Monday, June 14, 2004 | 10:31 a.m.
With a tip of the cap to David Letterman, we humbly offer VegasBeat's Top Ten list of fabulous weekend goings-on:
10. Gaming Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony, Green Valley Ranch Station Casino, Friday night.
The 16th annual event honored Jack Binion, Fred Benninger and Don Rickles, who brought down the house.
Any other weekend, most any other city, this would be no. 1 -- as would every other entry on this list.
9. Lon Bronson and "The Sopranos," Golden Nugget, Saturday night.
Several stars of the smash HBO series sat in during Bronson's regular Saturday engagement.
8. Premiere magazine party Saturday night at Green Valley Ranch Station Casino to celebrate the films "Mitchellville," "Windy City Heat" and "Hillside Strangler," which are featured at the 2004 CineVegas Film Festival.
Attendees at the Whiskey Beach bash included "Hillside" stars Brittany Daniel and Lake Bell and "Windy City" star Jimmy Kimmel and director Bobcat Goldthwait.
7. N9NE restaurant, Palms, Friday night.
Pretty much another star-studded evening of steak eaters (Vin Diesel and Adrien Brody among them). But added to the celeb mix was one of our favorites, author James Ellroy, who wrote "The Black Dahlia," "American Tabloid" and the novel that the film, "L.A. Confidential," is based on.
In on Saturday was another quality and diverse mix, including Frankie Avalon and former NBA enforcer Charles Oakley.
6. Velvet Revolver concert, The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, Friday night.
The show by the all-star rehab reunion band was spectacular -- but tongues really started to wag when afterward several folks saw the recently separated Rebecca Romijn-Stamos go into a poolside cabana with an unknown man.
Turned out it was one of her publicists, and nothing naughty had transpired.
Also spotted (but not together!) in the concert crowd: Seth Green and Shannon Elizabeth.
5. It's Vegas, Baby party Crustacean, Sunday night.
The annual CineVegas party brings together the movie folk, the show folk and the media folk who are in town for the film festival for an old-school Vegas jam session.
Want names? Just check out a CineVegas program and a list of Vegas headliners. Everyone was there.
4. Lili Claire Foundation fund-raiser, Bellagio, Saturday night.
What a classy and elegant event. Host Jason Alexander and guests Tori Spelling, Matthew Perry, Randy Jackson, Cris Judd, David Alan Grier, Ming-Na ("ER") and "Survivor" host Jeff Probst were dressed up to benefit the Lili Claire Foundation. The foundation was established to inspire a new awareness of Williams syndrome and other neurogenetic disorders, and to raise money to build The Lili Claire UNLV Life Skills Center.
3. VEGAS Magazine party, Caesars Palace, Friday night.
This was like a coronation for Publishers Jerry Powers and Michael Carr. The opulent soiree was held at one of the Strip's signature hotels, was attended by the creme de la creme of Vegas movers and shakers, and featured a healthy smattering of celebrities.
Guests included Dennis Hopper; Josh Duhamel; Vegas headliners George Wallace, Clint Holmes, Gordie Brown, Frank Marino and the Scintas; VEGAS mag cover model Daisy Fuentes; Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts); Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccala) and Vincent Pastore, the former Big Pussy, from "The Sopranos,"; former Caesars president and current congressional candidate Tom Gallagher (who was telling everyone that he needed lots of money to defeat incumbent Rep. Jon Porter); Jerry Lewis' manager Claudia Stabile; noted Tina Turner impersonator Larry Edwards (in full Tina regalia); anchors Casey Smith and Ron Futrell; and the ubiquitous Monti Rock III, also in full regalia.
But perhaps the real business of the evening took place earlier at Spago, where everyone seemed to have started the night. Carr broke bread with VEGAS Editor Glenn Albin, Wynn Resorts exec Kevin Steussi was huddled with Jeff Fine of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and Robin Leach was paying special attention to one of his, uh, nieces.
2. Nothing. We pause for a break, because nothing came close to this next one.
1. Maxim magazine Hot 100 party, Body English, Hard Rock Hotel, Saturday night.
Yowza. A galaxy of A-list stars in a brand-spanking-new $7 million venue. A surprise pre-dawn performance by Snoop Dogg.
The fete drew the famous from all over the pop culture radar, such as Fox talk-show host Greta Van Susteren, Paris Hilton, NBA star Vince Carter and Hollywood producer and Serena Williams' boyfriend Brett Ratner -- plus virtually every celeb from every event listed above (including Perry, Brody, Romijn-Stamos, Diesel and Spelling.)
Of course, scads of beauties from the Maxim Hot 100 list were there, including Elizabeth, George Clooney squeeze Krista Allen, Kim Smith and Kelly Hu.
There was plenty of celeb action at the Hard Rock Hotel before everyone hit the party; Leonardo DiCaprio and Vince Vaughn had dinner (separately) at Nobu, Owen Wilson took in Jeff Beacher's "Comedy Madhouse" show with Hollywood superagent Jeff Pollack and Danny Masterson ("That '70s Show") fueled up at Mr. Luckys.
Others meandering down the red carpet: Golden Nugget boss and "The Casino" reality show co-star Tom Breitling, Nicole Richie, Jared Leto, Vince Neil, boy-banders JC Chasez ('N Sync) and Howie Dorough (Backstreet Boys), Aisha Tyler ("Friends"), Jerry O'Connell ("Crossing Jordan"), Zach Braff ("Scrubs") Jessica Bowlin (Jesse Palmer's choice on "The Bachelor"), MTV host Brian McFayden, Dave Navarro, NBA players Wally Szczerbiak and Cuttino Mobley and "Girls Gone Wild" impresario Joe Francis, who swore to us that he was not using the Maxim list as a recruiting tool.
"This is a pretty good party," deadpanned hotel scion Harry Morton.
Yea, and Babe Ruth was a pretty good home-run hitter.
VegasBits
Magic: Actor Nicolas Cage and three companions attended David Copperfield's show at MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre on Friday night ...
Brewing: New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin and Vegas dealmaker Jack Wishna got a private tour of Body English from Hard Rock Hotel owner Peter Morton and hotel president Kevin Kelley on Friday ...
From Sun wires
A girl friend: "Friends" star Courteney Cox Arquette and her husband, actor David Arquette, are parents of a girl, People magazine reported today.
The couple's daughter, named Coco, was born Sunday morning, according to a story on the magazine's Web site.
Tutu visits: Officials in Montgomery, Ala., are banking on a visit by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to help them raise money for needy children and turn the spotlight on race relations.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner scheduled a private luncheon with 1,000 of Alabama's business, government and civic leaders in Montgomery on Tuesday.
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