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Celeb recap: JT, Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift among stars crowding the Strip

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Kim Kardashian celebrates her 29th birthday at Tao in The Venetian.
Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

It has been an especially star-studded past few days in Las Vegas.

The Kardashians were here, Justin Timberlake was out and about, and a host of other high-profile people and highly recognizable faces glittered across our fair city.

Justin Timberlake.

Justin Timberlake.

Timberlake was first out of the gate, in town all week for his namesake charity golf tournament. The former Mouseketeer was spotted on Wednesday with Will Smith's former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star, Alfonso Ribeiro, at the Hard Rock Hotel. JT and the actor formerly known as Carlton Banks had dinner at Nobu with a few friends, then moved the party to Wasted Space before heading over to LAX where they joined Timberlake's former 'N Sync boybandmate, Chris Kirkpatrick, and L.A. Lakers Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom.

The former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, was also in town on Wednesday. He and his wife, Marta Sahagún de Fox, were given a tour of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health by clinic founder Larry Ruvo.

Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings was spotted with two friends on Wednesday as they had dinner at N9NE Steakhouse at the Palms. (Coincidentally enough, the Palms and the Kings are both owned by Maloofs.)

Boxer Floyd Mayweather was also there that night, having drinks in the lounge, and returned on Thursday with nine friends for dinner.

So-called "reverse auction Web site," Winnit.com, co-founder Nick Lachey returned to Las Vegas on Thursday as part of his site's "Everybody Wins Tour." The former member of boy band 98 Degrees (and ex-husband of Jessica Simpson) visited Three Square Food Bank during his visit, where he joined the “BackPack for Kids” assembly line and bagged some school lunches for hungry local students.

Later that night, 1998 Playboy Playmate of the Year, Karen McDougal, checked out Donny and Marie Osmand’s family-friendly show at the Flamingo, then grabbed a low-key bite at First Food and Bar at the Palazzo with her manager and a friend.

Chris Cornell performs at the grand opening concert for the Hard Rock Cafe on the Las Vegas Strip.

Chris Cornell performs at the grand opening concert for the Hard Rock Cafe on the Las Vegas Strip.

Also on Thursday, rock 'n roll legend Chris Cornell performed as part of the grand opening festivities as the new Hard Rock Cafe opened its doors on Las Vegas Boulevard. Former Lenny Kravitz drummer Cindy Blackman and one-time Cheap Trick bass player Jon Brant also lent their musical talents to the cafe's christening.

Kirkpatrick was there, too (though he didn't sing), as were Peepshow co-stars Holly Madison and Aubrey O'Day; outgoing Fantasy performer Angelica Bridges; soon-to-be-single XXX star Tera Patrick; and Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil.

Neil must have been too busy hamming it up on the red carpet (or just really, really hungry) because he joined A Bronx Tale star and creator Chazz Palminteri for dinner at Lavo that same night.

Pauly Shore kicks off the first Toga Party & Beer Garden at Tao in The Venetian.

Pauly Shore kicks off the first Toga Party & Beer Garden at Tao in The Venetian.

After dinner, Palminteri ventured next door, to Tao, where funnyman Pauly Shore was hosting the nightspot's first annual toga party and beer garden.

Kim Kardashian celebrated her birthday at Tao the following night, along with matriarch Kris Jenner and siblings Robert and Kourtney Kardashian.

Brittny Gastineau, Jonathan Cheban, Ciara and MTV VJ La La Vazquez also attended the party, which began with dinner in Tao's private dining room, then continued with the sounds of DJ Reach in side-by-side VIP skyboxes in the upper-level nightclub.

The birthday girl's on-again boyfriend, New Orleans Saint Reggie Bush, wasn't there, but her big sister's boyfriend, Scott Disick, was.

Also notably absent from the party was the youngest Kardashian sister, newlywed Khloe Kardashian. She apparently missed her flight from Los Angeles and didn't make it to Vegas until Saturday morning.

She managed to catch her flight the next day, however, and was on time for her in-store autograph signing that afternoon at GNC at Fashion Show Mall.

Her sister's birthday festivities began on Friday afternoon, when the Kardashian clan arrived at the Venetian in limos and checked into the resort's elaborate, 8,000-square foot, four-bedroom Chairman Suite.

The women spent the afternoon shopping, hitting up Barneys New York, Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin and Annie Creamcheese, while the guys relaxed at Tao Beach.

As Robert Kardashian and the father of his sister's unborn child sunned themselves on the rooftop at Tao, comedian Carlos Mencia grabbed a late afternoon snack inside the casino complex, at Dos Caminos.

Mencia was joined by a few friends and they shared the Mexican eatery's signature guacamole, along with a trio of ceviche, some empanadas and asada burritos.

He had a full dinner at Tao later that night (sushi, spare ribs and satay of bass). Also in the dining room that night: Kevin Federline and his girlfriend, Victoria Prince.

Federline, who found himself in the midst of a failing-to-tip scandal a few months back, was spotted at Planet Hollywood the following night. The former Mr. Spears had dinner at Strip Steak and hopefully learned his lesson back in July and treated his servers accordingly.

Also on Friday, Fame star Asher Book celebrated his 21st birthday at Hawaiian Tropic Zone with a group of six thirsty male friends. The group ensured they were well-watered, though, and celebrated with three bottles of Grey Goose vodka and one bottle of Dom Perignon champagne.

