Strip Scribbles: ‘America’s Got Talent’ casting ISO Las Vegas acts

Tom Donoghue/DonoghuePhotography.com

David Foster in concert with Jackie Evancho, Cody Carey and Kenny G, with a guest appearance by Dr. Phil McGraw, at Mandalay Bay Events Center on Dec. 29, 2011.

By Robin Leach (contact)

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 | 3:36 p.m.

In Concert With David Foster, Jackie Evancho, Cody Carey and Kenny G

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Terry Fator's Second Anniversary

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Really Useful Group

Brent Barrett, Siegfried Fischbacher, Sierra Boggess and Roy Horn in June 2006.

2011 Guest Columnist Myron Martin of Smith Center

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2011 ACM Awards Red Carpet and Backstage

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NBC’s hit “America’s Got Talent” is returning to Las Vegas in early February in search of new performers. The talent and casting scouts hope to audition as many as 30 acts at the invitation-only producer’s showcase.

Past “AGT” judges have included Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel, and radio king Howard Stern is joining this new season with Hilary Duff as it moves from Hollywood to New York. Regular Las Vegas visitors Nick Cannon and Jerry Springer have hosted Las Vegas Week shows since Season 1 in 2006 and subsequent live tours.

Mirage headliner Terry Fator was the winner of Season 2 in 2007, and Las Vegas entertainer Michael Grimm won Season 5 in 2010, with Jackie Evancho, who recently starred here with David Foster, as the runner-up.

BROADWAY SETBACK: Sad news this morning for former “Phantom -- the Las Vegas Spectacular” star Sierra Boggess. She won critics’ raves while in the early performances at the Venetian, so much so that creator Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber plucked her from semi-obscurity and gave her the starring role of the sequel “Love Never Dies” on London’s West End. Once again, she grabbed kudos and the spotlights of praise.

It landed her a move back to Broadway, and in two weeks, she was due to start rehearsals for the March 27 opening at Broadhurst Theater of the musical “Rebecca” based on the 1938 Daphne du Maurier novel. But lead producer Ben Sprecher said today that he raised only 80 percent of the necessary $12 million in funding, so he has pulled the plug and postponed it until next season.

COUNTER INTELLIGENCE

Hot of the grill! Las Vegas will join the national family of Eater Web sites as of Wednesday. Eater.com has city sites in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Atlanta and New Orleans. Writer Susan Stapleton will be the editor of Eater Las Vegas and says she wants to show the world that there’s more to Las Vegas than neon, strip clubs, gambling and casinos. “It will be the one-stop shop for all things food and drink in this wonderful city,” she told me.

Chef David Middleton, former executive sous chef at Scarpetta in the Cosmopolitan, has moved on to Marche Bacchus at Desert Shores. David was previously with David Burke at the Venetian and Alex Stratta at the Wynn.

SKIING NEAR STRIP: Nobody ever thinks of snow and skiing as being a Las Vegas attraction, but the winter snow has finally arrived at Mount Charleston with another several inches expected soon. It’s the ideal time to take advantage of the fresh powder at the Resort on Mount Charleston; the only full-service hotel and resort on the mountain and only 30 minutes from the Strip. The mountain-view restaurant -- A Cut Above -- is one of the retreat’s amenities.

NEW CABARET JAZZ: Tickets go on sale this week for the Cabaret Jazz series at the new Smith Center for the Performing Arts in downtown’s Symphony Park. The two-story live jazz and cabaret club inside Boman Pavilion seats only 258 and features casual dining and signature cocktails. Among the upcoming star attractions: saxophonist Branford Marsalis, cabaret vocalists Andrea Marcovicci and Barbara Cook, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and beloved Las Vegas residents Clint Holmes and Mary Wilson of the Supremes fame with her project Lena Horne Stormy Weather. Clint begins his monthly residency in April performing the first weekend of every month.

STAR SURVEILLANCE

WWE wrestlers Wade Barrett and Drew McIntyre watched Blue Man Group at the Venetian. Also there: DJs Andre Allen Anjos and Karl Kling of Remix Artist Collective and Las Vegas residents Andre Agassi and wife Steffi Graf with a group of 10 friends.

TONIGHT’S TIPS

Political heavyweights former first lady Laura Bush and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani are among the inspirational speakers at the business seminar Get Motivated at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center, and rapper Coolio is set to perform at the downtown Beauty Bar.

TOMORROW’S TEASE

A day ahead of the official Academy of Country Music Awards nominations being announced for the April 1 telecasts from MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay, tickets go on sale, and we have a preview. Plus, expect all sorts of pop paranoia as Justin Bieber’s wax model goes on display at Madame Tussauds at the Venetian.

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.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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