WOW: Blue Man Group Heads To Monte Carlo

[UPDATE: MGM Resorts says BMG will play at Venetian until September 2012 before moving to Monte Carlo. Also, she says Jabbawockeez' contract is over in April and they'll decide then whether to renew it.]

Wow. No really. Wow.

I'm in awe right now. A press release just came over announcing that Blue Man Group will leave The Venetian and heading for Monte Carlo in fall 2012. That's 2012. Twelve.

It's astonishing news for a number of reasons. First, BMG started out at the Luxor in 2000, then moved up the street in 2005 to The Venetian. Now, after nearly six years there, they've found a third home and it happens to be back in the original fold, MGM Resorts. I'll have to go back and look, but I thought the Luxor gave them up to make room for Criss Angel, so that would have been a MGM decision and not some remainders of the pre-merger Mandalay regime.

So BMG appears to be one of the most indestructible brands in Vegas history and that's funny because nobody ever really talks about them. I can't think of another production of this scale that has hopscotched through three major Vegas resorts. Keep in mind, this is a show with a rotating cast that presently does two shows a night every single night.


Somehow, nonetheless, it keeps trucking along even as other productions cut and alter their schedules because of the economy.

Other questions follow:

* When does BMG depart Venetian? The release doesn't say and tickets remain on sale through this May.
* What becomes of Jabbawockeez? Does this imply it's not doing so great?
* Does this ascertain that the Cirque-Michael Jackson sitdown production will land at Mandalay Bay, as has been expected ever since The Lion King's departure at the end of 2011 was announced? There's really no place else left for it other than Excalibur or Circus Circus, right?

I suspect BMG will be much happier at Monte Carlo where, as was the case at Luxor, it can be the dominant, most visible attraction on the property. At Venetian, it was one of so many productions and the resort was only nominally involved in promoting it. MGM Resorts takes a much more hands-on approach to that and, really, there's not much else happening at the Monte Carlo.

I also predict that BMG will be heavily marketed as a sort of second-show for neighboring CityCenter, which has 6,000+ rooms across three hotel-ish buildings and just one theater option. At the same time, it gives those folks two bombastic (in a good way) options and nothing more mature or sedate.

Anyway, if MGM believes BMG still has some serious life in them, then boffo to them. Can't wait to hear the new tagline, too! BMG was once "Live From Luxor" and never really had an alliterative moniker for the Venetian. (We on The Strip had recommended Vivacious at Venetian, but nobody cared.)

So perhaps it'll be Madness At The Monte Carlo? Can't you see that on the inevitable building wrap?

Lion King Closure Doesn't Make It A Failure

I must respectfully disagree with my colleague and occasional "The Strip" substitute host David McKee's current post seemingly seeking explanations as to why The Lion King is closing at the end of 2011, as if the decision announced Wednesday means it's a failure.

The only yardstick by which the tenure of The Lion King at Mandalay Bay can be judges a loser is by the standard that Vegas shows are supposed to last forever and ever. There are a precious few shows that do that, and TLK's 2.5-year residency here is nothing to scoff at or to autopsy.

Shows do run their course. This one, from everybody I've spoken to internally at MGM Resorts, has actually exceeded expectations and occasionally even set records. They signed it for a year, extended it twice. To me, it seemed risky -- very visual, which Vegas loves, but also very much a children's tale and one with a far-less-known score than Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys or Phantom. It's also really long and has an intermission, which was part of what doomed Avenue Q at Wynn. Yet it outlasted AveQ as well as Spamalot, The Producers and Hairspray. So there.

The other reason why TLK is far less responsible for its departure than other shows is, as McKee also noted, Cirque du Soleil has been waiting in the wings for a place to land its permanent Michael Jackson show. We do know the process here, right? TLK leaves at the end of 2011, Cirque overhauls the theater throughout 2012 (construction jobs, yay!) and the new show bows in 2013, as Cirque CEO Daniel Lamarre told Robin Leach last week.

