Is Celine Dion returning?
Yesterday, Robin Leach broke on his blog a story that negotiations have begun to bring Celine Dion back to Caesars to headline again starting at the end of 2009 or early 2010. I reached AEG Live (which books the venue for Caesars) to get confirmation that it was in negotiations to return a Celine Dion show to Vegas. The official statement released to me:"Right now Celine's focus is on her worldwide tour. We (AEG Live) begin the North American tour in August. We love Celine and always keep the door open for her to return to Las Vegas if she wishes."
That, of course, implies AEG Live is somehow too busy and Celine too focused with the immediate future to worry about the long-term future, which, of course, is nonsense. And also significant is that this does not answer whether AEG Live is negotiating with Dion's people to return the show to Vegas?
At least AEG Live is clear that the ball is in Dion's court about a return engagement. Of course, that has always been the case. Celine Dion was almost unique among Strip shows in that she closed "A New Day" while still able to sell out every performance.
At least AEG Live is clear that the ball is in Dion's court about a return engagement. Of course, that has always been the case. Celine Dion was almost unique among Strip shows in that she closed "A New Day" while still able to sell out every performance.
So despite having time to send out a few score words of obfuscation (on what Celine is focused on, how much AEG loves Celine, when her North American tour starts, etc.), when it comes to trying to get a direct "yes" or "no" answer to the question of whether AEG and Dion are negotiating for a return to Vegas, it's: "The AEG spokespeople are unavailable to talk to you." (Photo by Sarah Gerke)
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Oprah comes to Vegas
...and so it came to pass, the beloved corporate Gods smiled benevolently my way. The word went from Oprah's company, Harpo Productions, to the Harrah's corporation to the people at Caesars, who reached out to local public relations behemoth Kirvin-Doak, who had an account executive to call upon me late Friday night with the news that I would be granted a single ticket to see Saturday afternoon's "Oprah Winfrey Show" taping with guests Cher and Tina Turner at Caesars Palace. I had totally failed in earlier attempts to get a ticket. But I was also not the only media present. Also there was Steve Friess (USA Today and The New York Times), Doug Elfman (Review-Journal) and fellow blogger Robin Leach. Some were contacted as late as Saturday morning.
I won't bore you, the television-savvy audience of Los Angeles, with too many of the details from a television taping. I am sure you know them far better than I do. But to me many of them were so un-Vegas I was in awe.
For example, there was no attempt to sell people stuff by Oprah's people! I don't just mean that all the tickets were free -- with the huge caveat that you had to be connected in Vegas or Oprah-land to get one. (And on Harrah's side, the biggest caveat being, of course, one way to a precious ticket was to be a person who gambled a good sum at a Harrah's property.)
Still, this audience was in hero mode. And on the Oprah side this was the first time I saw the Caesars Colosseum's ample souvenir stand empty Just imagine how many Oprah shirts, magazines or coffee mugs with inflated prices the worshipful audience would have snapped up. When the usher confused Steve Friess' ticket with mine, one lady begged us to let me sit in front of her like her life depended on it. Why? I am shorter. But instead the crowd of potential shoppers was left only with the nearby Bette Midler souvenir store. The other totally empty spot in the packed arena was the men's restroom: vacant enough for Buddhist meditation.
I also now know why five hours are required for taping a television show. There was an exhausting more than 40 minutes of preparation in which we had to react from "golf clap" to seeing "something cute." And we were told wear lots of lip gloss and to practice being excited before Oprah came out. Lots of stuff had to be shot twice.
The big moment was one such instance. Tina Turner was meant to break the news that she was ending retirement and going on tour. Instead, she wandered about the issue in an answer so convoluted that Oprah finally blurted out the applause moment. They reshot that so Turner could tell people succinctly she was returning to the road. No Vegas show announced.
I was most interested in Cher. She has a show opening next month in the room, and I was hoping for some preview of that show. We got that with Cher debuting a fully produced "Take Me Home" with live vocals. Cher is 61 only in the possible way you could look during your best dream.
There will be plenty of showgirls in sequins and Bob Mackie gowns. It is going to be a quintessential Vegas show.
I think I earlier expressed reservations about Cher being able to move tickets and hold the spotlight in 2008 Vegas. Let me take my foot out of my mouth right now while I still have time before the show opens. Cher is going to be the biggest hit in Vegas since "LOVE." Tickets are going to be impossible to get, and she is going to cause as big a sensation as Celine Dion.
I won't bore you, the television-savvy audience of Los Angeles, with too many of the details from a television taping. I am sure you know them far better than I do. But to me many of them were so un-Vegas I was in awe.
For example, there was no attempt to sell people stuff by Oprah's people! I don't just mean that all the tickets were free -- with the huge caveat that you had to be connected in Vegas or Oprah-land to get one. (And on Harrah's side, the biggest caveat being, of course, one way to a precious ticket was to be a person who gambled a good sum at a Harrah's property.)
