VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: ‘Rocket Man’ may blast off about Ronstadt

Friday, July 23, 2004 | 10:34 a.m.

Caesars headliner and politically outspoken pop superstar Sir Elton John returns to the Las Vegas stage tonight.

The obvious question: Does John plan on addressing the Linda Ronstadt situation?

We'll have to wait until tonight.

Numerous messages left for him at Caesars Palace were not returned, and his spokesman in New York declined comment.

For those of you just back from Mars, Ronstadt was escorted out of the Aladdin last Saturday night after her remarks in support of "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker Michael Moore. The incident was international news.

Editorials in the Las Vegas Sun, the New York Times and elsewhere were critical of Aladdin President Bill Timmins for his action.

A Caesars spokesman said they had no comment on the Aladdin and its behavior regarding Ronstadt, and would likely have no comment on John if he addresses the issue from the stage tonight.

"It is his show, and people generally know what they are getting when they buy a ticket to see him," a Caesars official told us. "He puts fannies in 4,100 seats at The Colosseum every time he plays here, and to us, that is what it is all about."

The left-leaning music icon has his AIDS charity and is a regular at all kinds of medical, education and political fund-raisers. He is publicly outspoken on topics ranging from gay marriage to the war in Iraq.

On Tuesday, for example, John was in St. Paul, Minn., where he was honored at the "So the World May Hear" awards, where he helped raise $2 million for the Starkey Hearing Foundation.

He appeared with Sharon Osbourne, Mickey Rooney, Lorraine Bracco, Lou Ferrigno and Marlee Matlin.

Other headliner

Oprah Winfrey is looking for the biggest fan of another Caesars headliner, Celine Dion.

"What would YOU do to PROVE you are Celine's biggest fan? Tell us what you would do, and we may come knocking at your door!" Winfrey says on her Web site.

"As soon as possible, please send us a creative and unique home video or a slew of pictures showing us WHY you are indeed Celine's greatest fan. If we agree with you, you could be sitting front and center when Celine visits Oprah in the fall!"

After the contact information, Winfrey adds: "Avoid music in the background and shooting the camera directly into the light."

Island good

The current edition of Honolulu Magazine features the "50 Greatest Hawaiian Albums of All Time."

Las Vegas resident Jack de Mello, a composer, artist, orchestrator and producer, has three entries on the list, "Music of Hawaii," "Nina" and "Best of Emma."

De Mello is often referred to as a legend in the genre of Hawaiian music.

Free stuff

To promote next week's Evel Knievel biopic on TNT (Cox cable channel 18), Coca Cola Tickets 2 Nite on the Strip will be giving away some Knievel trucker hats on Saturday and Knievel koozies on Sunday (koozies are those foam things that keep your canned beverages cool).

The movie stars George Eads ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigation") and Jaime Pressly, the sometime date of Golden Nugget boss Tom Breitling.

On July 31, just before the movie starts, TNT will air live Robbie Knievel making a jump over an array of military aircraft on the deck of the USS Intrepid. The Intrepid is a former aircraft carrier now docked in New York Harbor, and is officially called the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Evel Knievel's big break (literally and figuratively) came on Dec. 31, 1967, when he jumped 151 feet across the fountains in front of Caesars Palace.

After successfully clearing the fountains, Knievel's landing was a disaster, and his injuries put him in the hospital and into a coma. But the footage of the jump and subsequent crash landing (made by up-and-coming filmmaker John Derek) were featured on ABC's "Wide World of Sports" and thrust Knievel into the national spotlight.

Justice

We were gratified to learn of a federal racketeering indictment unsealed Thursday charging John A. Gotti, the son of the late Gambino boss John Gotti, with multiple crimes including the 1992 attempted murder of Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the independent crime-watch group Guardian Angels and a New York City radio host.

Sliwa was ambushed and shot while getting into a taxicab on the way to work.

During Sliwa's hospitalization, I filled in for him for a couple of weeks on WABC 770 AM. Shortly thereafter, my car was firebombed. Luckily, I wasn't in it at the time.

Authorities had always dismissed Sliwa's accusations that the Gotti clan was behind the attack, which Sliwa had always claimed was payback for his relentless on-air criticism of their criminal ways.

Gotti faces 130 years in jail on the charges.

VegasBits

Jocks: Antoine Walker of the Dallas Mavericks, Louisville coach Rick Pitino and Louisville coach and former UNLV standout Reggie Theus have appearances scheduled for today at the new adidas store in the Showcase mall on the Strip. Memphis coach John Calipari will be there Saturday afternoon ...

Radio: Ryan Seacrest arrived at the Palms Thursday. This morning, his Los Angeles radio show was broadcast from ghostbar. This afternoon, 20 listeners who flew in with him will roll some dice with a chance to win $1 million in a Southwest Airlines promotion ...

Visit: Anthony Michael Hall ("The Dead Zone," "Sixteen Candles") was spotted checking in at the Palms this morning ...

Pen and ink: "Attack of the Political Cartoonists: Insights & Assaults from Today's Editorial Pages" is now in bookstores. The handsome paperback features a profile of Mike Smith, the award-winning editorial cartoonist here at the Las Vegas Sun.

From Sun wires

'CSI' resurrection: Jorja Fox, the "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" star who was fired for skipping work in a salary dispute, is returning to the hit CBS drama.

The actress reached an agreement with CBS and will be back on the set next week, a source close to the production said Thursday.

Eads also lost his job when he also failed to report last week for the start of production on the fifth season.

His situation remained unchanged Thursday. But a public apology -- in which the actor said he merely overslept and wasn't angling for more money -- may have opened the door to talks, the source said.