New Year's Eve is next weekend: the biggest, loudest and most insane party of the year. And this year's is gonna be crazier than ever as Las Vegas ushers in its centennial. Here are my top picks.
The biggest and most talked-about party is the debut of Pure at Caesars, hosted by Mariah Carey. Owned in part by Shaquille O'Neal, Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Celine Dion, it's got five rooms of fun, the Pussycat Dolls and an outdoor patio. Everybody's fighting to get into this, and it's my top pick.
But that's not the only fun at Caesars. Jadakiss is hitting OPM with a live performance. Be sure to stick around for the 3 a.m. debut of AM @ OPM After-Hours, plus tunes from resident DJs Scotty Boy and Joey Mazzola.
Then there's the madness under the artsy-fartsy cloud thing at the Fashion Show Mall. Cloudburst 2005 is the Strip's party HQ, with performances by Crystal Method, Sky Nellor, and local super jocks Hollywood and Scotty Boy. Countdowns for all U.S. time zones start at 9 p.m. with midnight in New York.
LA must be empty because every star seems to be at the Palms. At Rain Nightclub, bounce to the legendary sounds of Grand Master Flash. And up at Ghostbar, grab one of the sweetest views of the fireworks imaginable.
Girls, get ready to embarrass your dad, because at Bikinis it's Girls Gone Wild! Bare boobies aside, there's some great music lined up, with Biz Markie and uber-hot DJ Aphrodita.
Risqué at Paris has its party hosted by American Idol's Ryan Starr and a sweet lineup of local DJs, including OB-one, FunkyBadChad, R1CK-ONE and Jason Lema.
It's a weekend of top DJs thanks to Godskitchen at Ice. Thursday, Mark Ronson takes the decks. On New Year's Eve, it's Donald Glaude. And Saturday, none other than Tiesto. Wow!
Seven has Club Rubber's New Year's Eve Ball. Check out rockin' tunes from Rubber residents Beej, Danny Love, Eric Cubiche, 4Real and a special show by Drummer KC and cb shaw.
Saturday, it's the biggest Club Rubber of all time with New Year's Blast Off starring Paul Oakenfold, DJ Skribble and Liquid Todd January 1 at the Orleans Arena.
Finally, I absolutely have to give props to Studio 54, Tabú and Teatro at MGM. I did Studio 54 and Tabú last year and had the most fun New Year's Eve—ever. I'm bummed I'm covering grand openings and won't get to go.
Antonio Llapur walks softly and carries a big club. E-mail him at
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