Still, this audience was in hero mode. And on the Oprah side this was the first time I saw the Caesars Colosseum's ample souvenir stand empty Just imagine how many Oprah shirts, magazines or coffee mugs with inflated prices the worshipful audience would have snapped up. When the usher confused Steve Friess' ticket with mine, one lady begged us to let me sit in front of her like her life depended on it. Why? I am shorter. But instead the crowd of potential shoppers was left only with the nearby Bette Midler souvenir store. The other totally empty spot in the packed arena was the men's restroom: vacant enough for Buddhist meditation.
I also now know why five hours are required for taping a television show. There was an exhausting more than 40 minutes of preparation in which we had to react from "golf clap" to seeing "something cute." And we were told wear lots of lip gloss and to practice being excited before Oprah came out. Lots of stuff had to be shot twice.
The big moment was one such instance. Tina Turner was meant to break the news that she was ending retirement and going on tour. Instead, she wandered about the issue in an answer so convoluted that Oprah finally blurted out the applause moment. They reshot that so Turner could tell people succinctly she was returning to the road. No Vegas show announced.
I was most interested in Cher. She has a show opening next month in the room, and I was hoping for some preview of that show. We got that with Cher debuting a fully produced "Take Me Home" with live vocals. Cher is 61 only in the possible way you could look during your best dream.
There will be plenty of showgirls in sequins and Bob Mackie gowns. It is going to be a quintessential Vegas show.
I think I earlier expressed reservations about Cher being able to move tickets and hold the spotlight in 2008 Vegas. Let me take my foot out of my mouth right now while I still have time before the show opens. Cher is going to be the biggest hit in Vegas since "LOVE." Tickets are going to be impossible to get, and she is going to cause as big a sensation as Celine Dion.
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Midler's middling show
On December 31, 1999, I was at the Mandalay Bay Events Center watching Bette Midler welcome in the new millennium. It was a show that was simply extraordinary for its old school, over-the-top Vegas entertainment value that has always been Midler's calling card among divas. Midler calls herself "the people's diva," and by that she means that she offers a knowing and ironic wink to her audience in stalwart characters like Delores Delago alongside her larger-than-life, manically self-centered "Divine Miss M" stage presence. So, the possibilities of what Midler could create here as a permanent Vegas show with a reported budget of $10 million was legitimately exciting. But "The Showgirl Must Go On" is not Midler exploding her palette with a show whose outrageousness marks a culmination of her career efforts. Rather, "The Showgirl Must Go On" turns out to be a perfect title for an obligatory and mindlessly predictable super-sized version of a Bette Midler touring concert: a pastiche of the ballads and scripted routines that have worked for her in the past, with some Vegas touches added, including overlong shtick bits on Elvis and Wayne Newton. "The Showgirl Must Go On" offers nothing that will surprise longtime Midler fans, and, with the cheap seats going for $95, it is hard to imagine the appeal for the casual fan.
Be careful of the cheaper seats at the Colosseum for Midler's show too. If you are going to see Midler, get good seats. Unlike Celine Dion, Midler does not have her image up on the massive screen behind her on stage; and so the diva, in the words of one longtime fan in the nosebleed seats, was merely speck-tacular from there.
Also, unlike the immaculate Celine Dion, Midler's voice flattens out on a few notes; but to me, anyway, there was something wonderfully human about that. The more serious problem was Midler's choreography, though it was far more demanding than her predecessor's act; the effort is just not rewarded. Toni Basil's choreography for Midler is one of the most noticeably average aspects of the show. Basil features lots of chorus lines and big finishes that are thoroughly predictable long before they reach the BIG finish.
Fortunately, Midler is confident enough to ratchet down the visual circus on the big ballads, offering "The Rose" and "Hello in There" with all of the spotlight attention focused on her voice. The contrast creates goose-bump moments for fans, greater than a stage full of showgirls with $-sign headdresses (or Midler's own attempt at the world's largest headdress). Midler is still capable of seeming moved by her old hits, and she projects that emotion and feeling into the audience.
"The Showgirl Must Go On" is not a failure or unenjoyable. The grab-bag approach of this show is disappointing only if you expected something truly original and breathtaking and fun, not to mention fresh -- which may be unreasonable for an artist working through her fourth decade as an entertainer. But that is what I expected from Midler, based on her amazing 1999 show in Vegas. Instead, "The Showgirl Must Go On" is a familiar but inferior version of that earlier evening.
(Courtesy photo by Ethan Miller)
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Will Vegas love Cher?
It has been close to a year since my colleague Robin Leach first
blogged about rumors that Cher would be joining Elton John and Bette Midler as a
headliner at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Even before the Midler show was announced, Cher's name was in the mix. Now, with Midler's "The Showgirl
Must Go On" opening February 20, the official announcement of Cher's residency
was finally made.Cher last said goodbye to Las Vegas an epic four times on her "farewell"
tour between 2002 and 2005. Cher's drawing power is going to be tested starting May
6 with 200 shows set to take place over the next three years, with prices ranging
from $95 to $250. If things go well, expect more shows to be added, because as the
Review-Journal's Mike Weatherford notes, "The first stint that runs through May
31 offers four shows per week, leaving room for the singer to add more if she chooses."