One other thing. I suspect that Mandalay Bay, which has hosted Chicago, then MM!, then TLK, may no longer feel that the theater needs to be a Broadway stage given that in 2012, the Smith Center For The Performing Arts opens west of downtown and proper Broadway tours will start passing through annually, starting with Wicked in 2012. And while I still think there's a chance the Cirque-MJ show could land at Monte Carlo, the audience makeup I saw at Jabbawockeez on Saturday night must have MGM hearts dancing.

Anyhow, TLK has done just fine. And don't forget that had we never had it here, we wouldn't have had this:

BREAKING: NFL spanks CBS over Kia-Vegas ad

[NOTE: Boy am I embarrassed. I somehow misread the R-J thing on the prostidude. Several times. And, evidently, so did some of you. Mea culpa. I'll leave this post intact so you can see what a dope I am. Apologies to Mr. Brean. Still not pleased with Weatherford, though. And looking forward to seeing how the R-J handles the NFL-CBS-Kia topic in tomorrow's paper, if at all. -sf]



I promised I'd get to the bottom of this and, sure enough, I did. Portfolio.Com just posted my piece on how the Vegas content got in and stayed in the Kia Sorrento ad that appeared during yesterday's Super Bowl. Much more than that, however, I landed this money quote from the NFL's Brian McCarthy:

“CBS sells the ads that appear in the game. We did not see this ad before it aired. The shots of the casinos did violate our policy and we have since addressed the matter with CBS.”

Ouch. Still waiting for CBS reaction and will update my story when I do.

Also waiting for the Vegas press to rip off my work or ignore it altogether as they've been doing a LOT lately. For instance, imagine my surprise to see this in Sunday's Review-Journal:


How odd that (a) Mandy Stadtmiller provided the first name of America's first legal manwhore while I provided the entire name and more biographical detail a week sooner but (b) Henry Brean apparently feels the New York Post is in general a more credible or worthy source than me. Mike Weatherford pulled this crap, too, last month, when he interviewed Bette Midler and asked her about possibly moving to the Wynn while pretending that my discussion with Steve Wynn about Bette in which the seed of this very idea was planted had never happened.

The only way I'll be getting any credit for this NFL thing is if Norm Clarke covers it again tomorrow. The rest of these folks are too insecure to acknowledge that they're not the only ones who matter in this media cesspool. By contrast, take a listen to my interview with Cirque CEO Daniel Lamarre or read my Cirque cover story, both of which include mentions of competing journalists and their Cirque-related scoops. That's just good journalism and it boosts credibility.

But let's end on a happy note, shall we? Thanks so, so much to MikeCH for answering me so quickly about this:


I could not recall what film this formation was from. Turns out, many, but the one on my mind was The Right Stuff, of course.

Did Kia End-Run #NFL With #Vegas Ad?

The NFL's Super Bowl advertising policy, revised last month, is crystal clear regarding Vegas and Vegasy imagery:

In all instances the ads should be for tourism destinations only. So TV/radio/internet/print ads for Las Vegas tourism or Vegas.com will be allowed. Ads for specific hotels or resorts are NOT permitted if they house any type of gambling.

Ads may NOT contain any gambling references - audio or video - or any gambling imagery. So by way of example, an ad for Las Vegas tourism with pictures of slot machines, dice, cards, or a wide shot of Vegas strip and casinos would NOT be ok. However an ad for Las Vegas tourism with pictures of golf, swimming pools, and performers WOULD be ok.

The content of the ads (audio and/or visual) must be “family friendly”. Any suggestive ads or those showing or suggesting inappropriate activity (e.g., alcoholic excess, sexual adventures), or those that imply general misbehavior (e.g., “What happened in Vegas Stays in Vegas”) will not be approved.

So, then, how did THIS happen?




Granted, this was a car ad, not a tourism ad. But it made Monte Carlo look pretty darn cool, which is a bit of a triumph, and MGM Mirage had to have signed off on that. So did a Vegas casino SNEAK an ad on to the Super Bowl broadcast via Kia? Is this some brilliant end run?

