VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Vegas celebrates Oscar — and vice versa

Monday, March 1, 2004 | 10:22 a.m.

The NFL turned down Las Vegas' attempts to get an ad on TV during the Super Bowl. But the city hit the jackpot at the conclusion of the 76th Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night.

"Remember, what happens at the Oscars stays at the Oscars," said Billy Crystal -- a reference to the controversial Vegas-centric ad campaign.

"Ha! Take that, NFL!" exclaimed Robin Leach to a room of more than 500 society types in a Caesars Palace ballroom for the only officially sanctioned Academy Awards viewing party outside Hollywood, a benefit for the Arthritis Foundation of Southern Nevada.

Leach co-emceed the event with KVVU morning anchor Cher Calvin, who earned admiring nods for her dress, a stunning pink Valentino original.

Other than the Crystal remark -- and Adrien Brody using breath spray before he presented the best actress trophy (a nod to his planting a kiss last year on Halle Berry) -- it was a rather anti-climactic evening.

"Well, I guess now I'll have to go and see this 'Lord of the Rings' movie," socialite Sandy Peltyn, who hosted the Caesars event with her husband, Roger Peltyn, told us after the film delivered a clean sweep, winning all 11 awards for which it was nominated.

In fact, few of the guests we polled had actually seen "LOTR" -- or many of the other nominated flicks.

"I didn't see it. But I am from Kentucky, so I was sort of hoping that a horse movie ('Seabiscuit') would win something," said Arthritis Foundation exec and party organizer Sloane Arnold.

Of the five best picture nominees, "I've seen none of them," said Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt. "If you have a job and a life, it is hard to get out to movies."

Playboy model and Las Vegas veterinarian Colleen Marie had seen "LOTR." "I saw it about five times," the raven-haired beauty told us.

Hey guys -- Marie also said that she saw it alone.

Special visit

Former President Bill Clinton last week visited the recovering Roy Horn at Jungle Palace, Siegfried & Roy's sprawling Las Vegas home and menagerie.

According to Claudia Dressler, who does publicity for the German-born duo in their homeland, Clinton told Horn, "You are our hero." The former prez also promised to provide Horn with any assistance possible.

Clinton was in Horn's west Las Vegas neighborhood on Tuesday when he was visiting Andre Agassi's charter school.

Tre pruned

Tre, the high-end Summerlin eatery opened to great fanfare last year by the renowned Maccioni family of Le Cirque fame, has closed.

A message on their answering machine says that, "The restaurant is no longer open for business." The machine was not accepting messages.

The restaurant, which the family built from the ground up at a reported cost of $5 million, was thought to be a gamble -- are outlying Las Vegas residential neighborhoods able to sustain a very pricey gourmet eatery?

The restaurant went through several chefs and menu changes during its first year in an attempt to strike the perfect mix.

"Mario Maccioni's big gamble to open his very own neighborhood restaurant is still just that. But his last spin on the Tre concept may finally pay off," said a profile of the family scion and restaurant owner in the February issue of Las Vegas Life magazine.

It is the second high-end, off-Strip restaurant to close this year, after the closing in January of Wild Sage Cafe.

Boom

Big doings at the Century 21 real estate convention at Mandalay Bay today.

Among those addressing the conventioneers will be Goldie Hawn, Kevin James ("King of Queens") and Frank W. Abagnale -- the FBI consultant and real-life inspiration for the Leonardo DiCaprio movie "Catch Me If You Can."

And, as an example of how fast the Las Vegas Valley is growing, Century 21 Aadvantage Gold -- a Las Vegas real estate firm with six offices -- will be recognized as the fourth-largest Century 21 firm in the world, in both sales and units sold during 2003.

To top that off, the firm's Green Valley office is also being recognized as the single largest Century 21 branch office worldwide for its sales and units sold in 2003.

Clever conversation

On March 13th the Suncoast Showroom is hosting the Screen Actors Guild Foundation's "Conversations" with Tony Danza, moderated by actor Lou Diamond Phillips.

The stage series is similar to the popular Bravo television series with James Lipton, "Inside the Actor's Studio."

Admission to the event is free and tickets are available at the Suncoast box office.

VegasBits

Rock: Spotted at Enrique Iglesias' show Saturday night at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel: actress Brittany Murphy ("8 Mile") and her fiance, Hollywood power agent Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm ...

Legend: Creedence Clearwater Revival founder John Fogerty had dinner with friends Friday at Johnny Mac's on Boulder Highway in Henderson ...

Music: "Sopranos" star and musician Steve Van Zandt was partying up at the Foundation Room (Mandalay Bay) on Saturday night ...

Tasty: Boxer Erik Morales, who won a decision over Jesus Chavez for the 130-pound WBC title on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, celebrated with a late lunch at Spago (Forum Shops at Caesars) with his family on Sunday afternoon. The new featherweight champ enjoyed a calzone ...

Playa: San Francisco 49ers QB Jeff Garcia attended the 7:30 p.m. performance of "Zumanity" (New York-New York) on Friday night. Afterward he hit Studio 54 (MGM Grand) ...

Changes: The top two editorial staffers at Las Vegas Life magazine are leaving. Editor Phil Hagen and Managing Editor Amy Schmidt both gave notice on Friday. Greenspun Media Group prez Michael Carr said that the parting was amicable, and that Hagen was sticking around for another month to help groom his successor ...

Cowboy: Kid Rock and his Twisted Brown Trucker Band play Mandalay Bay Events Center on April 17. Tickets, priced from $30 to $65, go on sale Saturday ...

Speed: NASCAR's Sterling Marlin and the Havoline Girls will do a public meet-and-greet and sign autographs at The Lounge (Palms) at 8 p.m. Friday ...

Speed 2: Daytona 500 champ Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip will host Q&A sessions with fans Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the MGM Grand Entertainment Dome -- located across the casino floor from Studio 54. The event is free and open to the public.

From Sun wires

McCartney to open: Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney will open this year's Rock in Rio, joining more than 70 performers for the six-day event that starts May 28 in Lisbon, Portugal, organizers said.

McCartney's appearance will kick off his 13-city "04 Summer Tour."

Sting, Britney Spears and Guns N' Roses also will perform at the festival.