This week's LVW: Cher's Meek Goodbye

I expected to be slammed hard by the Cher partisans, but instead it's the Celine-lovers who are circulating this week's piece with relish. Still, I can't seem to unseat Peggy and her effing planets on the LVW's Top 10 list of best-read pieces. Hmmph. A pox on Peggy, if that's even her name. Anyhow, here's the piece. Happy weekend! -sf

Why Vegas can’t wait for Celine Dion to return
By STEVE FRIESS

Prediction! Someday soon, Cher will be on a red carpet or on Piers Morgan’s show and someone will ask about her recently ended run at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Cher’s response will be some variation not of nostalgia, pride or gratitude but of snarky relief that it’s over and a disclosure about what a bear that gig was.

How do I know? Well, I don’t, but at Cher’s finale on Saturday I had the sense that she could not be out of there fast enough. There was absolutely no emotion, no sense that this was a special occasion, no affection offered for the city and resort that had just deposited serious coin in her overflowing piggy bank. Heck, she didn’t even say goodbye when it was all over, instead high-fiving some band member and then disappearing out the back door of the Colosseum stage. She seemed so disengaged, in fact, that she didn’t even grab a sailor’s hat from the audience to cavort with in her penultimate number, “If I Could Turn Back Time.” For those unschooled in The Cher, that would be like the pope forgetting communion.

She’s not the first to depart the Colosseum with more shrug than ceremony.

Read the rest at LasVegasWeekly.com

The Show is UP: Hi, Sierra!

Here's our second kitchen-table show, this time broadcast via UStream when we did it live. We'll probably do our next live show on Monday night. As always, you can subscribe to The Strip (it's free!) in iTunes or Zune to get the latest show and various specials. Enjoy. -sf

Feb. 10: Hi, Sierra
REISSUE: Sierra Boggess on The Strip in 2006

If you rack your brain hard enough, you’ll still fail to come up with any star of the Vegas stage quite like Sierra Boggess. We’ve had plenty of hugely famous people perform and countless formerly famous people attempt to revive careers here. But Boggess is singular as an actress whose first big break was in a Vegas production, “Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular”, and who has then moved on to star in a major Broadway production followed, now, by opening the Phantom sequel “Love Never Dies” in London’s West End. Now the 28-year-old is about to return to Broadway as one of the most in-demand ingénues of her age. We visited our little Sierra in her dressing room in London last week, and we’ll play that conversation for you today.

In Banter: Our London sojourn, the Twitter Twerps drama, Super Bowl TV ad drama, Cher's odd goodbye.

Links to stuff discussed:

Steve’s Flickr page of London pix
Alex Hull’s Buzz Lightyear drawing
The British Airways menu image
London Club’s Empire Casino in Leicester Square, London
The Twitter Twerps Column
Our first interview with Sierra Boggess from 2007
Broadway.Com on Sierra's Rebecca reading
Sierra Boggess nominated for Olivier Award

Reid, Cher & Teddy bears

[Update: I've been included on an email thread circulating today among gay servicemembers at Nevada AF bases. The anger at Obama/Reid is real over today's DADT failure. -sf]

I'm getting back to work today, but there are a few interesting stories out there today that figured I'd just touch on in rapid-fire manner:

* Reid and DADT: The Harry Reid campaign better be ready for some serious blowback that could harm his already narrow re-election chances now that the Senate has failed to advance the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell today. Victory was within reach, but Reid couldn't keep the vote of Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts from going bye-bye because Republicans want an opportunity to make other amendments to the bill. Reid is known as a master legislative technician; it won't cut it with gay activists that he couldn't find ways to placate her and if he vilifies her as simply trying to stymie the process. These are the few Republicans willing to come over to his side and they've openly supported repealing DADT; they're part of the bipartisan solution to so much of the stall of the Obama agenda. Many wonder why he couldn't let Republicans make amendments and then get them voted down if they're that horrible. Reid, after all, is the guy who managed to get that health care bill through despite significant public opposition; if he can't figure out how to make DADT repeal happen when the vast majority of Americans support it, why should gay voters in Nevada re-elect him?

I've already received emails from two prominent gay Las Vegans with serious followings who are alarmed that disaffected gay voters will stay home on Nov. 2. "I don't even know what I can say to people who say Harry's let us down," one note read. "I mean, if Harry can't get this done for us now, what good will he be when he has a smaller majority?" Translation: Harry or no Harry, Congress will be in gridlock for the next few years, so maybe punishing Democrats now while there's a Democratic president who can backstop acts of the GOP that progressives dislike is worthwhile? Sharron Angle may be anathema to gays, but the reality is that the Republicans won't have a 60-vote majority, either, so she's not going to have any impact anyway except for, perhaps, her entertainment value.