Fascinating. I will get to the bottom of this.

The Show is UP: Charo!

Don't prejudge this lady. Yes, she's got the maracas, but beneath them is a serious musician and a veteran performer who has earned a place in Vegas performing lore. Also, she's delightful to chat with and tells great stories. Plus, it's worth it to tune in just to hear how I was nearly mistaken for a predator. Eek! You know the drill: click on the date below to listen or right-click and save to your computer. Or subscribe (it's free!) via this iTunes link or via this Zune link. -sf

July 23: Cuchi Cuchi for Charo

You think she's just a blond, air-headed, surgically enhanced... oh, wait. That's last week's guest. This week, we've got Charo the giggly, jiggly Spanish singer and guitarist, who in the early 1970s was making as much as Sinatra for shows on the Strip, is back in town with a new headliner show at the Riviera. Steve chatted with Charo this week about plastic surgery, her affection for RuPaul and where her signature “cuchi cuchi” line came from.

In banter: A weird WSOP interview story, a weird Panorama Towers ad, a weird Caesars Palace sign, a baffling Monte Carlo strategy and more.

Links To Stuff Discussed:

Steve’s NYT piece on the WSOP Bear Stearns guy
Charo’s website
Tickets to Charo’s show at the Riviera
Hotel32 at Monte Carlo
VegasHappensHere image of RS PALACE
Anthony Cools’ show extended for four years
VegasHappensHere.Com on the weird Panorama Towers job audition

MGM Mirage Firesale Begins!

As my colleague Robin Leach correctly predicted last night, MGM Mirage announced this morning it is selling the Treasure Island for $775 million to reclusive aging billionaire Phil Ruffin. I can't find how many acres the TI sits on -- this and several other sites say 100 acres. If that's so, that's $7.75 million an acre for the land alone, a heckuva deal seeing how there's a decent business standing on it at the moment, too. Ruffin himself set the record by getting $35 million an acre out of the Elad suckers for the Frontier property about 20 months ago. So is $7.75 million the new watermark?

This is actually pretty good news for the mid-ranged property inasmuch as Ruffin got high marks for bringing peace and stability to the disastrous New Frontier in 1999, at least before he flipped it. It was razed, of course, to make way for a whole lotta nothing.

Wall Street was happy with MGM, rewarding the debt-larded behemoth with a 18 percent surge in stock price at the opening and its highest price in a month. You can read the press release here. I especially love Ruffin talking about the TI as being in "pristine condition," as if he were buying a rare coin.

The TI's employees probably can heave a sigh of relief not felt in the rest of the MGM Mirage universe, where just last week the Bellagio let go all part-timers at the front desk for the rest of the year. That is, until Ruffin flips the place. Which he's bound to do. But until then, the TI is the crown jewel in his collection of Marriotts. How fun for him.

On the downside, the TI is a resort that is easily forgotten and benefits greatly from its crossmarketing angle with the other MGM Mirage properties. It's unclear how it'll do without that network. In fact, Steve Wynn all but acknowledged to me at one point that the place was the bastard child of his creations, the one he did in a hurry with a lesser budget.

No word on the implosion date, but it's said Mystere will continue to play twice a night on the site even after the rest of the place has been demolished.

So, folks...what's next? Is it tasteless to talk about Monte Carlo in the context of a fire sale?

The Strip is LIVE on Tuesday w/ LANCE BURTON

Sorry, Alanis Morissette fans. You oughta know you'll have to wait a couple weeks to hear her. I'm chatting with Lance Burton as he prepares to return to work at the charred Monte Carlo. And I've got one hand in my pocket for next week's show, even though I have no idea what that means. Isn't that ironic?

ANYHOW, join us at 7 pm PT for the live show at LVROCKS.Com. Hear all the funny outtakes! Chat with fellow fans! Drink when Miles cusses!

Or don't and you'll get the episode Thursday on the podcast feed. Your call.

