Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: A-list celebs sending prayers Roy’s way

The tide of love, prayer and good wishes for Roy Horn continues to rise.

"I wish there was something I could do for Roy besides pray," Celine Dion told VegasBeat during a phone conversation Tuesday.

"Seeing Siegfried & Roy's show has always been an integral part of the Las Vegas experience. I think the whole world is holding its breath waiting for good news," said Dion, who now finds herself the biggest marquee name on the Strip.

Horn continues to fight for his life and remains at University Medical Center in critical condition.

Meanwhile those stopping in to check on Roy's progress included Steve Wynn and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Wynn brought Siegfried & Roy to The Mirage; Katzenberg is producing "Father of the Pride," a planned 2004 animated NBC series based on Siegfried & Roy that is still proceeding despite the attack.

Also, well-wishes have been received at Roy's fourth-floor room from a staggering array of notables, from Michael Jackson to Angelina Jolie to Bill Clinton. Tonight Siegfried is scheduled to appear on "Larry King Live," where he will make his first public comments about Friday night's onstage tragedy at The Mirage. The show will air locally at 6 p.m. on Cox cable channel 20.

On King's show Monday night, guests including Wayne Newton and Penn Jillette offered sympathy to Roy and recollections of the famous duo's show.

Las Vegas entertainer Nelson Sardelli e-mailed VegasBeat on Tuesday from the Czech Republic, where he is on a concert tour.

"The news is all over Europe," he said.

One ringy-dingy

Well, if that international pop superstar thing doesn't work out ... Gloria Estefan will visit VEGAS.com's new headquarters Thursday afternoon and answer the phone at the website's new bilingual call center.

Estefan's appearance is in conjunction with her Friday through Oct. 19 engagement at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and the launch of espanol.vegas.com, the first full-service U.S. destination site launched entirely in Spanish.

VEGAS.com is a sister company of the Las Vegas Sun.

It's magic

Aladdin Chief Executive Bill Timmins announced Tuesday what we first reported on Sept. 19 -- the hotel's new headliner is illusionist Steve Wyrick.

Timmins said entertainment in Las Vegas was "constantly evolving," and that the property wanted a "new and different" act, so they had settled on Wyrick.

Wyrick is actually not that new or different -- he was headlining at the Sahara as recently as August and was at Lady Luck before that and, of course, there are scores of other illusionists performing in Las Vegas.

But when we chatted with him, Wyrick said the show would be different not only from his old show, but from any other Strip production. One new wrinkle, he said, was that he will perform part of his act on the street.

"I'll do at least one illusion live on the Strip, and it will be broadcast back into the theater," Wyrick said.

The Aladdin's Center Stage Showroom will close Oct. 21 and then be made over and renamed the Steve Wyrick Theatre for its Nov. 20 reopening.

Piano man

Cafe Lago (Caesars Palace) pianist David Osborne recently returned to Vegas after performing at President Jimmy Carter's 79th birthday party in Atlanta.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning former chief executive toasted Osborne by reeling off a long list of White House performers -- including Willie Nelson, Barbara Mandrell, Vladimir Horowitz, Leontyne Price, John Denver and Johnny Cash -- and capped his comments by saying Osborne was "the one who meant the most" to him and his wife, Rosalyn.

Remain silent

Local Peter Falk impersonator Sammy Ligouri makes an arrest today -- for charity.

He will nab entertainer Stephen Sorrentino in front of the Sahara this afternoon, and transport him to Sedona, the restaurant that Andre Agassi co-owns on West Flamingo Road.

At Sedona, there'll be a benefit for the Ronald McDonald House, where Sorrentino will entertain.

VegasBits

Hungry: Actor Dennis Quaid had dinner with friends at Charlie Palmer Steak on Sunday night. On Monday night Charlie Palmer himself had dinner there with Robin Leach. The Rich and Famous one's new syndicated "Penthouse Vegas" program premieres Friday at 9 p.m. on KVVU Channel 5 ...

In the house: Gangsta rapper turned "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" actor Ice T is scheduled to appear at a party Friday night at Risque, the Paris Las Vegas nightclub ...

Fore: Golfer Tommy Armour III is having a 44th birthday party Thursday night at the Hard Rock Hotel. He and a few dozen other golf pros are in town for the PGA's Las Vegas Invitational, which starts today.

From Sun wires

When it comes to cursing, the government says, it's all in the delivery.

That's the view of the Federal Communications Commission in its decision that U2 singer Bono's colorful language during the Golden Globe Awards didn't violate federal indecency rules.

The FCC rejected complaints from the Parents Television Council and more than 200 people, most of them associated with the council, who accused dozens of television stations of violating restrictions on obscene broadcasts by airing portions of the awards program last January.

The complaints objected to Bono's uttering the phrase "this is really, really, f------ brilliant."

The FCC, using the F-word more often to explain its decision than Bono did on the air, said the word "may be crude and offensive, but, in the context presented here, did not describe sexual or excretory organs or activities." That distinction is a key test to measure whether a statement meets a federal standard for broadcast indecency.

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