It was all about the celebrity fun at the Palms' annual Stuff Magazine Casino Weekend. Hell, even the insane monsoon couldn't keep the partiers at bay.
There was a model search at Ghostbar, and live performances from Big Daddy Kane, Doug E. Fresh and Steel Pulse. Saturday had an all-day pool party at Skin with DJs AM and Jus Ske. Celebrity poker junkies also got a chance to bluff away their millions with a tournament hosted by That '70s Show's Danny Masterson.
Of course, Masterson wasn't the only star creeping around the Palms. Others included his brother Chris Masterson (Francis on Malcom in the Middle), '70s cohort Laura Prepon, angry young Lex Luthor Michael Rosenbaum, David Allen Grier, Bijou Phillips, Dule Hill, Dominique Swain and wannabe space cadet Lance Bass. And it wouldn't be a celeb-filled weekend in Vegas without the usual suspects: Tara Reid, Nicole Richie and Paris and Nicky Hilton.
Ahhh, Nicky Hilton. Is there something in the water at the Palms that makes nubile young celebrities want to get hitched?
Karaoke fans, do I have the night for you. Run, don't walk, over to TI's Mist for Gong Show Karaoke every Monday at 10 p.m. The deal is simple: sign up, sing your favorite tune, and if you suck, you get the gong. I had a blast. No, I didn't sing. But I did laugh my ass off. And I was surprised; not everyone was awful. One guy belted out a Metallica-flavored rendition of Bob Seger's Turn the Page that put the metal-head cover to shame.
On top of The Gong Show fun and everything else going down (Rumjungle, Foundation Room, OBA and Drai's), Monday night sees the debut of Clique and Garrick Entertainment's Neptune at Mandalay Bay's Moorea Beach. Clique and Garrick have been doing a bang-up job at Moorea with Friday night's excellent Nude, so the decision to add another night is totally logical, but to do the new night on a Monday is daring. Neptune will certainly add a heavy amount of diversity to the ever-expanding Monday partyscape. But hurry and head over; once the temperature cools down, so will Moorea!
Also this Monday, it's the return of the hip-hop-rock mash-ups of Rok Box at Tabú. The last one was disappointing, but the crowd was fantastic, and I expect this one to be a gigantic improvement!
Antonio Llapur walks softly and carries a big club. E-mail him at
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