Weekend Las Vegas star sightings include Jay-Z, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Hugh Hefner, John Mayer

By Melissa Arseniuk

Published Monday, May 4, 2009 | 6:58 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, May 5, 2009 | 12:52 a.m.

Mariah Carey and husband Nick Cannon were the first ones out of the gate this weekend as they celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary in true Mimi style, with a lavish party at the Palms.

The fêting got underway with a massive feast for 50 at Simon where the first couple and their loyal subjects dined on surf and turf, along with mac and cheese and mashed potatoes.

They had a light dessert at Simon -- "light" being crème brule and chocolate chip cookies -- and saved room for the main sugar event of the night: a multi-tiered anniversary cake that was presented to them at Moon later on that evening.

Cannon surprised Carey with a very public, projected photo montage of images from their first 365 days as man and wife.

Music industry heavyweights Antonio “LA” Reid, Steve Bartles, along with R&B singer/rapper/model Tyrese Gibson, actress Sanaa Lathan, and fighter Floyd Mayweather joined Carey and Cannon at the club to celebrate.

Later that night, Cannon headed over to the DJ booth, where he spun a special guest DJ set.

Also at Moon on Thursday were rapper E-40, "Saturday Night Live" cast member Kenan Thompson and boxer Zab Judah.

Earlier that night, actor Alan Thicke was spotted having dinner at N9NE Steakhouse. The former "Growing Pains" patriarch was in town to see his Grammy Award-winning son, Robin Thicke perform at the Pearl the following night.

MTV reality show star Ryan Sheckler was also in the N9NE Steakhouse dining room that night. What's more, DCMA Collective Clothing co-founder Tal Cooperman joined the professional skateboarder for dinner.

The two returned to the restaurant the following night, along with two other, and made it a threepeat on Sunday with his mother/manager, Gretchen Sheckler, and one of her girlfriends.

Floyd Mayweather also dined at N9NE Steakhourse on Friday. The boxer ordered several items to share amongst his group, including rock shrimp, chicken nuggets and some specially-prepared steak fries.

He returned to the Palms on Sunday, too, when he and eight friends partied at Playboy Club.

Fans lined up to meet DC Motocross teammates Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Robbie Maddison, Nate Adams, Adam Jones, Josh Hill, Davi Millsaps, and Dustin Miller on Friday as they held a meet-and-greet at the new DC Shoes store at the Miracle Mile Shops.

Over at the Palms on Friday, nightlife promoter-slash-tattoo-artist John Huntington rebranded the tattoo parlor he and Carey Hart, used to run together, Hart and Huntington, and unveiled his own namesake tat shop, Huntington Ink.

Hart and Huntington recently ended their partnership -- Hart reportedly bought Huntington out -- though the business will live on (and retain Huntington's name) in a new location over at the Hard Rock.

The following day, Hart threw a party of his own over at his other venture at the Hard Rock, Wasted Space.

A handful of fellow motocross greats showed up, including Robbie Maddison, Chad Reed, Davey Millsap and Josh Grant.

Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden also put in an appearance, then spun a set from the DJ booth.

A bikini-clad cast of 2008 Playmates – including Michelle McLaughlin (February 2008); AJ Alexander (May 2008); Juliette Frette (June 2008); Laura Croft (July 2008); Kayla Collins (August 2008); Kelly Carrington (October 2008); and identical twin sisters Jennifer and Natalie Campbell (December 2008) – popped by the Palms Place pool on Friday to usher in the 2009 season of Ditch Fridays.

Joining them at the pool was champion boxer Floyd Mayweather – whose father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., trains junior welterweight fighter Ricky Hatton, who suffered a second round knock-out on Saturday vs. Manny Pacquiao.

Other athletes at the Ditch Fridays debut included free agent and former Buffalo Bull center Melivn Fowler; Charlotte Bobcats power forward Sean May; Tennessee Titans fullback Ahmard Rashad Hall; and former Houston Rocket Robert Sura.

Robin Thicke was also there, eager to catch a few rays before his performance with opener Jennifer Hudsonat the Pearl.

Meanwhile, Naughty by Nature was at the MGM Grand's adults-only pool, Wet Republic, on Friday night where they put on a little live performance of their own.

After the afternoon pool party at the Palms, several Playmates freshened up, then headed up to Rain. AJ Alexander, Natalie Campbell, Jennifer Campbell, Juliette Frette, Kayla Collins, Kelly Carrington, Laura Croft, Michelle McLaughlin and former Playboy model/assistant photo editor/"Girls Next Door" co-star,Holly Madison, partied alongside her Playboy alums in the VIP.

Meanwhile, Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson hit up the VIP section a few stories up, at Moon. (He also partied at the Palms on Sunday, and played a few hands of blackjack at Playboy Club.)

Over at the Bank, the guy who calls himself Pittsburgh Slim performed what the club is called his "YouTube hit," a song called "Girls Kissing Girls." (The clip has been viewed about 3,743,550 times since it was posted -- in October of 2007 -- but it's still debatable whether or not that qualifies it as a "hit.")

While Slim was doing his thing at the Bank, Elizabeth Mendez, a.k.a. Feisty and Chelsea Fetula, a.k.a. Lil' Hood of the VH1 reality show, "For the Love of Ray J," were partying a few blocks north, at Jet.

Lavo was once again a celebrity sighting hotspot on Friday, as rapper Jay-Z; Kansas City Chief Larry Johnson; David Spade; Brian Baumgartner from “the Office;” producer Andre Harrell; and former "90210" heart throb Luke Perry were all spotted in the dining room.