Other Stuff Around The Media

Since I guess I'm playing catch-up today as I recover from my kidney problem and never-ending sniffles, I figured I'd point to a few interesting things I've spotted in the media this week:

* Another Casino Brigadoon Coming Soon: The R-J's Inside Gaming column reports that the owners of the plot of land at the Strip and Sahara Ave where the late, great Holy Cow stood is getting its approvals to have a Trailer Station, an 8-hour casino to maintain the gaming zoning on the land, some time in March. Fun, but I'm glad I did the piece in January; setting up a trailer in a massive, vacant parking lot is so much more interesting to look at and read about than turning on some slots in an existing building. I may go, though, if only to see if I can repeat my 150 percent winnings from the last time.

* Cindy Adams May Be Right. Or something. Howard Stutz reported in the R-J on Saturday that Las Vegas Sands is buying a pair of new jets to retrofit with baccarat tables for Asian whales. Stutz writes that LVS brass have approached the Nevada Gaming Control Board about the legality and tax issues involved with gambling revenue while aloft. Cindy Adams, in that piece I mercilessly picked apart, mentioned something about this, though of course she had the details a bit off. Maybe they'll their airborne casinos "Phoenicians," eh?

* Utter, Utter Heartbreak. Just read this and, yes, weep. The bride dropped dead during the couple's first dance. Wow.

* Utter, Utter Stupidity. My "Petcast" colleague Emily Richmond had a shocking piece in the Las Vegas Sun a week ago on the notion of the "minimum F" in Clark County schools. That is, there are schools where teachers have to give students at least 50 points even if they don't do their work so as to avoid them becoming so hopelessly down in grades that there's no way they can pass. It is just an amazing tale, one I have every intention of ripping off for someone soon.

* Bye Bye, Lovie. We do so love our Fatburger. Maybe not as much as those Grits To Glitz chicks, but yum! Too bad you have to take a gun into the area of Nellis and Vegas Valley that's nearest us to get us some. But, regardless, we were sorry to read that Lovie Yancey, the woman who invented the chain, has died. And, no, not of a heart attack. She had pneumonia. At 96.

* You want to know why people love coming to Vegas? Sure, it's the entertainment and gambling and all that. But it's also because good customer service is generally the rule and not the exception. And that's what MGM Mirage knew when it handled those displaced by the Monte Carlo fire. I'm sure you've read as much as you want to about the fire by now, but this piece by Jennifer Robison is still worthwhile.

OK. Enough being sick. Time for me to get back on my horse and get back to work. Listen for me at about 9:45 a.m. PT or 7:45 p.m. PT on Monday on KNPR (or via their site, knpr.org) discussing my NYT piece on the lily-livered Vegas celeb-media corps.

Monte Carlo to reopen Feb 15

I'm sick today -- very uncomfortable -- but I woke from my afternoon sleep and found this in my email box just a couple minutes ago. Three things of interest below:

* Nothing like a profitable holiday weekend to get them moving, huh? Although they are missing Chinese New Year. Whatever.
* Apparently they've taken advantage of the misfortune (and insurance money?) to do more extensive remodeling of those 500 upper rooms. Smart.
* Not sure why they'd delay opening the buffet and brew pub if they're opening 2,500 rooms. Weird.

MONTE CARLO HOTEL TO REOPEN FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15

Round-the-Clock Effort Will Have Hotel Ready

To Welcome Customers for Presidents’ Day Weekend

Las Vegas, February 8, 2008 -- MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) announced today that the Monte Carlo Hotel will reopen its doors for customers on Friday, February 15.

Monte Carlo President and COO Anton Nikodemus announced the news, saying, “After what can only be described as an incredible effort by the best team of employees and contractors in the business, the Monte Carlo family will be in place February 15 to welcome guests for Presidents’ Day weekend.”

Monte Carlo plans to open with no fewer than 1,200 guest rooms available and management anticipates an additional 1,300 rooms will become available by February 22. The remaining 500 rooms in Monte Carlo’s normal 3,000-room inventory are located on the upper floors and will remain out of service while undergoing more extensive redesign.