As the birthday festivities continued at Planet Hollywood, country music sweet heart Taylor Swift was across the street, having dinner at Yellowtail at the Bellagio.

"The best meal of my life," she posted to her Twitter account after she finished dinner around 10:30 p.m. that night.

Swift was spotted at Armani Exchange the following afternoon, as she and her mother did some pre-concert shopping. The pair followed up their retail therapy session at the Monte Carlo and had lunch at Diablo's Cantina.

Jay Leno was also in town this weekend, and performed inside the Terry Fator Theater at the Mirage on both Friday and Saturday nights. Moby , meanwhile, put on one show, and performed on Friday inside Mandalay Bay at the House of Blues.

DJ Z-Trip is flanked by Playboy Bunnies Jessa and Denise at Rain in the Palms.

DJ Z-Trip is flanked by Playboy Bunnies Jessa and Denise at Rain in the Palms.

The music continued over at the Palms on Friday, too, as the resort's newest DJ, Zach Sciacca, made his residency official with the debut of “Z-Trip’s Revolution: A party for the people” at Rain.

De La Soul joined Z-Trip for a three-song performance before DJ R.O.B. and Z-Trip battled it out on the turntables for a bit.

Also at the club that night was X Games champion/Australian skateboarder/Palms regular Jake Brown, who pre-gamed with some Perrier-Jouët champagne at Ghostbar before heading down to Rain. (He also partied on property at Moon on Saturday.)

Rapper Pittsburgh Slim was also at Ghostbar on Friday, though he partied with a group of his friends, not club-hopping Brown.

Robin Antin and Matt Goss flank Playboy Bunnies Jessa and Denise at the Palms.

Robin Antin and Matt Goss flank Playboy Bunnies Jessa and Denise at the Palms.

Palms' showroom sensation Matt Goss and his producer, Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin, were presented with keys to the Playboy Club on Friday, along with Sciacca.

Another newly-instated resident DJ did his thing on Friday, at Planet Hollywood, as Privé's longtime guest/newly-official resident DJ, Jermaine Dupri, spun a set.

Meanwhile, Alfonso Ribeiro was once again spotted eating at the Hard Rock. Instead of Ago, though, the actor ate at Rare 120 this time, and sans Timberlake, before following up his meal with a trip to Body English, where the DJ gave him a musical shout-out by playing the "Fresh Prince" theme song.

Onyx hip-hoppers Fredro Starr and Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones were also at Body English that night, and worked in a mini-set while they were there. Miles Austin of Dallas Cowboys was also kicked back in the club that night, and in style, popping Dom Perignon.

The worlds of adult temptresses Holly Madison and Tera Patrick converged at Pure on Friday as the two not-quite-family-friendly femmes partied together at Caesars Palace. It was a very different scene at the popular nightspot the following night, though, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder popped by for a few cold ones, complete with Secret Service escorts.

(And, just to be clear: By "Secret Service escorts" we mean suit-clad Secret Service agents; not scantily-clad ladies of the evening.)

Also at Pure on Saturday: Sean Kingston, New Boyz and not-so-"lil"-anymore rapper, Bow Wow.

The fun continued Saturday as Timberlake celebrated his week-long pro-am with a charity concert in support of Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Joining him onstage at Mandalay Bay was Taylor Swift, Alicia Keys, Ciara, Timbaland, Snoop Dogg, Jay Sean and TLC.

Snoop Dogg headed to Planet Hollywood after the show, where he served as guest DJ at Privé, along with lesser known, not-so-notorious DJ, DJ Konflikt.

Ray Sean, on the other hand, headed over to Tao after the show, where he performed once again and treated clubgoers to an impromptu showing of his chart-topping single, "Down."

After he put the mic down, the Brit retired to a well-stocked VIP table as DJ Vice kept the party going.

Meanwhile, Flosstradamus was at LAX and Sean Kingston spun at the club’s sister spot at Caesars Palace, Pure.

As the two acclaimed DJ's spun on the Strip, hip hop music producer Justin Blaze partied at Rain to the sounds of DJ Christopher Lawrence and Darude.

Also at the Palms that night, Anthony Edwards took in Matt Goss' show in the so-called Gossy Room after meeting the headliner and his producer earlier that day at Blog World.

(The trio sat on the expo's “New Celebrity, New Media” panel, as did Jermaine Dupri.)

Later that night, upcoming Playmate of the Month, Kelley Thompson, kept things under control and stuck to Fiji water at Playboy Club.

While Miss November 2009 was on her best behavior at the Palms, XS at Encore hosted two well-established and unabashed partiers on Saturday: Floyd Mayweather and Pauly Shore.

Actress/model, K.D. Aubert was also at Encore on Saturday, too, but instead of partying at XS, she simply had dinner at Society Cafe.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager co-stars Francia Raisia and Allen Evangelista, on the other hand, lived it up as they were spotted next door, at the Wynn, later that night. The ABC actors made no efforts to keep their presence at Blush a secret: They hit the dance floor and didn't stop until the wee morning hours.

The following day, Timberlake resurfaced once again, this time at TCP Summerlin for the tournament's trophy presentation.

And finally, Bob Dylan took to the stage at The Joint on Sunday night, and Kelley Thompson returned to Playboy.

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Melissa Arseniuk

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