Jay Leno, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton all in Las Vegas over weekend

By Melissa Arseniuk

Monday, Oct. 5, 2009 | 12:37 p.m.

After a big, birthday-filled weekend in Las Vegas, the city is left trying to catch its breath in the wake of all the cake, candles and celebrities.

The Mirage continues to celebrate its 20th birthday, PT’s celebrated 27 years, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz marked a quarter-century, Tao toasted its fourth birthday and Lavo raised its glass to a full year of success and excess on the Strip.

The celebs started flooding into the city before the weekend even began: Aaron Lewis of Staind was spotted at the Hard Rock Hotel getting tattooed at Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co. Guest artist BJ Betts inked the singer an American flag onto the inside of his left arm, along with, “Don’t Tread On Me” across his throat.

Also at the Hard Rock on Thursday was shock radio personality Howard Stern, who dined at Nob with wife, Beth Ostrosky Stern. (They had dinner at N9NE Steakhouse at the Palms on Saturday.)

The star sightings continued on Friday afternoon with Mick Fleetwood, who was at the International Vision Expo and Conference at the Sands Expo and Convention Center to sign autographs and pose for photos in the Revolution Eyewear booth.

Paris Hilton was at Vision Expo on Friday, too, to promote her new line of sunglasses. The heiress was at the Gripping Eyewear booth, then at the Hard Rock Hotel later that night, where she strutted her stuff in a poolside fashion show.

Actress Renée Zellweger was spotted at the Luxor, where she and a girlfriend checked out both "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" and "BODIES … The Exhibition," but had to leave the latter exhibit earlier than anticipated after being surrounded by photo and autograph-demanding fans.

Also on Friday, Mayor Oscar Goodman joined Golden Gaming, Inc. founder/chairman/CEO Blake L. Sartini at PT’s Pub on Spring Mountain Road for the chain’s 27th anniversary celebration.

In addition to our martini-loving mayor’s 5:30 p.m. appearance, patrons were given a free glass of wine, a well drink or domestic pint at 9 p.m. to mark the chain’s 27th year of operations.

Around that time, Howie Mandel stepped into the spotlight at MGM Grand as he kicked off a string of appearances at the Hollywood Theater. The “Deal or No Deal” host and stand-up veteran will appear at the resort through Oct. 14.

Also at MGM Grand on Friday night was Christina Milian, who didn't let her pregnancy or lack of alcohol consumption stop her from having a good time at Tabu.

Meanwhile, Mario Barth's "Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth" got under way at Mandalay Bay. The three-day ink fest went on to feature a sizeable collection of celebs, including Tommy Lee, Jack Osbourne, Mark McGrath, Evan Seinfeld, and Duff McKagan.

The tat-loving stars kicked things off on Thursday night with a celeb-infested party at Rumjungle, and the partying didn’t stop ‘til the show wrapped up on Sunday.

And yes, while they were primarily in town for the tattoo show, many of the VIPs also lent their star power to the Mirage’s birthday party, which went down at Bare Pool on Friday night.

Former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash headlined the 20th anniversary party, dubbed “Slash and Friends.” Some of the iconic axeman’s friends included fellow GNR bandmate Matt Sorum; Hole’s unladylike leading lady, Courtney Love; Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry; Pussycat Dolls’ stunner Nicole Scherzinger; and Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick.

While the talented ensemble performed onstage, a handful of other notables, including Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, and Simon/Cathouse restaurateur Kerry Simon were spotted backstage.

Nielsen and Simon stopped by In-N-Out Burger on Friday night to grab some dinner on the run.

Friday's third big name birthday party went down at the Palazzo, as Tao’s little sister, Lavo, turned 1 year old.

Things got under way as actor Eddie Cibrian’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Brandi Cibrian, and Jennifer Gimenez of VH1’s “Sober House” kicked thing off at Tao Beach, then joined a slough of stars for dinner at Lavo, including actress Amanda Bynes, “House” actress Jennifer Morrison and “Prison Break” actor boyfriend Amaury Nolasco; actress Krysten Ritter and her music video director boyfriend Scott Culver; actor Stephen Dorff; Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody; actor Emile Hirsch; Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebanks; “E! News” co-host Jason Kennedy; Patrick Sebes from “90210”; Zachary Abel from “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”; and Johanna Brady from “Family’s Greek.”

The party later moved upstairs to the club, where on-again couple Vanessa Minnillo and Nick Lachey were spotted, along with head Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, fresh from the stage at the Mirage; embattled “Peepshow” co-star Aubrey O’Day; and NFL free agent Melvin Fowler.

Lovey-dovey Minnillo and Lachey were also at the Mirage on Friday to see a performance of "Love." Also in the audience that night was rocker Tommy Lee and his dancer-girlfriend, Sofi.

Also in town on Friday night was none other than NBC’s newest prime-time comedy star, Jay Leno. He performed his stand-up at the Terry Fator Theatre inside the Wynn on Friday and Saturday.

And finally, Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden rounded out Friday night’s celebrity line-up, as he returned to Planet Hollywood to serve as guest DJ at Privé.

Before his show, he and brother/fellow Good Charlotte bandmate Benji Madden had dinner at N9NE Steakhouse.

The celebrity watching started again at the Vision Expo on Saturday, as rapper Pitbull took to the Revolution Eyewear booth at noon. Also at the Expo on Saturday was PGA Tour golfer Kenny Perry, swing coach Matt Killen and vision trainer Larry Lampert, who appeared on behalf of Transitions Optical.