The majority of guest services will open on February 15, including the Monte Carlo Casino, meeting and convention facilities, the wedding chapel and the Spa & Salon Monte Carlo. All food and beverage outlets will open on the 15^th, with the exception of the buffet and the Monte Carlo Brew Pub, which will open as business demands, but no later than the 22^nd. Most retail outlets will open February 15, with all opening no later than the 22^nd.

Master Magician Lance Burton will resume his long-running show February 15, in the 1,200-seat Lance Burton Theater.

Remediation work continues both inside and outside the hotel, which was evacuated and temporarily closed January 25, after a fire damaged portions of the building’s exterior façade. Clark County firefighters, supported by emergency personnel from around the valley, quickly extinguished the blaze. Fire suppression efforts caused water damage to a number of guest rooms and suites.

Approximately 5,000 guests and 1,000 employees were safely evacuated from the hotel with no serious injuries. Preliminary results of the Clark County Fire Department’s investigation have determined that welding activity on the hotel roof started the fire. A total damage figure has not yet been determined.

“Monte Carlo President Anton Nikodemus and the entire Monte Carlo team are to be commended for their tireless efforts,” said Bobby Baldwin, President and CEO of CityCenter and Chief Design and Construction Officer for MGM MIRAGE. “Without the leadership, dedication and perseverance of these individuals, along with the professional support of the entire MGM MIRAGE family, this rapid turnaround would not have been possible. This accomplishment is no less than a testament to their commitment – both to our customers and to one another. ”

Fear Not For MGM Mirage, Little Ones

Since I'm sure you've been worried, I just got a little piece of info that I guess I should've known but didn't. In chatting with Alan Feldman, the MGM Mirage spokesman and veep, he explained that it's difficult to assess how much the Monte Carlo fire and closure will cost per day because they have "business interruption insurance." Apparently, they also had that in 2004 when the Bellagio was shut down for four days because of an Easter-weekend blackout.

I'd love to find out what such insurance costs and covers and who provides it to businesses that lose MILLIONS a day when they're closed. Also, I can't think of another resort company in Vegas that's ever had to employ it. The MGM Mirage, after all, had to shut down the Bellagio and the Monte Carlo because of freak events. What other resorts have had such misfortune? Did they shut down the MGM Grand casino when they had that riot after the Tyson fight a while back? That, too, was an MGM Mirage property, unless it happened before 2000. I wonder if all those casinos on the Gulf Coast were covered -- and up to how much? -- after Hurricane Katrina.

Feldman also says there's no telling yet when the place would reopen, but he and I will speak later tonight after he goes to a briefing for a SPECIAL EDITION OF THE STRIP that I'm going to try to post much later tonight.

Live From, Uh, New York?

ABC News' billboard in Times Square, 1/25/08

How does one cover a fire in a city 2,000 miles away? Well, if the fire turns out to be less than a holocaust (look it up - a "holocaust" originally meant a devastating fire), it's not that hard. Also, if you're able to tap into a huge network of Vegas people from the blogs and list-servs, it's also doable. Not ideal, but doable.

Here's what I ended up with. I got quite a ribbing from my family for the idea that I could write a piece in this manner. As I said, it's not how I'd normally do it. But in a pinch -- evidently the Times simply could not find another reporter in Vegas -- it'll do.

My Las Vegas Weekly column will discuss this further, but there was something else about this experience. Since I wasn't there, I was glued to the TV. And, while I was thrilled to see that KVBC logo in the corner indicating that CNN was using Miles' TV station's footage, it was just sickening to realize that even in its hour of trauma, Vegas just isn't taken seriously.

There I was, near tears watching the apparent destruction of a major structure and worrying about the pandemonium of thousands of guests and employees having to get out. I assumed that there were tourists in the upper floors who were trapped and possibly dead. That it all worked out OK does not minimize what it looked and felt like in the beginning of the crisis.