The thinking goes like this: Maybe bouncing Reid & Co will lead the next crop of Democrats to act since this one, even with all its power, didn't? Gay activists are furious with ineffective, silent Obama, yes, but they don't get to punish him for another two years. DADT repeal is low-hanging fruit; Reid doesn't get points just for trying. P.S. Gaga ain't coming to rally for you now, Pinky.

* Cher. Hard to believe, but she's over. The Colosseum at Caesars Palace announced today they're putting tickets on sale on Saturday for her final set of performances in her three-year contract. Where did the time go? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was suggesting ways to fix that thing? Those shows are Jan. 11-Feb. 5. So, anyhow, what's next, Caesars?

* Teddy bears. Buried in a health piece in the R-J's quirky View section today was a claim that a study recently showed a quarter of men in a British survey admitted they pack teddy bears while traveling for business. I called bullshit on Twitter and Facebook, but now I'm more alarmed that CNN is more than happy to buy this load, see?

Wynn on Garth, Bette and Beyonce, A Teleplay

Steve Wynn had asked me not to air the audio of our recent conversation, but he gave me full permission to report the newsworthy stuff that we discussed in writing. I was going to use this sequence about Bette, Garth, Garth's plane, Beyonce and more in different blog posts, but it's so much fun I figured I'd just get out of the way and let the conversation speak for itself. The conversation took place on Nov. 24. Enjoy.


Friess: And when is Bette Midler starting at the Encore?

Wynn: Who? Bette Midler?

Friess: Sure, she’s leaving Caesars, she’ll want another gig.

Wynn: Is Bette leaving?

Friess: Yeah, she’s ending her contract at the end of January. You know that, don’t you?

Wynn: I did not know it.

Friess: Oh, OK. Well, she’s leaving Caesars at the end of January.

Wynn: Who’s taking her place?

Friess: They haven’t said anything yet. Right now the only person that have in there is Cher.

Wynn: Uh-huh.

Friess: So right now they’re out looking for people. And I’m sure you are, too. I’m sure you’re looking for other headliners to fill in for Garth.

Wynn: I only have certain names that I like.

Friess: And I assume Bette’s one of them.

Wynn: Uh, I didn’t know she was leaving until you just told me.

Friess: Can you share some of the other names?

Wynn: No. I don’t want to telegraph what we’re trying to do.

Friess: Well, I’ll tell you this. This idea of doing Garth as this intimate, unplugged thing is fascinating if you do it with other people, too.

Wynn: You can’t do it with other people, Steve. He is so unbelievable when he does it. He walks out with a guitar over his shoulder. The man’s voice, his ability to tell his story, he totally extemporizes. He’s funny, he’s talented, he talks about his history. He talks about Ricky Skaggs to Boz Skaggs, James Taylor to Bob Seger, Billy Joel to Elton John. He sings all their stuff. He does “Against The Wind” better than Seger does. Best thing I’ve seen since the Rat Pack.

Friess: I think somebody like Bette could do an unplugged set, too.

Wynn: I think Bette Midler can do anything she wants. I think she’s the most gifted girl. I think she’s fabulous.

Friess: And you’re gonna be on the phone with her in the next half hour.

Wynn [Laughing]: Well, you gave me the tip off. I’m gonna call her and ask her what she wants to do. And seeing Bette Midler in a 1,500-seat theater is a kick in the ass. To be that close to her?

Friess: I just think it’s a brilliant bit of counterprogramming to get these big stars to do these smaller, more intimate shows.

Wynn: I agree with you. The question is if I can get them to do it. I can’t pay them $500,000 a show. Can’t do it.

Friess: I need to ask you a very simple question about Garth. This idea that you’re buying him a plane. Are you buying him an actual physical plane and he keeps it?

Wynn: He keeps it.

Friess: And he takes it wherever he wants to go.

Wynn: It’s his airplane.

Friess: I’m trying to figure out – those are planes cost $20- or $30 million.

Wynn: This was a great market for airplanes, so it cost a little less. There are hundreds of airplanes for sale.

Friess: Did you buy the one Sarah Palin put on eBay?

Wynn: No, no. I bought him a beautiful Canadair 604. [Click here to see Garth's plane!-sf] It’s a big wide airplane it’s got almost a 4,000 mile range. It can take him anywhere he wants to go but it’s very comfortable. It’s as wide as a Global Express.

