VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Contestants to bunk down with Hilton

Thursday, July 1, 2004 | 10:43 a.m.

There is already a place called Hilton Head Island, S.C. But in terms of actual members of the Hilton family, it seems like there's no place like Las Vegas.

Celebutante sisters Nicky and Paris Hilton are, of course, familiar faces at every blowout Vegas event, such as those red-carpet VEGAS Magazine parties or the star-studded "Comedy Madhouse" shows each Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Mom Kathy Hilton was in town this month casting for her new reality show, which is going to groom young women for -- what else? -- the good life.

And now according to Variety, father Rick Hilton is shopping his own reality series. The show is tentatively called "777" and is set -- where else? -- in Las Vegas.

The premise is that seven high-rollers will each kick in $1 million of their own money into a kitty. Over the course of seven days (and episodes), the contestants will bunk together in a hotel suite and compete in a variety of games hosted by the show's emcee, or pit boss.

The winner takes home the entire $7 million prize.

No word on whether it will take place at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Producers are now looking for "whales" who want to participate.

One of the producers is Jason Hervey, best known as Kevin's mean older brother, Wayne, on "The Wonder Years."

Farewell

It was an A-list Vegas crowd at the Manny Cortez retirement party at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Monday night.

The theme was Cortez as El Rojo -- The Red One, or Greatest Cowboy.

He was presented with a Movado watch by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association, an authentic Dodgers jersey from the Las Vegas 51s (the Dodgers' triple-A affiliate), a "This Is Your Life" slide show and good wishes from Mary Joe and Rossi Ralenkotter, former Gov. Bob Miller, Rep. Shelley Berkley, Jim Bilbray, Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, Billy Vassiliadis, Brian O'Reilly and John O'Reilly of O'Reilly Gaming and a few hundred others.

King thing

Harrah's headliner Mac King and his artist cousin Bill King unveiled "Mac King's Magic in a Minute" Wednesday. It is a weekly comic strip that includes instructions on how a child can do a simple magic trick.

But won't other magicians get mad at King for giving out the keys to the store?

"Maybe," King said. "But the tricks are less how to levitate your teacher and more about simple things that kids can actually do."

He has been interested in the funny papers since he was a kid growing up in Kentucky and his grandfather drew a strip called "Tinker the Thinker," which appeared in papers in the South.

As we first reported, the new strip will appear every Sunday, starting this weekend, in the combined edition of the Sun and the Review-Journal.

The Kings have a five-year deal with Tribune Media Services to nationally syndicate the strip.

Visitor

Maurice "Termite" Watkins, a former Golden Gloves champion who was recently named as the coach of the Iraqi Olympic boxing team, attended the Scintas performance on Sunday at The Rio.

Watkins will be leading the Iraqi boxers to their first appearance at the Summer Olympics since 1988. He left the United States in April 2003 to work as a pest-control specialist in Iraq.

In his day, he turned pro rather than wait out a spot on the 1976 Olympic team. He strung together a 58-5-2 record and landed a WBC junior welterweight title shot in 1980, losing a 15-round decision to Saoul Mamby.

Celeb lite

This holiday weekend, Las Vegas might be short on famous people.

Seems that regular Vegas visitors Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Paris Hilton and Jay-Z will all be hosting star-studded parties in the Hamptons, the exclusive enclave on the East End of New York's Long Island.

Each will be the host of an evening event at the PlayStation2 Estate, a 12,500-square-foot mansion located on six acres in Bridgehampton.

The weekend will begin with Hilton celebrating the launch of her new record label, Heiress Records, on Friday. Jay-Z will debut the new S. Carter tennis shoe Saturday, and Combs' annual White party on Sunday will include a viewing of a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Too many bold-faced names to list are expected at the three events.

VegasBits

Crazy: "Dateline" will have a segment on Friday's show (KVBC Channel 3, 9 p.m.) on Kirk Henry, a Kansas tourist who says a Crazy Horse Too bouncer, in a dispute over an $88 bar tab, assaulted him and left him paralyzed ...

Visit: Brianna Banks, the June 2001 cover model for Penthouse magazine, will be appearing live at Treasures Gentleman's Club tonight and Friday. She is now an adult film star ...

Changes: Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce publicity chief Catherine Levy leaves that post today for a similar slot at R&R Partners. Also, Julie Cane, a former N9NE Group exec, returns to the fold today and heads off to Casino Morongo in Palm Springs, Calif., to help open a N9NE, Desert Rain, Space Bar and Belly there ...

Birthdays: "Baywatch" star, PETA activist and clothing designer Pamela Anderson turns 37 today. Also today, Porky Pig is 69. He first appeared in the Warner Bros. cartoon "I Haven't Got a Hat," released on July 1, 1935.

From Sun wires

Stern pushes for Kerry: Howard Stern said Wednesday that he'll "work like a dog" to urge his millions of listeners to vote as a bloc for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

In a news conference that aired live on his morning radio broadcast, Stern invited Kerry to come on his show. (Kerry spokeswoman Allison Dobson says that she can't commit to a visit, but that Stern is "quite effective talking about the job that George Bush has done.")

Big Fourth concert: Even with the recent rain, Fort Worth, Texas, Stockyards crews are preparing for Willie Nelson's Fourth of July picnic to be a hot one, on and off the stage.

Producers estimate that 25,000 people will attend the 20-act, 12-hour marathon concert outside Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth featuring familiar Nelson friends such as Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Los Lonely Boys and David Allan Coe.

Channel banking on Rivers: Joan Rivers and daughter, Melissa Rivers, are now hanging their Golden Hangers at the TV Guide Channel.

The self-proclaimed fashionistas had been fixtures at E! Entertainment Television where they were widely known for their red-carpet coverage of the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes and Grammys.