But the folks on cable news? They thought the fire was entertaining. One CNN reporter actually wondered jokingly in the earliest stages whether the Monte Carlo buffet comp he’d recently received in the mail was still valid. FOX News Channel, which carried every O.J. Simpson press conference live, didn’t bother to pick up its local affiliate’s feed from the briefing by Las Vegas Fire Chief Steven Smith. And, yes, some bozoette on one of those stations – can’t recall which – really thought she was clever muttering, “Like Paris Hilton would say, that’s hot!” Can you imagine such irreverence if this had been the Sears Tower?

Just as amazing was how quickly the story died the minute it turned out that no humans had. Were I not on vacation, I would be pushing editors to let me do the obvious follow-up: A 32-story building containing 5,000 or so people caught major fire and everyone got out calmly. And alive. Imagine that.

Two Interesting Pieces of Vegas Show News

Since I'm so quick to point out when something looks like it's not doing well, it seemed only fair to report that "Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular" does seem to be holding its own. Not setting the world on fire, but the cast was called into a meeting recently and told not to worry about some of the lighter crowds. Apparently, according to a source, the show has made money every week it's been here. They're at nine shows a week now but it's likely it'll go down one or two, with the two Sunday shows consolidating because the early one sees the weakest attendance. The cast principles have all been signed to another year, I believe, so they're in it for the long haul. And heck, a Broadway show staying in Vegas for more than a year is now the definition of success unless you're that anomalous phenom known as "Mamma Mia!"

While we're on the topic, an interesting development over at "Lance Burton: Master Magician." For the first time that I know of, a hotel is offering a discount on tickets if you buy them online at their website. At Monte-Carlo.Com, they give you $10 off. I don't know whether this is just a logical innovation nobody had thought of or that Lance is showing signs of wear and tear after so many years of headlining. He sounded good when we spoke to him a couple months ago for "The Strip" Podcast.

You know, I say it's an innovative idea and I mean it. At the same time, though, don't most people buy their show tickets through the show's website? Hmmm... sounds like the making of a new poll!

Spamalittle?

There's some strong evidence that despite boffo reviews for "Spamalot" at Wynn Las Vegas, audience demand is tepid. To wit:

Exhibit 1: Wynn set up a booth last Friday at First Friday in the downtown Arts District to give away vouchers for 500 seats to first comers. Giving them away! Yikes.

Exhibit 2: I stopped by the half-price ticket counter in the Coke bottle across from the Monte Carlo on Saturday afternoon after trying (and failing due to the MGM Mirage systemwide sportsbook glitch that the mainstream media entirely ignored) to place my losing De La Hoya-Mayweather wager. Spamalot tickets were available at half price, for $66. This was a big, big weekend in Vegas and this was a Saturday night and the show can't sell out?

I still predict Wynn will keep it open at least a year regardless of the cost so as to not declare it a total failure.

While I was at the Coke bottle, by the by, I took note of who else was offering half-price seats on a very busy Vegas night. Mamma Mia had $50 seats, the self-proclaimed "New Mr. Las Vegas" George Wallace was up there for $40, Le Reve was available for $80 (not quite half-price, actually) and poor old Carrot Top was on sale for $20 a stick.

Is it time to start wondering if the Vegas show industry is in trouble?

BREAKING: MGM Mirage Sportsbook Outage

On what is undoubtedly one of the biggest betting days of 2007 for Las Vegas with the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight and the Kentucky Derby going on, the sports book at every MGM Mirage property is currently NOT able to take any bets.

The outage seems to have started around 3 pm PT, just before the Kentucky Derby began. I was at the Monte Carlo attempting to place a bet and the huge line wasn't moving. I asked; system is down across the company. I returned about 45 minutes later to place a bet on the big fight and the system remained offline.

This is a major, major problem for MGM Mirage, which is hosting the fight of the decade at the MGM Grand Garden tonight.

I have calls out, will update. Developing...