Friess: I just don’t understand the math behind this deal.

Wynn: I know. I know ya don’t and that’s because we won’t tell ya.

Friess: Well I understand that, but don’t you see why it would be puzzling? The expense of him and the ticket prices ... and I’ve calculated out the ticket values and I don’t see how you make money.

Wynn: If you take the ticket price and mutliply it by 60 shows at 1500 people a show and you take $125 a ticket and you say well, 'That won't work plus the cost of a jet.'

Friess: Am I wrong?

Wynn: No, you’re right.

Friess: So, how does it work?

Wynn [Laughing]: I don’t wanna tell ya.

Friess [Sighing]: OK.

Wynn: Let’s put it this way. When I got through with Beyonce, I was short. It didn’t work.

Friess: She didn’t really sell out, did she?

Wynn: Yes she did. Absolutely. 100 percent.

Friess: Oh, OK. And the tickets were more expensive.

Wynn: Yeah. But all I’m saying is, we made a terrific amount of money because of the casino. Remember, our only source of income is not the tickets. We have rooms, we have food, beverage and gambling

Friess: Well then I guess the question is, are the shows becoming a loss-leader again.

Wynn: In the case of Garth Brooks, for sure. I don’t mind telling you that.

Friess: Got it.

Wynn: But a loss leader against ticket sales, Steve.

Friess: That’s the old Vegas model then. Cheap entertainment to bring them in to use the other stuff.

Wynn: That’s right. And that’s what Garth is. That’s no secret.

Friess: So is this a function of the economy then?

Wynn: No, no, no, no. It’s a function of getting one of the great world-class performers to compromise so this can happen but even that compromise creates the situation you’re describing. Garth wanted to do this with me. He bent to it. He cooperated. Could Garth Brooks get more money somewhere else? Conceivably yes. But this was the biggest deal I’ve ever made in my life. But it was based upon the fact that I believe Garth Brooks is worth it, that he brings something to our hotel, to our enterprise, a soul, a warmth, a gift to my guests that leave saying that something special happened while they were here. Something they couldn’t see at Texas Stadium or at the Thomas and Mack Arena or Sam Boyd Stadium.

End scene.

Inside The Presidential Suite

[UPDATE: Several sugary sources insist Reese's does make squatter, smaller peanut butter cups. My apologies to Mr. Elfman for this scurrilous accusation. I am concerned, though, that our president may be so out of touch with average 'Mericans that he eats untraditional Reese's products as well as Dijon mustard on his burgers. Hannity's gonna have a field day...]


I happened to be at Caesars on Friday for lunch with a fellow journalist when it dawned on me to ask for a tour of the 22,000-square-foot Marc Antony-Cleopatra Suite where President Obama stayed on Tuesday night after Obama: The Las Vegas Spectacular, the benefit for Harry featuring Bette, Sheryl, Rita and Clint.

The photo above is another piece of hand-out art from Caesars, showing one of the atriums. Thanks to Mike E, you can look at the floor plan via this link. The rest of these images here were shot by me.

To give you an idea how gargantuan the thing is, see this photo below?


I took it from one of the terraces. The other terrace? You're looking at it over there on the other edge of the building. Wow, huh?

The place has: six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, two full kitchens to service two 10-seat private dining rooms ready with full settings of Sant’ Andrea Royal porcelain, two outdoor decks with waterfalls that flow into private pools, a dry sauna and two sitting parlors.

Some of the sights of the spread:
[Click on any images to enlarge them]

All are arrayed off a central corridor of bronze-swirled marble floors and pillars as well as Roman antiquities.

All of this is arrayed along this marble hallway...


The beds themselves were actually sort of plain and smallish. The president's a tall guy, right? No one could tell me, by the way, which one he used, but here are two of the three from the master bedrooms. (Obama was here alone, btw. No Michelle or kids.)


I spotted this candy wrapper (below) in a dish. Evidently, there were two but the Review-Journal's Doug Elfman is shown in this R-J video tour snatching one. (Elfman also controversially claims they were Reese's Peanut Butter Cup wrappers even though everyone with as many fillings as I have knows Reese's are wider and thinner. Plus, he thinks the existence of bidets are funny and sorta tries to get his viewers to imagine an Obama Enema. No, really.)



Here's the dining room, one of two that Obama didn't use when he ordered up a steak from Neros.


And here's the treadmill The One did not use. Instead, he went to Qua. They shut down the whole spa for his 45-minute workout.


They also, by the way, emptied the floor below this suite. And the Obama entourage occupied 100 rooms in the tower.

