The show is UP: Kenny Kerr's Hard Fall

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Jan 6: Kenny Kerr's Hard Fall

He was the longest-running solo headliner in Las Vegas history, but just a few years since the end of his last gig, he’s probably largely unknown to most of you. Kenny Kerr was the first female impersonator to go mainstream on the Strip, opening in the late 1970s at the Silver Slipper, paving the way for Frank Marino. But Kerr’s story is that of great success and constant financial problems, and when Steve spoke to him in December he had left a gig at a small Italian restaurant miles from the Strip because the owner hadn’t paid him. This hour, hear Kerr provide some fascinating history about Las Vegas, go into some shocking detail about drag queen life and, of course, some delicious slaps at his archrival.

In Banter: Drama at Casino Montreal, a visit to Cirque's mothership, Aria v Bellagio, news on the Fontainebleau, Matt Goss and Krave and more.

Links to Stuff Discussed:

Steve's Las Vegas Weekly column on Kenny Kerr
The website for the Casino Montreal
A YouTube video of the Royal Ascot Sigma Derby-esque game at Casino Montreal
The website for Martini Time, a live cooking show at the M Resort
The sites for Viva Elvis and Criss Angel Believe
VegasHappensHere.Com on the snake-box thing and gay-travel survey
LVA blogger Dave McKee’s post on the emptiness of CityCenter’s Crystals
The Review-Journal’s Howard Stutz in Fontainebleau’s sale to Carl Icahn

Norm to Cirque: Fire Criss Angel

This morning's column by Norm Clarke was very, very unusual. The king of Vegas gossip -- who rarely offers a negative opinion unless it's about Pete Rose -- predicted that volatile "Mindfreak" magician Criss Angel will be and should be canned by Cirque du Soleil. "He's a goner, sooner than later," Clarke wrote.

The tipping point was Friday night's show, when celeb blogger Perez Hilton live-Tweeted about how bad "Criss Angel Believe" was during the performance. Angel's people evidently noticed and told Angel, which means they enabled what came next. At the end, according to Norm's Sunday column, Angel asked Perez to stand. "I have to recognize someone special here in the house," Norm quoted Angel as saying. "Perez Hilton, please stand up. We have the world's biggest douchebag asshole in the house!"

This is really a toughie. Angel's words about Perez were true. He's a terrible, unethical, vainglorious human being. But this was a G-rated show with children in the audience and a really outrageous and unprofessional thing for Angel to say in public. (Similarly, by the by, I'm baffled that the Review-Journal, also read by people of all ages, would print the word "asshole.")

But the incident is notable because Angel has now lost the support of Hilton's enormous web following as well as of Clarke. Also, there's no love lost between Perez and Clarke either, so it's not like Norm was sticking up for a buddy. How Angel ever expects to get anything approaching good PR anymore is a mystery; he's shut himself down to all media and even killed a profile of him that I was set to do for The New York Times. A strange strategy.

It's worth recalling what I wrote almost exactly a year ago in my 4/23/08 Las Vegas Weekly column about the Cirque-Angel alliance:

Yet if the MGM Mirage folks think they're in the clear, they're not paying enough attention to the burgeoning disaster that is Criss Angel Believe at the Luxor. Cirque du Soleil, usually synonymous with the safest bet in Las Vegas, is certainly going in a new direction this time.

Indeed, with Angel, Cirque is now laying in a bed of nails with one of the most controversial and egotistical figures on the American pop landscape. Last week, he physically threatened Review-Journal gossip columnist Norm Clarke, virtually ensuring his show will never be one that "Norm Recommends" on the outside flap of the R-J. It also promises to sour much of the Vegas press on him, creating a tabloid PR challenge the likes of which the Cirque folks have never had to confront.

The Cirque suits in Montreal must be sweating, but they also failed to either make a public statement condemning Angel's threats or force him to apologize. They're powerless, it seems, and thus it's only a matter of time before they helplessly watch their enormous investment be hijacked by a man not given to respecting much of anyone.

Prescient words, no?

Special Video Episode is UP

On Feb. 10, I observed Cirque du Soleil's open audition process for dancers. This weekend, I put together this special 9-minute video episode of The Strip to show how it worked. You can right-click on that link above to download it or click on the YouTube embedded player below to watch. (Subscribe to the show via iTunes or via Zune to get all new content from "The Strip.")




You can also read my Las Vegas Weekly column for more. And, as promised, here are some more photos.


As you can see in the video, the dancers had to perform improv numbers inspired by certain words they were given to whatever music was played for them. The first dancer, who is in the video, was given the word "airborne." I don't recall what the second one was told to do.



They also learned some steps of "Love" and "Criss Angel Believe" and then performed those for the casting team.


For some reason, No. 229 really loved my camera...


There was a lot of sitting around, of course:


Here is Cirque casting director Krista Monson speaking to the dancers who were still in the running to be qualified for potential Cirque roles. This is the afternoon of the fourth and final day of auditions.


It was an impressive experience, but it was also reassuring. I mean, who would've expected to find this...


...or this...


...or guys drinking this...


...at something like this? It makes me feel better about this...


...and this!