**UPDATE: MGM Mirage spokesman tells me system returned online at about 3:55 pm, down for about one very precious hour that included the top of the Derby. They're too busy today to say what happened, but that's got to be a multimillion-dollar system failure.**

MGM To Take Over The WORLD

Howard Stutz had a terrific scoop in the Review-Journal today that MGM Mirage has bought a bunch of land at Sahara and the Strip that, along with its Circus Circus property, gives it 100 contiguous acres. The implications are enormous -- that's 24 more acres than they have at CityCenter -- and will be hashed out by many including me in coming years. Sadly, though, MGM Mirage president Jim Murren says the plan does NOT include blowing up the monstrosity that is Circus Circus. He did give Stutz this peculiar comment:

"We're going to put some money into it and enhance and expand it over time. Circus Circus will be a gateway to our new development, similar to what Monte Carlo is to Project CityCenter."

This is an odd statement. Did anyone until Murren ever suggest that Monte Carlo, one of the most forgotten casino-resorts in the MGM family, was a gateway to CityCenter? Just look at how is sits off to the side in this picture of the CityCenter model. It's so sad and lonely, neglected as it has been its entire existence. Gateway? More like bastard step-child.

Prediction: When they get down to the guts of whatever plan they have for all that property, Circus Circus will be condemned to its fitting erasure from this earth. They're certainly not going to be able to attract architects like Liebskind and Jahn to offer up stunning designs for buildings to stand alongside a demented clown holding a bitten lollipop.

Miles and I kicked that around and more on tonight's episode of The Strip. We also had a camera crew from RawVegas.tv working on a piece on us to post sometime next week! Take a listen or right-click here to save the show to your computer to hear later.

Exclusive: CityCenter Pix

Yesterday, after I visited the uber-posh $30 million Project CityCenter sales office to get a better understanding of just what MGM Mirage is doing with its 76 acres between the Monte Carlo and Bellagio, I went to the top of the Bellagio's employee parking lot because I'd been told it's the best perch to shoot some pix of the project in progress. As you can see to your here, I'd heard right.

What you see at top left (may need to click to expand for detail) is that the building sprouting to the left is Vdara Condo Hotel, a 50-story curved building with 1,543 units ranging from 500 to 1850 square feet, and to the right in that shot is the 4,000-room CityCenter Casino-Resort, although they keep toying with the name of the place. The other pix here show each project separately, Vdara on the right and the hotel on the left.

In addition to those buildings, CityCenter also will include a pair of yellow twin condo towers called Veer, the aqua oval-shaped The Harmon Hotel & Residences and a Mandarin Oriental with a couple hundred condo units built in as well. A shot of the entire model is to the right, as it will be seen from the Strip, with the Vdara in the back to the right and the construction photos taken from behind that. All of this is to be completed by 2009.

While at the sales center, I happened to observe a salesman giving a pitch to what I think was a group of real estate agents. He made a really interesting point I'd never thought of, namely that the project costs $7 billion and one reason why they have all this condo inventory is because they can raise about $3 billion that way. What's so interesting about that is the sea change it represents; Vegas casino interests became public companies in the 1980s and 1990s in part to get financing for these mega-resorts. Now even that capital isn't enough; everyone's got to have condos, too, to offset the price, from Trump to Echelon to CityCenter to the Palms.

The sales guy also revealed some interesting tidbits about what Wet Design, creators of the Bellagio Fountains, are planning for "water features" at CityCenter Wassitcallt. Apparently, and he was vague mainly because he found it difficult to describe, there will be some sort of eye-popping show in the 500,000-square-foot mall of the hotel that involves mammoth ice sculptures rising from the ground, doing some sort of performance and then receding to re-freeze. Or something like that.

The sales center, which anyone can visit, has a little bar where soft drinks and snacks are free. And there are large models of each of the condo buildings (except The Harmon, which isn't done apparently) as well as models of what the rooms will look like. So to your right you'll see what the mock-up living room (complete with a fake Strip view) of the Vdara studio apartments (starting at $500,000) would look like. And to your left is what the bathrooms of the Mandarin Oriental units (which are sold out despite costing $1.5 million to $10 million) will look like. I liked the faucet spouts the most.

So today I'm sharing the serious pix. Tomorrow, I have some pretty funny ones, so come on back.