Last year I attended part of a trial in a case in which Rod Stewart was ordered to return to the Rio Hotel two million for a concert he canceled in December 2000. Stewart canceled the show citing his recovery from cancer. While the rock star, of course, wanted to reschedule the concert the Rio just wanted to get its two million back.

I arrived fairly sympathetic to any former member of the Faces. But it was also clear that Stewart's reps had bullied the casino into signing the show in the first place, hinting a heavily promoted Millennium concert at the Rio could be jeopardized by the stalled negotiations. The two million was far beyond what Stewart usually got for a show as his reps took full advantage of the legendarily deep pockets when it comes to guarantees in Vegas.  But then the concert, when it finally happened, did poorly. It was a dud. So, when Stewart canceled the second show, the Rio decided enough of Rod Stewart; when the case was over the jury concluded that the Rio was entitled to a refund.

Now the judge has finalized the order and the Review-Journal reports that Stewart has also been ordered to pay $981,926 in interest.

And, it still may not be over for the rocker because Glenn Puit also reports that the Rio now intends to go after Stewart for attorney fees. According to Rio attorney Steve Morris: "What they (Stewart's attorneys) did was they failed to produce information pertinent to the subject matter of the lawsuit, and they failed to do so repeatedly. It cost us a lot of time and an awful lot of money."

This could add up, so here is some advice for Rod: dude, you managed to have a hit with "Passion" and "Infatuation" which are like the same song. Just do that once more. But please, please, don't let this result in another album of standards to pay the bill. I think the bloom is off that rose. You go that route buddy there is a good chance one day soon there will be a lounge at the Rio with your name on the poster board announcing your two shows a night.

Of course, I should mention, before any of that happens, Stewart's lawyers plan an appeal.