John Katsilometes on an energetic performance by Liza Minnelli, who gave her all for ‘her babies’

Monday, Nov. 27, 2006 | 7:17 a.m.

During Liza Minnelli's special "gypsy" performance Saturday night/Sunday morning, which was a free-for-all at the Luxor Theater for Vegas entertainers, I was seated behind a row of performers from the hotel's fiery production, "Burn The Floor." When not rising for one of the 20 standing ovations (my unofficial count), the whole row swayed and bounced as Minnelli pinballed through the two-hour performance.

Afterward I asked one of the "Burn The Floor" cast members, probably in his mid-'20s, what he thought. He shook his head and said, "Incredible. It was the best show I have ever seen."

He might have been caught in the moment, but it was quite a moment. Minnelli took the stage at around 1:30 a.m., and by the end of the show she was glistening with sweat, her body heaving as she spoke, her dark hair sticky and matted. She repeatedly referred to the assembled performers as "my babies" and obviously relished her role, at age 60, as their elder stateswoman.

Moving gracefully (and at times in quick bursts), Minnelli again referred to her recent weight loss by saying she'd lost 30 pounds. That figure is part of a trend - in October it was 22, and reportedly over the weekend it was 26. She brought to the stage her friend, vocalist Sam Harris. for whom I have one frame of reference and that's as the performer who won on "Star Search" something like 48 consecutive times. Harris said he was asked by Minnelli at 5 p.m. Saturday to join the show, and the two sang a slow-tempo medley of "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "Get Happy."

Near the end of the performance, Luxor President Felix Rappaport presented Minnelli with a gift package that included a framed painting of the hotel and thanked her for "bringing back a Las Vegas tradition." Rappaport was particularly energized by the "gypsy" theme; in the days prior to the show, he made the rare move of e-mailing media members to make sure they didn't miss the special event.

There has been no formal announcement regarding a return to the Luxor by Minnelli, but the hotel plans to keep its "Spotlight Series" alive through March. Nothing is scheduled beyond the Foreigner appearances on Feb. 9-10, leaving some time to bring Minnelli and her "gypsy" crew to do it all again.

NoteMart

Christmas early: Rappaport was in a distributive mood over the weekend. On Friday he presented Luxor headliner Carrot Top (real name: Scott Thompson) with what Rappaport described as "a custom necklace featuring a diamond encrusted carrot." The exchange was executed at Pure, as the Topper celebrated his one-year anniversary at the Luxor ...

If Vegas band Panic! At The Disco seems to have come from nowhere in no time, there is a reason. The band played its first concert in August 2005 and its debut CD, "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" was released a month later. The disc has since sold 1.3 million copies and the band's arena tour, titled "Nothing Rhymes With Circus" (I've been trying to prove that wrong for a while, futilely) pulls into the Orleans Arena on Dec. 8. The band, which is a staple on MTV with "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" (the MTV Video of the Year Award winner), become something of a national fascination. As the New York Times recently noted: "When the stilt walkers take the stage, you can't say you weren't warned." (The same review pithily referred to "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" as "a rather irritating CD.") ...

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Speaking of sequined attire, last week I stopped into Tiffany Cleaners (a Vegas institution for 36 years) for some repair work on a leather coat. No problem, I was told, but it would take a couple of weeks as the cleaners were busy tending to their usual heavy shipment of Cirque du Soleil costumes. Somehow I feel the coat is bunched in with the Sgt. Pepper uniform from "Love." ...

During another stop-in at a longtime Vegas business, I finally met Sylvia Scartozzi, who co-owns (with her ex-husband and current friend, Neil Scartozzi) Celebrity Club Barber Salon at the Riv. Sylvia mentioned that she'd become a football fan while working at the business, as many of her customers were big football bettors (occasionally those heads are difficult to keep still during tough covers). As she snipped away we watched part of a game - a bad one, between Nebraska and Colorado ...

UCTHAT? Reader spotted what he described as a "'50s-era Chevy" with the vanity plate ICUNVME.