In case you're wondering, I don't know what the White House paid for the pad. Caesars spokeswoman Debbie Munch says Obama’s suite has no price tag; it’s only available to high rollers or celebrity guests. But the White House couldn't take it for free, could they? Especially for a fundraising trip, right?

Others who have used the suite, by the way: Marc Anthony and J. Lo (they were first after a recent renovation, renewing their vows along with New York Met Carlos Beltran and his wife, Jessica in October 2008), Celine Dion, Cher, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Two who have not: former presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush. Both stayed at the resort since their presidencies – Obama is the first sitting president to check in – but they were lodged in other suites.

Of course, the obvious question was asked: Will Caesars now rename the space the Presidential Suite?

“Ha ha,” Caesars spokeswoman Debbie Munch chuckled. “No. But I'm sure it will become known.”

SARMOTI with "20/20" Vision

Did you watch the Elizabeth Vargas hour on "20/20" about Siegfried & Roy? Of course, we did. If you didn't, go check it out on the ABC site. It's all there, at least it is for now.


Here were some of our impressions:

* Lots of nice tribute material to S&R, reminding us of what made them unique and exceptional. Good to be reminded.

* ABC said S&R sold $57 million in tickets a year. Over a 13.5-year run at Mirage, that's only $769.5 million. We in the media were told last weekend they grossed $1.5 billion. Huh?

* Lots of tap-dancing around exactly what kind of couple they were, which wouldn't have happened if they had been straight and on-again/off-again involved, i.e. Sonny & Cher. But the Siegfried-goes-to-the-Greek-monastery part was fascinating and I wanted to know more about that.

* Speaking of Cher, WTF? How did she land on Planet SARMOTI? By wearing more sequins?

* A reasonable degree of skepticism in Vargas' voice about the "Montecore was helping Roy" crapoganza but no outside tiger experts to talk about how laughable that is. Plus, the comments from famed tiger behaviorist Stephen A. Wynn were utterly maddening.

* No reference at all to the USDA's 233-page report on the incident that concluded it was, in fact, a tiger ATTACK. Also, no reference to the MGM Mirage and S&R getting the USDA to suppress the video from that night. Is it me, or is it odd that a major news network did a one-hour report on a topic and didn't cite the fact that the government did an 18-month investigation and released a massive public document on the matter?

* The comments from the audience members who were at the show where Roy was mauled were interesting but not terribly descriptive. Probably could've saved trouble just by excerpting quotes from news reports at the time.

* I did not doubt that it was Roy on stage last weekend but many other people did and I accepted the notion that if he was switched out I could have missed it. But the "20/20" footage confirmed that that was what I saw, that it was Roy there the whole time. And other footage showing his ability to speak and walk backed up to me that he was totally capable of doing what he did on stage.

* I'm more convinced than ever that that tiger was absolutely, positively not Montecore on stage at the Bellagio, unless they call all of their tigers Montecore. Had it been the same tiger that attacked Roy, much more on that would have been dealt with in the TV special. We would've gotten close-ups of the tiger, we would've seen rehearsals, etc. Instead, Vargas added in that the cat was Montecore at the very end, as an afterthought. Anyone catch a screen cap of the parts where they said the tiger being shown was Montecore? Would still love to compare markings.

* In the same vein, it was odd that Siegfried and Vargas both referred to "the cats" backstage when, in fact, there was only one animal in the performance. Not sure what that's about except that I don't know that ABC got the all-access pass that they claim to have gotten.

* Incredibly touching to see all those ex-castmates backstage after the Bellagio performance. And loved seeing Robin Leach taking those photos that, according to the Review-Journal's Norm Clarke, annoyed the organizers. I say more power to Robin, who deserved something for his yeoman emceeing efforts. (And, no, I'm not just saying that cuz Robin's a little sore at me at the moment.)

So what'd YOU think?

"It's A Cher Thing, You Just Don't Understand"

Help! I'm being beaten up by Cher fanatics who are offended by being referred to as fanatics or crazies but who prove their fanaticism and craziness by their certainty that nothing she did in her new Vegas show could possibly be grounds for criticism!

But first. A few others have now chimed in on the new show at the Colosseum that I was sorely disappointed by. I blogged some of it last week after I attended opening night and wrote a longer version for my column in this week's Las Vegas Weekly.

Mike Weatherford of the R-J gave this hot mess a B, but it was a lukewarm B at that: "This show, a continuation of her touring opuses of the 2000s, takes the format to its logical peak (and hopefully its conclusion)." He also points out that it's "front-loaded," giving us the best effect, costume and star banter in the very beginning.

