VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Rio’s adults-only show is off its rocker

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004 | 10:26 a.m.

"Sex and drugs and rock and roll is very good indeed," sang punk rocker Ian Drury back in the 1970s.

Two of them -- the sex and the rock 'n' roll -- are the stars of the latest adults-only production show to hit a Las Vegas casino.

The Rio announced Tuesday that it was shuttering its relatively tame "Showgirls" production and replacing it with what it terms an "all-new, late-night, rock 'n' roll explosion," titled "Greg Thompson's Erocktica ... Sweat, Sex & Rock 'N' Roll." "This show is in-your-face, rocking, MTV-style, classic rock 'n' roll and it's going to be hot," Thompson said in a statement announcing the show. "This is not pretty boy, showgirl rock 'n' roll and it is definitely not sexy acrobats."

He said that the show will be the first to incorporate a live band into a late-night production show and teased that "some of the hottest rock vocalists in the business will take the stage nightly."

Also, he said, the star of "Erocktica ...," whose name will be revealed on opening night, "will give new meaning to the expression totally exposed rock 'n' roll."

Auditions for the new show are scheduled for April. "Showgirls" will close on May 27. No opening date was announced for the new show.

His name is ...

On Monday afternoon Detroit rapper Eminem had a meeting at V Bar (The Venetian) with executives from his label, Interscope Records.

Some fans noticed him -- and one girl asked him to rap for her. He must have been in a terrific mood, because The Real Slim Shady proceeded to have the club get him a mike, and he gave an impromptu performance of several new songs he recorded with the group D12 (Dirty Dozen), as well as several of his most popular solo efforts.

V Bar staff blasted the live performance throughout the casino, which attracted a huge crowd to the bar, all vying for a chance to catch a glimpse of the former Marshall Mathers.

Winners

Penn and Teller won the Writer's Guild of America's 2004 award for outstanding comedy/variety series for their Showtime series, "Bull----," at ceremonies in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

They beat out Conan O'Brien, Bill Maher's HBO talk show, "Real Time," and Fox's "MADtv." The guys were unable to attend, as they were on stage performing their headline show at The Rio.

The second season of their television show begins (appropriately) April 1.

Family way

Besides the MAGIC convention, there are major fashion events elsewhere this week.

In Milan, Italy, for example, Elvis Presley's granddaughter debuts as a runway model for Dolce & Gabbana.

Reuters reports that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana plan to open both their Milan fashion week shows with Riley Keough, daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, as their star model.

"With her mother's beauty and her grandfather's attitude, she is sure to be a star," according to a press release from the design duo, whose studded jeans often boast as many rhinestones as an Elvis jumpsuit.

No word on whether Keough will wear blue suede shoes on the runway.

VegasBits

Purple reign: Prince will be the headline act at Tiger Woods' annual charity event May 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. "I am delighted to be working with Prince to help underserved youth through the Tiger Woods Learning Center," Woods said in a statement announcing "Tiger Jam VII." Tickets for the event are scheduled to go on sale Saturday ...

Punch: Former world heavyweight champ Larry Holmes, his wife and another couple supped Monday night at Charlie Palmer Steak (Four Seasons) ..

Art: Barbara Walters visited the blockbuster Monet show at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art on Sunday ...

Rock: Tickets for The Vines, who play at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on April 4, go on sale Saturday ...

Honor: Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly will present a proclamation tonight to designer Karl Kani at the Urban Fashion Awards Show at the Thomas & Mack Center ...

Croon: KTNV Channel 13 weatherman Nate Tannenbaum closed Lon Bronson's Saturday night All-Star Band show by belting out Tower of Power's "What Is Hip?" Bronson said three properties are interested in hosting his weekly jam session, which leaves its Riviera home next Saturday after a 14-year run ...

Orange: Prop comic and MGM Grand rotating headliner Scott Thompson is 37 today. He is better known as Carrot Top ...

Move: "Extreme Close Up" magician Steve Dacri has moved from The Orleans to O'Shea's, on the Strip. The show, which starts March 5, plays Tuesday through Sunday ...

Tattoo you: The Palms is pulling out all the stops for the opening of the Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co. The party tonight features performances by Good Charlotte and DJ Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys and a fashion show by Jaime Pressly's J'aime Lingerie Rock Divas. The hotel says that one of the first customers tonight will be Palms owner George Maloof, who will get a temporary Sacramento Kings logo tattoo.

Big shots: Former President Bill Clinton had lunch Tuesday at Spago (Forum Shops at Caesars) with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. Then the trio, and plenty of security, made the rounds through the stores at the Forum Shops. No immediate word on why the former prez was in town, or what he was doing with tennis' first couple ...

From Sun wires

Cronkite lends voice: Opponents of the new Medicare prescription drug law have recruited Walter Cronkite for a campaign that highlights what they see as the law's shortcomings.

Cronkite, 87, appears in and narrates an 11-minute video that the nonprofit Families USA plans to send to 10,000 senior citizen centers and retirement communities to explain changes in Medicare.

Hawking in hospital: Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, 62, again has been admitted to a hospital in Cambridge, England, for treatment of pneumonia.

Hawking, who is paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia in December and January.