar at N9NE, the Palms' steakhouse, waiting for the party at Rain to start. Later they mingle with fellow broadcasters Ron Futrell, Cher Calvin, Jim Snyder, Dana Wagner, Polly Gonzalez, Kim Capozzi, Josh Talkington and Casey Smith.

8 p.m.

Looking as excited as a kid on Christmas morning, Palms owner George Maloof is at the foot of the red carpet, looking out at a sea of humanity on his casino floor and awaiting his celebrity guests.

"This is even better than last year," Maloof says. "There is a demand for people to have fun, and this is the place to come -- this city and this hotel."

Then he momentarily excuses himself and picks the lint off the jacket of a security guard. It is that kind of attention to detail, and humility, that makes Maloof, on this evening at least, the new King of Las Vegas.

8:28 p.m.

Chris Kirkpatrick of 'N Sync, dressed in torn jeans, a black T-shirt, an army jacket and a DollHouse visor, jokes to KVWB Channel 12 entertainment reporter Guy Farris that he can get around without being harassed by fans because "nobody cares about me." He also says that there will eventually be a new 'N Sync disc. "We have not broken up," he says. Whew!

9:05 p.m.

Music producer Jermaine Dupri arrives, without his girlfriend, Janet Jackson. He is followed by Paul Rudd, Chris Kattan, Claire Forlani and ... no one else. No giant posse this time out.

9:25 p.m.

Holmes arrives at the "Night of 1,000 Stars" benefit at Chameleon Studios and sings a few songs. Later, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt belts out a few songs, as does entertainer George Bugatti.

10 p.m.

VegasBeat asks Maloof where the real stars are. He says that DiCaprio is eating dinner in a private room at N9NE, and the others are upstairs. We go off to investigate.

At N9NE, DiCaprio is halfway through a steak, and "Practice" star Steve Harris is awaiting his.

10:40 p.m.

In the "Real World Las Vegas" suite, Vin Diesel and Stephen Dorff are apparently waiting to play a game of pool. Vince Neil and Aimee Osbourne are also milling around.

Sunday

2 a.m.

Another Palms private party kicks off at Little Buddha. A couple who appear to be Anna Kournikova and Enrique Iglesias are snuggling in a corner.

The restaurant is more tightly packed than a sardine can, as is most of the hotel floor.

9:15 a.m.

The front page of the Sunday New York Times features two stories with direct Vegas ties. One story is about Jean-Georges Vongrichten opening a New York branch of Prime, "his hugely successful steakhouse in Las Vegas" (Bellagio). The other is about a new book, "Elvis Fashions: From Memphis to Vegas."

7 p.m.

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates takes the stage at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts to open the Comdex computer show.

For the next week, Las Vegas becomes the pocket protector capital of the world.

From Sun wires

Limbaugh returns: More than five weeks after he entered a residential treatment center for what he described as an addiction to prescription pain medication, Rush Limbaugh returned to the airwaves today.

While his voice was beamed into an atmosphere swirling with questions -- not the least of which center on whether he acquired some of those drugs illegally -- one point seems assured: Limbaugh, by far the biggest star in talk radio, likely received one of the biggest audiences in his 15-year career in syndication.

Martin as Clouseau: Steve Martin, whose film roles have ranged from "The Jerk" to "Father of the Bride," is now stepping up to play bumbling Inspector Clouseau in an MGM remake of "The Pink Panther."

Martin's decision to take the part was confirmed by MGM executive Chris McGurk, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The original production and four sequels starred Peter Sellers as the inept French detective who tracks down jewel thiefs.

Ivan Reitman is both the movie's producer and director.