Meanwhile, Joe Brown of the Las Vegas Sun took a similar tack: Cher "provides everything you could want from a Cher show. She makes Cher sounds. She changes costumes and wigs after nearly every number (take your time, we’ll wait). There’s hair-tossing, hip-cocking, lip-licking, arm-crossing, eye-rolling, finger-snapping, skipping and sauntering Is it good? Does it matter?"

Neither main Vegas critic is particularly enthusiastic. No, that's left to, of all people, longtime Rolling Stone scribe and L.A. Times blogger Richard Abowitz, my friend and someone I've already needled quite a bit for this posting. Abowitz tried to tell me that his take on this thing wasn't as positive as Brown or Weatherford, but he actually wrote this Cher-style over-the-top sentence: "Cher has created a monstrously entertaining experience that (even more than "A New Day," which actually relied on a Cirque alumnae) captures a sort of ultimate state-of-the-art Vegas production show and places that in the midst of a Cher concert of resplendent diva glory." [Note from the grammar police: alumnae is plural. I think he meant alumnus, since that's a singular male form and he's referring to Franco Dragone.]

I don't know if any of them are going to get the sort of angry mail that I'm starting to receive from Cheristas for mocking their, uh, enthusiasm while taking stock of seriously flawed parts of one of the Strip's most expensive shows.

You see, Weatherford, Brown and Abowitz approached their commentaries from the point of view that this is Cher, there are certain expectations in that construct and those who love her will love this. It's a reasonable approach. Except that I'm not contented with the premise that the public's view of this thing is predetermined by their adoration or hatred of the star. There ARE many who are on the fence. I am living proof of that. If I were in Vegas for vacation and I was looking around at what's on, I *might* check out the Cher-Vegas thing even if I'm not the sort of gay who decorates sailor hats or the sort of groupie who knows what kind of tree Sonny Bono died slamming into.

That notion apparently offends those Cher crazies who attack the very notion of the more casual fan or audience member. One wrote: "Who really should be catered to most, the dedicated fans who have supported Cher's career throughout the decades or Las Vegas visitors who have nothing better to do than take in a Cher show so they can say they saw it? I ... am very sorry you don't fully appreciate what Cher is all about."

The most significant critique of my nerve in approaching this from an outside-the-cult angle came from a woman who operates a popular Cher list-serv. I was nervous going into covering this thing for USA Today that I might not be able to identify all the songs, so I had gotten her phone number to call later that night in case I needed it. Turned out, I didn't. There were only a few songs I didn't recognize and I just didn't write about those.

I can just imagine what sort of outrage I've sparked on this list-serv from the beleaguered, put-upon Cher fans who, like their role model, are evidently so badly misunderstood.

Here's some of her lengthy note:

"I take your comments as personal attacks towards Cher fans as a whole. It's not uncommon to receive criticism. Over the years, both Cher and her fans have been degraded, but we all keep going strong. I just felt like, I needed to speak on behalf of all fans and let you know how we felt.

You, in my honest opinion, were lost. You had no clue what the name of any of the songs were and even asked to call me after the show to get the set list. I missed your call. I have to admit, after reading this review, I am glad that I did. Lord only knows, what you would have said about me just because I knew the names of the songs.

We use the phrase, "It's a Cher thing, you just don't understand." It's probably the best way to describe how we feel. There are not many who get it. It's a passion, Steve. Just like you may have a passion for sports for example. [I don't. -sf] Many of us have grown up with Cher. We have been there since the beginning. We have watched her grow and mature. We have watched her succeed and fail. No matter what we watched, we have loved it all. That is probably the only statement in your review that is correct: "The most vocal Cher fans won’t criticize a thing."

Sure we know there were glitches in the show. It just opened. There are going to be glitches in every show. Cher is real Steve, and she sings live unlike many. The glitches show that she is not perfect. No one is. We can relate to her more so because of this."

I had engaged in some hyperbole in my piece about the extremes to which the most devoted go to see their idol. It was taken literally by many who wrote. More from the list-serv manager:

"As far as 'crazy Cher fanatics' mortgaging their homes, did they tell you this? Geez, I don't know one die-hard who is homeless. Sure we will take on many shows during her three year run. Many of us, will take on as many as we can. We save for these shows and go when our budget allows, just like you may save for something you want to do. Once again, it goes back to our passion.

Obvious Caesars believes that Cher has achieved that certain level of greatness required to perform at the Colosseum.If they thought she would be degrading to the Colosseum, do you honestly think they would have let her headline there?

