John Katsilometes on why everyone knows what’s happening in Las Vegas

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006 | 7:25 a.m.

Sometimes to know how your city is being perceived around the world, it's good to get out of town. On Monday Rossi Ralenkotter, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, returned from a six-day trip to Europe with a delegation that included Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. It was part of the NBA Europe Live tour of exhibition games through Barcelona, Spain; Paris; Rome; and Cologne, Germany.

The tour was the result of Las Vegas hosting the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, set for Feb. 18 at the Thomas & Mack Center. Representatives of the NBA and LVCVA spent several days on the cross-promotional tour (with Ralenkotter and Goodman returning before the junket moved on to Cologne this week) to boost the international exposure of both organizations.

"We were met with a very positive response, it was very exciting wherever we went ... and we found that, in today's media and instant communication, the level of awareness about Las Vegas is very high," Ralenkotter said Wednesday during a phone interview. "We were being asked about the 'Love' show at the Mirage, about the Echelon Place project. So they knew about what was happening in Las Vegas."

The LVCVA promotion included a contest during halftime of each game where two fans were selected from the crowd to compete for a free trip to Las Vegas. The participants dribbled the length of the court (slaloming around a pair of sequined showgirls), shot a layup and attempted a free throw. Any fan making a flawless trip down the court and netting both shots was awarded a trip here.

The game will be promoted inside the Thomas & Mack Center, too. At halftime of the Los Angeles Lakers-Sacramento Kings exhibition game on Tuesday night, a banner bearing the 2007 NBA All-Star Game logo will be unfurled from the arena's rafters. It will remain there until All-Star Week in February, sharing space with banners honoring former coach Jerry Tarkanian, UNLV basketball players who have had their numbers retired and the Rebels' 1990 NCAA championship team.

NoteMart

About 4,000 guests were invited to the opening weekend of the Playboy Club at the Palms, and very nearly every one showed up, hotel owner George Maloof said Wednesday. But despite complaints from some guests about waiting in line for as long as four hours to enter the club (and reports that brother Joe Maloof spent an hour Friday night trapped in an elevator), George Maloof said, "Saturday was more of a challenge than Friday, but there were more compliments than complaints" and that snags can be expected at any opening of that scope. Maloof also said that the new 2,200-seat Palms showroom would be open during All-Star Weekend in February and knocked back a rumor that Beacher's Madhouse would be the theater's first tenant. "That's not true," he said. "I love the show, and maybe at some point that could happen, but not (in February)." ...

The document-driven Web site smokinggun.com has posted contract riders - or backstage requests - from two Vegas favorites, the Killers and Wayne Newton. The Killers' list of backstage requests prior to each concert (and this list is to accommodate everyone visiting backstage, not just the band) include 96 beers, 24 cans of cider and two cans of red wine. The band is meticulous about its hard-alcohol list, too - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays it's Maker's Mark whiskey and Absolut vodka. It's Jack Daniel's on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Sundays are reserved for tequila and Jameson Irish Whiskey. The band also asks for eight packs of sugar-free gum and a variety pack of cereal.

Newton's list, relatively staid by comparison, calls for a six-pack of Coors Light, a couple of bottles of reasonably priced wine and two red carnation boutonnieres ...

Siegfried and Roy seem to have stepped up their personal appearance schedule over the past few months; they have committed to attend Saturday's "Dinosaur Ball" benefiting the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, where they will introduce the event's honoree, Tippi Hedren. The event is set for the Hyatt Regency at Lake Las Vegas Resort ...

Tonight Michael Mina hosts the grand opening of his first steak house, StripSteak, at Mandalay Bay ...

We have been informed the vanity plate MIMIC that was noted in Monday's column belongs to Las Vegas-based impressionist Steve Young, who has performed at the Flamingo, New Frontier and Desert Inn over the years ...

A cabby contact reports a plate on a customized Chevy pickup he tailed over the weekend: SLOANEZ.