Columnist John Katsilometes: Making a trip to Madame Tussauds Las Vegas at the Venetian for a visit with the wax figure of Dr. Martin Luther King

Friday, Jan. 13, 2006 | 7:48 a.m.

Fabulous Las Vegas runs Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Reach John Katsilometes at kats@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-2327 or (702) 812-9812.

Somewhere between being depicted on cash and on Las Vegas gaming chips is the honor of being memorialized in wax by the artists of Madame Tussauds. The company's interactive museum in Las Vegas unveiled a figure of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Thursday, to coincide with Monday's national holiday honoring the late civil-rights leader.

The blue-suited, life-size figure with the piercing eyes and lifelike features is displayed in Madame Tussauds' Spirit of America room (which, oddly, is also home to a statue of British icon Princess Diana). King's figure shares space with likenesses of President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, John Wayne, George Washington, Abe Lincoln, President Bush and Muhammad Ali.

"We thought, and were being told, 'How can you have a Spirit of America room without Martin Luther King?' " said Adrian Jones, the 34-year-old British transplant who has been general manager of Madame Tussauds Las Vegas for two years. "His figure has been displayed in Amsterdam, London and New York, but never in Las Vegas."

The figure is to be part of Madame Tussauds' permanent collection, which is visited by more than 500,000 tourists annually.

As with all of Madame Tussauds' figures, visitors are allowed to stand next to the figure and be photographed. But King (situated just a few feet from the statue of Bush) looks quite dignified on his own.

NoteMart

Straight male journalists unite! Bravo's "Queer Eye For the Straight Guy" is swinging into town. The flamboyant quintet of Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley (my fave) and Jai Rodriguez is looking for sloppy and cooperative guys during an open casting call Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Golden Nugget Pavilion. Call (818) 563-4121 or go to queereyelvcast@yahoo.com.

Candidates are required to bring a current photo of their home, a current photo of themselves and answer such questions as, "What do you do for a living? What is your relationship situation? Married? Single? Dating? What is your craziest Vegas story? What do you think the Fab Five can do for you?"

Help me pick out new shoes, for starters ...

London calling: The Times of London's Los Angeles correspondent, Chris Ayers, is the latest journalist to spend nine minutes in Las Vegas and expertly dissect our fair city. Ayers was in town for the Consumer Electronic Show, which wrapped Sunday, and had this to report:

"In reality, there is nothing remotely edgy about Las Vegas. The place is one giant leisure/retail megaplex, populated by has-been celebrities, owned by a handful of entertainment conglomerates and patronized by men in corporate-sponsored polo shirts who feel more interesting when surrounded by waitresses in bunny suits ...

"Yet Las Vegas is like Voltaire's God: if it didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it. In our non-smoking, decaffeinated, low-fat society, we need to believe there is a place where you can load up a Cadillac with booze, guns and drugs, and entertain yourself with impunity."

Hmmm. I have never met this Impunity. She a waitress in a bunny suit? ...

Oh, stop him! Quick quip from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman as he walked out of Monday's luncheon at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse on Paradise Road honoring Mel Larson: "I've gotta go. I'm illegally parked. That's the great thing about being the mayor, you get to park illegally." ...

Sign of aging: A weathered, graffiti-damaged road sign near the northwest corner of Flamingo Road and Eastern Avenue directs motorists east to the "Las Vegas Silver Bowl." That was accurate in 1984; it's Sam Boyd Stadium these days ...

Vaughn is on: Specifics have been, as the kids say, "kicked down" for the next " Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show" at Mandalay Bay Theatre. The show is Feb. 3; comics scheduled to appear include Bret Ernst, Ahmed Ahmed, Sebastian Maniscalo and Steve Byrne ...

It's a date: Spotted this on a Las Vegas Centennial commemorative license plate bolted to a blue Mustang convertible: MAY 15. It might be an important date to the driver for sentimental reasons; it is certainly the actual date (in 2005) of Las Vegas' centennial birthday.