Cee-Lo Green inches closer to his Liberace tribute show at Caesars

Hew Burney

Cee-Lo Green at the Hard Rock Hotel on May 22, 2011.

By Robin Leach (contact)

Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 | 4:45 p.m.

It’s more and more definite that hip-hop star -- and Super Bowl XLVI halftime performer -- Cee-Lo Green will produce his Liberace tribute show as a regular residency here on the Strip, and official confirmation for him to star alongside Celine Dion and Sir Elton John at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace is getting closer and closer.

The bejeweled, bedecked and beloved entertainer who has created the persona Loberace said over the weekend while at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis that serious contract talks are well underway and that he’s anxious to get it set in stone so he can cut back on his travel and make it easier on his aggravated, slipped-disc injury. However, that didn‘t stop him from picking up a $10,000 champagne tab at an Indianapolis topless club over the weekend with friends!

Cee-Lo will be here for two nights of back-to-back concerts Feb. 18-19, the weekend of the Keep Memory Alive benefit for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health saluting Muhammad Ali on his 70th birthday at MGM Grand Garden Arena. At the Saturday birthday celebration, Cee-Lo will be introduced by some of the boxing champions attending and perform a medley of “Bright Lights, Bigger City” and “Crazy.”

The next night, he’s on the Lenny Kravitz “Black & White America” lineup with Raphael Saadiq, Kid Cudi and Slash, with Lenny donating proceeds of the concert benefit to Keep Memory Alive. Incidentally, Lenny, who also will perform for Ali, is providing his stage setup for the two nights of Muhammad Ali-Keep Memory Alive benefits. The first is being taped for a 2-hour ABC/ESPN telecast the next weekend (Feb. 25).

Cee-Lo, described by insiders as the nicest man in the business, is already proving to be a good “citizen” for Las Vegas. He’s just shot a new “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Las Vegas” comedy TV spot for the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority showing the lengths he needs to go to escape paparazzi. Once past the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, he’s on safe ground for whatever he wants to do.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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