After dinner, Jay-Z and Johnson headed upstairs where they partied in at VIP table next to the DJ booth.

While the rapper stuck to Voss water and his Ace of Spades brand of champagne, Johnson sipped on rounds of Grey Goose mixed with pineapple juice.

Unfortunately, the former Def Jam CEO and 40/40 Club co-founder's better half, Beyoncé Knowles, did not join them.

"Deal or No Deal" beauty Claudia Jordan, on the other hand, did stop by their table to say hello.

Further south on The Strip, World Welterweight champion Shane "Sugar" Mosley was seen taking in the Friday night scene at Tabu.

The cast of “True Blood” -- including

Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammel, Kristin Bauer, and Alexander Skarsgard parted at the MGM Grand ultra lounge the following night.

John Mayer took in the 7 p.m. performance of Cirque du Soleil's musical "Love," on Saturday night. His bassist, Pino Palladino, and drummer, Steve Jordan, joined him for the Beatles-themed production, but Mayer's rumored love interest, Scheana Marie, did not.

After the show, the singer went backstage to meet the cast and sign a few autographs, and scrawled, “new music soon, I promise," along with his John Hancock on acrobat Leisha Knight's copy of his “Continuum” album.

Mayer was in town for only one night, taking a short break from his current tour.

"Deal or No Deal" host Howie Mandel was also at "Love" on Saturday, and took his son, Alex, to see the show.

Also taking in some Cirque action on Saturday was singer Sarah Brightman and producer Frank Petersen, who took in Criss Angel's magic-laced production at the Luxor, "Believe."

Over at the Venetian, a host of celebs wined and dined at Tao -- and many of them followed up their meal with a night in the night club upstairs.

Jay-Z hosted yet another night of fun in da club on Saturday night. Before reassuming his hosting duties, however, he and a group of record execs had dinner, which included sea bass satays and Kobe beef accompanied by a bottle of 1989 Chateau Margaux.

Fellow rap superstar Sean "Diddy" Combs also dined at Tao on Saturday.

He was with Holly Madison and a reportedly very flirtatious version of British actor-comedian Russell Brand.

Also enjoying a group meal on Saturday were David Arquette, Balthazar Getty and Thomas Jane, who later migrated to the club above.

Sports announcerMichael Buffer gave his vocal chords a rest on Saturday and enjoyed a post-fight family dinner of sushi and sashimi.

Adrien Brody; retired NFL defensive end Michael Strahan; FOX football analyst Jay Glazer; and “Law & Order” actor Anthony Anderson were also spotted in the dining room, then in the night club later that night, too.

Also partying at Tao on Saturday were former Spice Girl Mel B and Stephen Belafonte, Suge Knight, Khloe Kardashian, Cedric the Entertainer, rising club star Brian Baumgartner from “the Office,” and William McGinest from the Cleveland Browns, who hung out in one of the club’s lower skyboxes with a few other NFL stars who preferred to stay under the radar and off the record.

Once upstairs, Getty and Arquette joined Diddy up on stage to sing along to 2Pac’s classic, “California Love.”

There was a party going on over at the Palms, too, as Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner crowned Ida Ljungqvist the magazine's 50th Playmate of the Year.

About 50 other Playmates, as well as Hef's former personal playmate, Holly Madison, attended the three-course dinner reception.

Madison didn't have much, if anything, to eat, though: She left after Ljungqvist was given her title to join Combs and Brand for dinner at Tao.

Meanwhile, more than a handful of bonafide Playmate title-holding bunnies hopped over to Playboy Club where they kept the party going.

Hefner put in a short appearance at the club, but didn't stay long.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Jeffrey Garcia stuck around a little longer, however, and eccentric former NFL star Dennis Rodman stopped by before checking out Perfecto Las Vegas at Rain later on.

Meanwhile, Kato Kaelin played a few hands of blackjack at Playboy Club with a few friends but avoided the bunny-infused party inside the VIP.

Earlier that night, UFC champion fighter Chuck Liddell had his evening meal at Nove Italiano. His nine-person group shared prosciutto, crab cakes, calamari and shrimp before digging into the main event. Liddell ordered ravioli for his main course.

He was spotted one floor up the following night at Playboy Club with seven others.

A collection of curvaceous and lovely Playboy ladies reconvened at Simon the next morning to enjoy brunch.

Soprano Sarah Brightman took in Terry Fator's show at the Mirage on Saturday night and Mario Lopez hosted a party at Privé.

Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian were also in town this weekend. They spent most of Saturday night at the season-opener soirée for Sapphire Pool at the Rio – though Khloe was spotted at Tao later that night. NBA great Robert Horry also attended the event at the Rio.

Defeated English boxer Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton followed up his TKO the night before with an afternoon of morning-after fun in the sun at Wet Republic.

His fiancé, Jennifer Dooley, brother, Matthew, and parents also joined him.

Fighters Wanderlei Silva and Thiago Alves also put down their gloves and tried their hand at hosting on Sunday, as they lent their names and faces to post-fight festivities at Drai's After Hours.

Back at the Palms, rapper Too Short, recently-crowned Playmate of the Year, ida Ljungqvist, and Benji Madden were all spotted at Playboy Club.

Ljungqvist played blackjack for about an hour while Madden took in the scene with six friends.

Also on Sunday, Four Seasons-themed musical production "Jersey Boys" celebrated its one-year anniversary. Original band member Tommy Devito stopped by to celebrate along with the cast.