I am going to go out on a limb and guess that Cher will prove the first hard
sell among Colosseum headliners. Celine Dion proved a monstrous success. Her "A
New Day" really did mark a new beginning for Vegas headliners. Elton John's
show, if anything, is even more successful. Bette Midler certainly lacks
the numerous hits of Dion or John, but she has spent decades doing almost
vaudevillian concert tours that seem a perfect match for Vegas.
Obviously, as Cher tells Mike Weatherford, "Las Vegas is over the top, and the show I do is way over the top. I feel that it just has to be." Maybe so. But there are so many shows in Vegas built around spectacle that cost less, and how much of Cher's singing will be live? Audiences are far more sophisticated about vocal tricks of the concert trade than they were just a few years ago. Time will tell.
Obviously, as Cher tells Mike Weatherford, "Las Vegas is over the top, and the show I do is way over the top. I feel that it just has to be." Maybe so. But there are so many shows in Vegas built around spectacle that cost less, and how much of Cher's singing will be live? Audiences are far more sophisticated about vocal tricks of the concert trade than they were just a few years ago. Time will tell.
Now, if I can turn back time (yeah, not funny), check out this old-school YouTube clip of the three headliners of Caesars Palace (Elton John, Bette
Midler and Cher) doing a medley of songs including "Proud Mary." (Photo by Sarah Gerke)
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Hail Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace is celebrating its 40th anniversary on Saturday. The resort is routinely called the best brand name in Vegas. Just five years ago though, Caesars seemed to be coasting on its good name and the place was about as run-down as a high-end property could get away with being.
The Palace was becoming ruins: the conveyor belts and escalators were frequently out of order, the main valet was to be avoided, and a double bill of Chuck Berry and Little Richard was about as hip and new school as entertainment got. I definitely would have bet against Caesars and I would have been totally wrong. Caesars is once again a must for any shortlist of hot properties. How did they do it? By investing in the property (and since Caesars was bought by Harrah's in the midst of these changes there is a lot of credit to go around).
Entertainment was the first to be transformed with "A New Day" (2003) and "The Red Piano" (2004). Celine Dion and Elton John were not the most adventurous choices as headliners; yet both have proven to be fantastic and reliable draws since opening. Elton John's show is even good. And, though success has made everything look easy, the original decision to bring on Celine (and construct a theater for her customized right down to the Wolfgang Puck snack bar) was a far more daring business decision than any of her airless music. It has totally paid off.
Next up was a hip nightspot worthy of a massive resort. In 2005, Pure nightclub filled that bill by offering essentially three separate nightclub rooms (a model becoming increasingly standard) all with wide gradations of VIP access. Meanwhile, the dining, too, has been getting a high-end makeover. In this area, my budget keeps me somewhat ignorant. But the rich folks speak well of Bradley Ogden and these days they're breathlessly excited about Restaurant Guy Savoy, which opened in May.
Restaurant Guy Savoy falls outside the Movable Buffet budget. But after reading this description from the resort's corporate website, I am not that disappointed:
"Van Gogh expressed himself with paint, while Beethoven shared his brilliance with the world through the piano. Guy's canvas is your plate, and he bares his soul with culinary creations..."
Nothing against Beethoven and Van Gogh, but imagining their creations as food conjures thoughts too dark, distorted and brooding for my delicate taste buds. Who is the Diane Arbus of chefs? The Francis Bacon for foodies?
It's almost too much to ponder. Instead, I'd rather share some of my favorite Caesars memories and experiences:
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T.O. to Party at Pure
Terrell Owens has been hired to host the Super Bowl party at Pure Nightclub in Caesars on Friday, February 3. The press release refers to Owens as an "NFL star." I am certainly no expert in football, but isn't he more like an unemployed guy?(photo by Jack Dempsy/AP)
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Elton John's Red Piano on the Small Screen
Tonight at 8 PM on NBC stations you can see highlights of a performance of Elton John's The Red Piano recorded live at the The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The Red Piano is the most expensive ticket in Las Vegas. Certainly, the television version will be no substitute for the real thing. But I love Elton John's show and regret only its cost and brevity (The Red Piano is a mere 90 minutes that barely scratches John's career). Still, this is a good way to taste the experience for free, and decide if it is worth spending $250 for a ticket.(photo by MICHAEL CAULFIELD/PRN)
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Few New Year's Eve Concerts
It will be slim pickings this New Year's Eve. Matchbox 20 (at the Hard Rock) and Goo Goo Dolls (at House of Blues) with the big show being Kanye West at the Aladdin. It looks like among the major venues in town who will have nothing going on December 31: Hilton Theatre, The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, MGM Grand Garden Arena and The Mandalay Bay Events Center. December 31 is a Saturday night and so I am a bit surprised or maybe that is the issue (people might need more attractions to come here for a New Year's Eve that fell on a Tuesday). But it seems that New Year's Eve in Las Vegas--at least if it lands on a weekend---has become enough of a draw that casinos no longer feel the need to book a big name.
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