Others that have performed there are great and I am in no way belittling them. The truth, however, is that everyone is different. Cher is Cher. She will always be Cher and she will perform how she wants to perform. This is no secret. Anyone who has had the honor of seeing her perform knows the style of her shows. Caesars obviously knew this when they brought her on board. Therefore, no one should be surprised at her performances."

But here's the real point, and the reason why these people's opinions are so irrelevant to non-Kool-Aid drinkers:

"The Colosseum leaves quite a bit to be desired. It might be grand as you call it, but the crowd that goes there really doesn't care what the performer is about. They are basically high rollers with a comp. They are rude and obnoxious. They are just there to see the show because they have received a free ticket. In my opinion, they are just taking up space. There is a difference between the high rollers and the die-hards. We actually want those seats! We want to be in the presence of Cher."

For the sake of the Colosseum, I do hope that there are enough people like this to fill 4,200 seats 200 times over the next three years. There probably are. But the real chip on the shoulder does not belong to those of us who can look objectively at an artist and a show and see room for improvement. The real chip belongs to those who believe that if you cannot accept The Gospel According to Cher, you should go find another church.

The Show is UP: In The Valli Of Jersey

Because I'm in Florida visiting my parents and will be traveling home tomorrow, I figured I'd put this post up now. Our latest show featuring a conversation with the legendary Frankie Valli is now online. The show won't be in the RSS feed for iTunes or Zune subscribers until early Thursday, as always, but you can download it by right-clicking here or listen to it via your computer by clicking here right now.

May 15: In The Valli of Jersey

A priceless falsetto took an Italian pipsqueak from New Jersey all the way to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. But it’s only now, with the huge success of the Tony-winning Broadway show based on his life, that Frankie Valli is feeling truly appreciated by the entertainment world. That show, “Jersey Boys,” opened last month to rave reviews at the Palazzo, returning the sound of Valli and the Four Seasons to the Strip in grand fashion. Valli talks about what covers he likes, why he left his Luxor contract so suddenly in 2005 and much more.

In Banter: Terry Fator takes over, Cher needs work, the WSOP undergoes big changes, shrimp cocktails are more expensive and why Vegas.Com rules the world.

Show Links:

Get Jersey Boys tickets for Vegas here
News of Terry Fator's takeover at the Mirage is here
Steve's blog post about Cher's show problems is here
A piece on the changes coming for the World Series of Poker is here
That website to find wireless hotspots in Vegas is here
A story about the increased prices for shrimp cocktails at Golden Gate is here
That weird Trek-crazy site's report on the possible closure of Star Trek Experience is here
Old blog posts about the feud, now over, with Robert Earl, can be found here

EXCLUSIVE: How To Fix The Cher Show

My exclusive first-look overview and impressions piece on Cher's new Vegas show, which opened last night, is on USA Today's website this morning. You can find that here. There was plenty of good here, but this show needs a LOT of work.

As it was only the first run-through of the production, it is hard to know if Cher and her director-choreographer are planning any radical changes. It clocks in at about two hours and I'm told it'll be closer to 90 when they're done with it.

If they're taking suggestions, here are four:

* Fewer costumes, more Cher. Yes, they're very pretty and fun to look at and can only be donned by this particular woman. But they also get redundant and, more importantly, they force her into constant (and probably complex) costume changes. We are baby-sat -- for $250+ a seat -- by videos that are also available on YouTube (like this one which is used wholesale) or, surely, in the DVD box set of the Sonny & Cher Show. Any show driven by style rather talent -- or any show that feels like that -- is problematic. I understand that the wardrobe swaps are time-consuming because they're not as easy as slipping something off and on, but then stay longer than one or two songs in each and give us more of the woman and her terrific, battle-scar-weary personality we came for and relate to. (Aside: If you're going to make us watch whole songs on video screens, please repair that obvious vertical tear in it. Thx.)

* Drop the knock-off bits from Cirque du Soleil. Like Hans Klok before her, Cher seems not to have done her due diligence in the neighborhood. That two-hunks-balancing-one-another act? Mystere. The aerial sheet-flying thing? Zumanity. When sequences are already done -- and done better -- at neighboring hotels, you wonder if Cher and her peeps bothered to check out the competition. Bette Midler and Toni Basil, by contrast, went and saw every last other Vegas show. Even the ones with animal tricks. Smart.

* For the love of GOD, drop the YMCA. Yes, they do this. With Village People impersonators. And no Cher. The whole song, dance and all. Tacky, tacky, tacky. And not in a good, how-'70s way.

