Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 | 4:27 a.m.
VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at [email protected] or at (702) 259-4096.
WEEKEND EDITION
September 11 - 12, 2004
Now we hear that Celine Dion really isn't going anywhere.
We reported a few weeks back that Diva Las Vegas and Caesars Entertainment were close to a deal that would extend her contract for one year -- at $40 million -- with an option for a second.
Turns out that the contract extension is now going to be for another three years, at the least, and earn the French-Canadian chanteuse as much as $150 million.
Dion's original contract, a three-year agreement, was for a reported $100 million plus a percentage of the show's profits. Her show, "A New Day ..." debuted at The Colosseum on March 25, 2003. After she signs the extension, she will be under contract to Caesars through March 2009.
"She loves that she is stationary and can raise her son in one place. Caesars is happy that she sells out every show and is a good citizen. And everyone is benefiting financially," said a source, who is directly involved in the negotiations.
In 2003, Dion grossed $80 million from 146 sellouts, according to Billboard. And she grossed another $26.8 million from 48 sellouts as of this May, also according to Billboard.
We'll be sure to ask her for more details when she meets with us and some other selected media on Thursday to mark the midpoint of her current deal.
Tabloid alert: Whitney Houston is coming to town.
Rooms have been reserved for her (sans hubby Bobby Brown) at Bellagio for an appearance Wednesday at the "World Music Awards" at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The last time Houston was in Las Vegas, for a "VH1 Divas" taping, she caused a number of public scenes.
Robin Leach and Priscilla Presley are both spending the weekend in Anchorage, Alaska. They are filming a TV special for the Dream Foundation.
The mission of the Dream Foundation is to enhance the quality of life for those battling terminal illnesses.
We're hearing that the new Cirque du Soleil show at the MGM Grand is set to open Nov. 26, the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Sources tell us the show is a "technological cabaret," with a highly mechanical set. While "O" revolves around water, the theme of the unnamed show is said to be fire.
More details will be revealed at a Wednesday news conference.
We reported Friday about another new Cirque show, said to be based on the music of the Beatles, which opens in early 2006 at the Siegfried & Roy Theatre at The Mirage.
Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay of Food Network fame will preview his much-anticipated Las Vegas eatery on Friday night for an invited group of friends, fans, foodies and some media.
The public opening of the Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace is still about a month away.
Despite some heavy rain, a nice crowd turned out at the Art de Vignettes gallery on Thursday night for Ruby Mazur's art opening.
Friends such as Clint Holmes, Kelly Clinton, Bill Fayne, Gianna and Bucky Buchanan, Jeff Fine and artist Jerry Misko played the requisite game at a Mazur event -- find the hidden tongue-and-lips logo in the paintings.
Just as theater caricaturist Al Hirschfeld hid his daughter's name (Nina) in each of his drawings, Mazur incorporates the iconic Rolling Stones logo, which he created, in his pictures.
Pulitzer Prize-winning Watergate reporter and author Bob Woodward and his former Washington Post editor, Ben Bradlee, are speaking at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 28 at UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall as part of the Barrick Lecture Series.
Nevada Public Radio will introduce its second Southern Nevada Cultural Guide with a public party at Mandalay Place at 6 p.m. Thursday.
The guide is a 64-page compilation of arts and cultural resources in the area, including art galleries, museums, historic buildings, hotels and casinos, as well as month-to-month myriad concerts, theatre and dance performances, exhibits, festivals, poetry readings and lectures.
It also features information on upcoming Las Vegas Centennial celebrations.
Batten down the buffet.
The U.S. Sumo Federation announced last week that the 2004 U.S. Sumo Championships will be held at the Riviera on Saturday.
More than 50 of the best sumo wrestlers from around the U.S. are expected to be in Las Vegas to compete.
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