Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Southern Nevada still running in ‘Idol’

Henderson's Michael Keown is not going to be the next "American Idol."

The Las Vegas Academy grad, whom we wrote about after his earlier appearance on the popular Fox network talent competition, made it as far as Wednesday night's show. At that point he was sent home by judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul.

But Las Vegas hasn't been completely shut out from the competition.

Erskine Walcott, 24, has made it to the round of 32, which is the first round where viewers' votes are cast.

The music business is in his blood -- his father, Erskine Walcott Sr., is a Four Tops impersonator in the "Legends in Concert" show at the Imperial Palace.

"I first started to sing as soon as I could talk at the age of 3," the younger Walcott says in an interview posted on the "American Idol" website.

Walcott -- who, like Keown, attended Las Vegas Academy -- sings again on Tuesday's episode. Viewers weigh in on Wednesday's show.

Walcott, who auditioned in Hawaii singing Sam Cooke songs, also appeared on Wednesday night's episode. Dressed like Richard Roundtree in a '70s movie, Walcott wore a stylish red fedora and matching jacket. His smooth delivery and stage moves clearly impressed the judging panel.

On Wednesday, Walcott sang Stevie Wonder's "Lately."

In the website interview, Walcott says that the first CD he ever bought was LL Cool J's "I'm Bad," his favorite"Idol" judge is Abdul, and his most embarrassing moment came in a high school basketball game -- when he scored for the other team.

The 19-year-old Keown, meanwhile, is back in town, helping care for his father, Michael Keown Sr., who is at University Medical Center recovering from a stroke.

Feeling better?

Celine Dion might still be battling that sinus infection that has caused her to cancel a week's worth of shows, but she isn't spending much time in bed recovering.

The New York Daily News reported Thursday that Dion was spotted in a Los Angeles jewelry store "loading up on loaned sparklies to show off on television."

Dion and Alicia Keys are performing a tribute to Luther Vandross on Sunday's Grammy Awards.

A legend

Composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch, who won a Pulitzer Prize for "A Chorus Line," will perform in "The World of Marvin Hamlisch" at UNLV on Feb. 22 as part of the "Best of New York" stage series.

Besides the Pulitzer, he's won three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globes for works ranging from "The Goodbye Girl" to "The Way We Were."

Tickets, priced from $35 to $60, are on sale. Call 895-2787 for more info.

Two and counting

Things are busy these days for club impresario Andrew Sasson.

His Bellagio hot spot, Light, is preparing to celebrate its second anniversary; he has taken over the bar Nectar near Light and is turning it into a casual, affordable steak house; and he is getting ready to open a nightclub at The Mirage.

As part of the Light festivities, on Feb. 22 the club will sponsor the Light Poker Tournament in the Bellagio poker room.

The winner gets a $25,000 seat in the renowned World Championship Poker tournament hosted by Bellagio in April.

The club has its birthday bash the night before. Who'll be there? "A lot of the same people as last year, plus a few surprises," Sassoon said. Among last year's party guests were Bruce Willis, Christian Slater, Owen Wilson, Estella Warren, Stephen Dorff, Molly Simms, John Corbett and Fred Durst.

VegasBits

Wow: Melba Moore -- singer, actress and Tony Award-winner -- was at the karaoke microphone Monday night at Bootlegger Bistro. First the crowd went into a stunned silence. Then it exploded in cheers ...

Good luck: Joe Kelly of the Second City Comedy Troupe (Flamingo Las Vegas) is in New York City today auditioning for a writer's job for NBC's "Saturday Night Live" ...

Century Club: Top tickets to "Mamma Mia!" rise from $93.50 to $107.50 starting Feb. 16. The Mandalay Bay show joins two Cirque du Soleil shows ("O" and "Zumanity"), Dion and Danny Gans as members of the $100 ticket club (after taxes and service charges) ...

Open: Joseph Jackson -- father of Michael, Janet and the rest of them -- opened a West Hollywood, Calif., restaurant, Katherine's, named after his wife on Wednesday night. But she skipped the party, mainly to avoid questions about her in-the-news offspring. Her husband told the Associated Press she opted to stay at their Las Vegas home instead ...

Hot: Celebrated Louisiana Chef Paul Prudhomme -- he practically invented blackened food two decades ago -- was at Craftsteak (MGM Grand) Wednesday night ...

Party: Charlie Palmer exec Richard Femenella and the Kevin Lyons Band are launching VINE, a happy hour social event, at Plush, the new club at The Resort at Summerlin. It runs tonight and every Friday from 5 to 10 ...

Sleepy: In a VegasBeat item on Wednesday, we didn't mean to imply that there were no hypnotists currently performing in Las Vegas besides the ones at the Riviera's "Hypnosis Zone." Justin Tranz called us to remind us that his show is still playing Monday through Saturday at O'Sheas, and there is also a late-night Riviera show called "The Exotic Hypnotics."

From Sun wires

In stitches: A champion snowboarder got stitches and a visit from David Letterman after she fell 25 feet off a ramp while performing a stunt for the comedian's late-night TV show.

Tara Dakides, nicknamed the Terrorizer, was expected to leave the hospital today. Witnesses said Dakides, 28, made two successful jumps on the U-shaped ramp, set up outside the Ed Sullivan Theater, and then fell off the ramp on her third attempt.

Because of the accident, the "Late Show" stopped taping Thursday night's show and aired a repeat.

Musicians denied visas: Five Cuban acts nominated for Grammy Awards, including Ibrahim Ferrer of the Buena Vista Social Club, have been denied U.S. visas needed to attend Sunday's ceremony in Los Angeles, a top Culture Ministry official said Thursday.

"Something as noble as music is being converted into a policy against Cuba," Vice Minister of Culture Abel Acosta told a news conference.

Foxx to host: Actor-comedian Jamie Foxx will return for the second consecutive year as host of the ESPY Awards, given to top athletes.

This year's show will be taped July 14 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. It will air July 18 on ESPN (Cox cable channel 30.)

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