* You're in the Colosseum, not the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Act like it. This is the most prestigious theater in the Western U.S., not any ol' concert venue. Celine Dion set the standard, being close to but somehow above her audience in a manner that made her seem more elegant, more old-school star-like. Slapping the hands of the audience? Maybe not. Confusing them about whether they can get up and dance? Get with security to work that out. Forcing the crowd to STAND UP AND CHEER FOR FIVE MINUTES FOR AN ENCORE THEY KNOW IS COMING BECAUSE YOU'VE YET TO GET TO YOUR BIGGEST HIT? Insulting.

I'll discuss this and have other observations on this week's episode of "The Strip," which will be recorded at home tonight and posted sometime tomorrow.

No Live Show This Week

We'll have a podcast, but we can't do the show tonight at LV Rocks because I'm going to cover Cher's opener for USA Today. So no live show, and the dead one will be up on Thursday as usual. Our interview this week is a joint chat with Four Seasons songmaster Bob Gaudio and the actor who portrays him in "Jersey Boys," Erich Bergen.

USAT on Tina-Oprah-Cher-Tom-Toilets

Look for my report on the Tina-Cher-Oprah show in tomorrow's USA Today. It's already up, so here's the link to it. Apologies in advance for the cliche headline; not my department.

Plaigarized by Perez Hilton?

So it looks like Perez Hilton found my post about Tina Turner going on tour of interest and repackaged it today. Except that he literally quoted from my prior blog post the part about "lolling about her Swiss home" without providing any credit or a link. He actually puts those words in Sophia Loren's mouth when, in fact, that was my paraphrase of what Tina explained.

Here's the screenshot below:


I'm happy to believe it was an oversight, but I've emailed Perez Hilton hours ago to both of the e-mail addresses I have for him reminding him that I was the one who brought him to Vegas for his first public appearance here and asking him for the courtesy of credit and a link.

So far, no response.

BREAKING: Tina Turner To Tour, Oprah Hearts the CP Toilet

I'm just in from the taping of the May 8 "Oprah Winfrey Show" at Caesars Palace where Tina Turner announced she's going back on tour at age 68 for the first time in eight years. Tickets go on sale on May 12 for a tour that kicks off from Kansas City on Oct. 1.

I must say, I'm a little confused about whether there was an embargo on that news. The woman who prepped the audience told the thousands who filled Cher's new performing home, Caesars Palace's Colosseum, not to tell anyone. But a group of us journalists were invited to attend -- including Robin Leach, the L.A. Times columnist/blogger Richard Abowitz and Review-Journal columnist Doug Elfman as well as the local CBS affiliate that airs "Oprah" -- and I was given no preconditions whatsoever.

So, that said, Tina's going on tour having been prodded, she said, by Sophia Loren to stop lolling about her Swiss home and go back to work. But first, Cher came out to perform "Take Me Home" in a shredded blue dress with a matching blue headpiece and about a dozen dancers in 1970s outfits including, unlike the all-female Bette show, a few male dancers. Later, Tina did "Nutbush City Limit" on her own and then the two divas -- Oprah, being Vegasy, called them "a pair of queens" -- shared the stage for a rousing (is there any other version?) "Proud Mary." Cher looked particularly fetching in a shiny red mini-dress and a long-straight-black-hair wig.

The "Oprah" show also includes some video of Cher with designer Bob Mackie showing a few of the 17 daring costumes she'll sport when she opens in Vegas on May 6. There's a body-length Indian headdress, something Cher refers to as "Cleopatra comes to Caesars Palace" and a "warrior goddess" look she'll don for the Pat Benatar classic "Love Is A Battlefield." Cher said the show will span her pre-Sonny career and include the Sonny & Cher tunes "It's The Little Things" and "The Beat Goes On" as well as a rendition of the Sammy Davis Jr. standard "I Gotta Be Me."

Cher also went on a bit about having dated Tom Cruise, which I hadn't heard but which has been out for a month or so and has a lot of online skeptics scratching their heads about when this could've been and how nobody would've known it until Cher said it. It's further baffling because Cher told Oprah about some incident where Cher and young Tom went to a restaurant in New York, I think, and some waitress turned out to be an old schoolmate of Tom's who, Tom told Cher, wouldn't have spoken to him back in the day. I suppose that's possible since Tom crew up in Syracuse, but kind of amazing nonetheless.

