Kimo’s Vegas
Holly Madison. Denise Truscello photo from Kimo Akane
LIFE AFTER PLAYBOY … Holly Madison captures the April cover of FHM magazine. The spread was shot on the stage of her Las Vegas Peepshow at Planet Hollywood.
NOT JUST ANOTHER pretty face, if you’re wondering what happened to the “F” or what the “F” happened to downtown’s signature neon, the Fitz is undergoing a face lift, and it’s out with the old name ‘n’ neon and in with the new nom de plume. Now officially known as “the D,” it’s named after owner Derek Stevens, his hometown (Detroit) and for the D in Downtown. When it’s complete, “the D” will have pumped $15 million into his remodel. The multilevel casino will feature an allnew casino on the bottom floor and a flashback to old Vegas on the second that’s perfect for die hard, hard-core cup carrying coin-in players… get more details at theD.com.
$1 BILLION … Say it the way they did in Austin Powers and you’ll feel the power of the “B word” that has Las Vegas casino executives slobbering like the proverbial Pavlovian dog after the bell goes ding. It’s the first time the casinos broke the B barrier since September ’08, and it was their fourth largest month ever. The gods smiled upon the casinos, and the planets aligned and put the Super Bowl and Chinese New Year in the same calendar month.
A TICKET TO a Cirque Du Soleil show is not all that expensive when you consider everything that you’re paying for: the theater, equipment, electricity, performers, athletes, musicians and rest of the crew and staff. Then there’s the not so obvious stuff like laundering the 400-plus costumes that are used in a single show …
ZARKANA IS the name of the new show that will follow in the Cirque du Soleil footsteps of the King. Viva Elvis officially goes dark Aug. 18 and the rock opera love story show that has already sold more than 1 million tickets will open Oct 25.
EIGHT OF THE top 10 nightclubs and bars can be found on the famous real estate known as the Strip. At No. 1, Marquee at The Cosmopolitan with estimated $70 million in revenue, second is XS in Encore, The Venetian’s TAO is third, followed by Pure in Caesars Palace. LAX is sixth, The Aria’s Haze seventh, Surrender at Encore eighth and the aptly named The Bank in the Bellagio finished ninth … As my Uncle Steve used to say, there’s money in okolehao, and a lot more if you serve it with pretty girls and music.
SEVEN OUT … O’Sheas is closing April 30 to make way for the Linq project, a giant observation wheel. As usual, Las Vegas never does anything small, but two huge wheels within a few miles of each other sounds like a 50/50 proposition to me.
THE HILTON IS back in Vegas and we’re not talking about Paris. After splitting with the Las Vegas Hilton (now known as the LVH), the Hilton Grand Vacations Club has taken over the Planet Hollywood Towers and renamed it Elara.