While the trio of golf pros chatted up Transitions lenses, they also mixed in a few golf-related tips to help fans improve their game, too.

As they were busy talking golf and glasses at the Sands, the celebs were playing poker and, later, lounging by the pool across the street, as the Mirage's 20th anniversary weekend continued.

Lukas Haas, Benicio Del Toro, Andrew Sasson, and Charlie Sheen were all there, as was Scherzinger.

Meanwhile, the Simpson sisters were south on the Strip, soaking up the sun at MGM Grand. The youngest of the two, Ashlee, was in town, Fall Out Boy husband Pete Wentz in tow, to celebrate her 25th birthday. Big sis Jessica Simpson was at Wet Republic to get her piece of paparazzi pie (and birthday cupcake), too.

The senior Simpson sister’s ex, Nick Lachey, wasn’t anywhere near Wet Republic or his former inlaws this weekend — though as mentioned earlier, he was in town.

Another scandal-prone star who was in town, Paris Hilton returned to the site of her most recent Vegas scandal, the Hard Rock, on Saturday night to host the Saturday night party at Body English.

Her boyfriend, Doug Reinhardt, joined her, and before the party at BE, the couple stopped at the heiress' former favorite Vegas playground, the Palms, to catch Kylie Minogue in concert at The Pearl.

Also at the show that night was Minnillo, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" personality Carson Kressley, Stern and Ostrosky, and Minge’s boyfriend, Andres Velencoso.

Prior to her concert, Minogue indulged in a deep tissue massage at Drift Spa on Friday.

Mario Barth was at the Hard Rock on Saturday to co-host Inked magazine’s first annual Inked True Colors Awards, which featured a special performance by The Bronx.

New York-New York was the place to be after the awards, though, as Beastie Boys DJ extraordinaire Mix Master Mike took to the turntables at a tattoo show afterparty at Rok.

Across the street at MGM Grand, meanwhile, AC/DC entertained at the Grand Garden Arena, and a very different show took place at Texas Station, as country superstar Randy Travis took to the stage.

And finally, the biggest bash of the weekend went down at Tao, where the restaurant and club were packed with even more celebrities than normal.

The birthday partying got underway at the Venetian on Saturday afternoon, as Aaron Paul from “Breaking Bad”; Amanda Righetti of “The Mentalist”; Susan Sarandon’s daughter/“Californication” co-star Eva Amurri; Cibrian; Gimenez; Hirsch; Ritter; and hot couples Morrison and Nolasco and Ritter and Culver took over at Tao Beach.

Later that night, the VIPs returned to Tao where they toasted the venue’s four-year anniversary over dinner.

Though the stars were scattered across various tables throughout the dining room and were sometimes hard to see, the evening served up a hearty portion of celebs, alongside signature items including lobster wontons, chicken satays and Chilean sea bass.

Rapper/producer/fashion designed/Ciroq vodka czar P. Diddy/Puff Daddy/Sean Combs was there, along with fellow rappers Tyrese and Ray J. Meanwhile, “Greek” star Spencer Grammar and the picture-perfect Ebanks were at Tao co-owner Noah Tepperberg’s table; Bynes enjoyed a relative low profile at a corner table with her friend and former costar, Max Crumm; and Nolasco and Morrison shared dinner with the actresses’ recently 21-year-old brother.

Also in the Tao dining room last night: Clifton Collins, Brody, Hirsch, Paul, and Cibrian -- and Brent Bolthouse popped by, too, before heading to Privé, where he served as guest DJ.

Also at Planet Hollywood on Saturday was Miss Nevada USA 2009, Georgina Vaughan who was seen with friends in a VIP booth at Hawaiian Tropic Zone inside Miracle Mile Shops.

Meanwhile, Righetti had dinner at Lavo that night, as did Jennifer Love Hewitt and Kennedy. However, after dinner it was straight to Tao nightclub, where the fourth anniversary party was in full swing.

Diddy served as emcee for the evening, giving multiple shout-outs to DJ Vice (“Yo DJ, Yo DJ, play…”) and fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. The iconic rapper also gave a brief performance, and led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to “Tao and Lava” (Lavo, Lava, whatever) just after 1 a.m.

Later, partiers were treated to a second guest performance, this time by DJ David Guetta’s vocalist, Chris Willis. The singer performed a handful of songs, including his and Guetta’s hit single, “The Love is Gone.”

Tiger Woods was there to take it all, too, and was seen soaking up the scene in a VIP skybox. Rounding out the long list of last night’s celebs was Sorum, who joined the party just after 2 a.m. -– better late than never.

And as if the weekend’s worth of birthday bashes and anniversary soirées wasn’t enough, there was yet another blow-out on Sunday at The Bank.

Suffice to say those attending the tattoo show’s grand finale party likely didn't make it into the office first thing this morning. Dave Navarro hosting the event, while DJ Skribble and DJ Slynkee also contributed to the soundtrack.

Also on Sunday former fighter Evander Holyfield put in an odd appearance at Eleven Spa at Town Square, as part of a promotion for his new "hero" line of photographs. On Saturday, Holyfield was in attendance (and onstage) at Zowie Bowie’s hip-hop show at The Pub at Monte Carlo.

Melissa Arseniuk writes about Las Vegas entertainment and celebrity events. She can be reached at 702-948-7823 or by e-mail at [email protected].