The most interesting stuff, though, was what Oprah rambled on about OFF CAMERA. First, she'd just come from visiting Tom Cruise's home in Telluride, Colo., where she rode on a snowmobile with him and spoke of his firm buttocks and how hot he was to grip as they took their spin. "You're like, 'Take me home, Tom,' " she enthused. There was no discussion of Suri or Katie, but someone shouted out from the audience something related to Cruise's infamous I-love-Katie meltdown because Oprah replied, "I didn't jump on his couch." Good to know. She said that episode airs May 2.

NOT as good to know, but perversely fascinating nonetheless, was Oprah's lengthy aside to the crowd about the high-tech toilets in her Caesars Palace suite. As it happens, the thing lifts the lid automatically when you enter the bathroom and, she explained in shocking detail, it is capable of washing and blow-drying your butt and other parts. "I swear, I gotta get one of these on the show and show everybody," she said. "I'm coming back here! I'm cleaned up AND cleaned out!"

I wondered what she was referring to, so I Googled "butt-cleaning toilet" and found this. There. We're done. Oprah, you need not ever speak of this again. In fact, please, please, please don't!

That said, quite a fun show. I was a little worried in the beginning when it seemed every Vegas cliche was coming into play -- "Viva Las Vegas" blared as the audience prepper came on, there was much to-do about the Tina and Cher impersonators in the audience and the prepper did lay that tired "What Happens in Vegas" line. Yes, she got it wrong. She must've read Christina Binkley's book.

Oprah, Tina and Cher, Oh My!

An astute reader alerted me to this notice on Oprah's site that she's filming a show with Cher and Tina Turner in Vegas on 4/26 -- presumably at the Colosseum? -- and is taking requests for studio tickets. It's interesting that she's doing Cher and TINA and not Cher and Bette, isn't it? I mean, what connection does Tina Turner presently have to Las Vegas? Hmmm... For that matter, when was the last time Oprah shot in Vegas? Anyone know?

Two Weird Things Online

Weird Thing No. 1: I found it really kind off weird that on the home page of Yahoo! today, five days after the formal announcement of Cher's Vegas adventures, the seventh headline under "In The News as of 3:50 pm PST" was, uh, "Cher To Headline At Caesars Palace in Las Vegas."


Weird Thing No. 2: I appeared today on KNPR's State of Nevada to discuss my Vegas paparazzi piece from The New York Times. Most of the hour was taken up by a discussion among concerned parties about some controversial development in the northern part of the valley. But on the KNPR website, the description of their show makes it sound like I believe that celebrities are finding safe haven in the Upper Las Vegas Wash, doesn't it?


Oh, and if you want to hear my part, I just put the file into our podcast feed. You can click here to hear it or right-click here to save it. It's about 8 minutes long.

Getting Scooped Right And Left

Kudos to Mike Weatherford for breaking the big story about Roseanne Barr setting up as a headliner at the Sahara in today's Review-Journal. It woulda been nice if that lovely Sahara PR contact who was so helpful about the really expensive, unlisted suites at the property had clued me in, but -- as I text-messaged back to a friend today -- you can't win 'em all.

Which, of course, brings us to Cher. Yes, I've known for at least two weeks now that the big Cher reveal was coming today. But I've got something really cool going on with the Bette show that I can't talk about yet, so I didn't see the point of jumping the gun and pissing someone off (as I did by beating everyone to the Bette punch way back when) on a story (Cher) that everyone knew was coming forEVER. Heck, even the press release today acknowledged that it was hardly news with this opening line:

The legendary Cher today confirmed a long-lived rumor that she will headline in Las Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace beginning May 6.

Robin Leach has some terrific coverage of the Cher announcement on his blog, but I am baffled by his exuberant claim that: "Ticket sales immediately caused a buying frenzy when they went on sale this morning at 7 a.m. (THURS)—some 100-minutes before her West Coast breakfast-time announcement on ABC-TV’s Good Morning America program. Some buyers were backed up waiting on the Internet as long as 30-minutes. As an unabashed fan, I snagged my four ducats by 7:05 a.m. for the front-level orchestra on her premiere night!"

To me, that all defies logic for Vegas, where there really is no such thing as a genuine blitz on tickets for a show that will be on about 100 times a year for three years, especially when people have to consult not only Ticketmaster but their travel agents before buying. To confirm my suspicion, I just went to the Caesars website for the show and was able to buy (though I did not) sixth-row-center seats for opening night. So maybe GMA produced a bunch of traffic that slowed the site, but so far as I can tell there are no sellouts to speak of.

All that said, I've no doubt Cher will do great business. Look at those costumes! They're ALL Vegas. And, more importantly, is there any question with a lineup of Cher, Bette and Elton John that the Colosseum is officially the gay Radio City Musical Hall?