Vegas Happenings 01-03-09

By Judy Thorburn
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Owner/Editor in Chief/writer - Las Vegas Round The Clock
Entertainment Reporter/Film Critic - Las Vegas Tribune
Owner/Editor in Chief/writer - The Flick Chicks
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Extreme motorcross stars and a plethora of celebrities from the entertainment world chose Las Vegas as the place to welcome in and celebrate the New Year.  If you were at a Las Vegas hot spot during New Year’s Eve and/or the first day of 2009, than there was a good chance you might have crossed paths or shared some space with one or more of the beautiful, rich and famous who were visiting the entertainment capital of the world. Below are just a sample of who was sighted in town and where.

Red Bull Rings in 2009 with History-Making Feats at Paris and Rio with Extreme Motorsports Legends Rhys Millen and Robbie Maddison

On New Year's Eve in Las Vegas, two world-class athletes welcomed in 2009 with history making feats. Unsatisfied with traditional resolutions, these athletes broke boundaries and propelled themselves in to the history books with amazing feats of skill and calculated risk at Red Bull: New Year. No Limits.  At approximately 8:30 p.m. local time (11:30 p.m. ET), Rhys Millen performed the first-ever back flip in an off-road truck at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. During his final practice before the 2007 Red Bull New Year’s event, Millen overshot the landing, resulting in injury, damage to his vehicle and his withdrawal from the event. The 36-year-old New Zealand native fully recovered, and was more determined than ever to attempt - and complete - the feat this year. During the flip, Millen's truck hit a specially-designed ramp at 36 miles per hour and once airborne, traveled a distance of 80 feet at a height of 50 feet, landing heavily on all four wheels before rolling upside down.  Millen exited his truck unscathed.

Millen’s motor sports credibility is unrivaled.   He was the 2005 Formula Drift champion and 2008 Red Bull Drifting World Championship winner and Pikes Peak International Hill Climb world record holder and has been the lead stunt driver in several commercials and movies, such as Dukes of Hazzard and Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Not to be outdone, Robbie Maddison, who set the world record for a distance motorcycle jump on New Year's Eve last year, followed up this year with a 10-story-high jump, landing on the top of the replica Arc de Triomphe in front of Paris Las Vegas shortly after 9:00 p.m. local time (midnight ET). Having broken the Guinness World Record for a motorcycle with a leap of 322 feet, 7.5 inches over the length of a football field during the 2007 Red Bull New Year's Eve event, Maddison had nowhere to go but up - more than 100 feet up. In front of a crowd of more than 300,000 New Year's Eve revelers chanting his name, the 27-year-old Aussie accelerated to 55 miles per hour and launched his bike 105 feet high, landing on the top of the 96-foot-high and 40-foot-deep replica Arc de Triomphe in front of Paris Las Vegas. After successfully landing on the top, Maddison swung his motorcycle around and dropped a dizzying 60-plus feet to a landing ramp below, the immense force of the impact lacerating his left hand, which was sutured at a local hospital. Maddison's impressive resume, in addition to his record-breaking distance jumps, includes a very successful freestyle motocross career.

Red Bull: New Year. No Limits was telecast live on ESPN to a worldwide audience.

Pre New Years Eve celebrity sightings:

On Monday, December 29 actor Mekhi Phifer stopped in to Café Martorano on for a celebratory birthday dinner (his 34th) with a friend.

New Year’s week kicked off with a bang at LAVO inside The Palazzo.

First, the Sunday night revelry hit a high note during DJ Vice’s weekly party at the hot spot when at 3 am Wilmer Valderrama was spotted toasting with Cristal to a customer who had just spent $90,000 on table. 

The pre-New Year’s Eve celebrations continued on Tuesday.  Olympian and world record holder, swimmer Michael Phelps fueled up for the evening accompanied by new squeeze, Vegas local Caroline “Caz” Pal and a group of twenty friends. 

Arriving just past midnight was actor and model Antonio Sabato Jr., and his True Blood co-star Nicholas Gonzalez and friends.  Maksim Chmerkovskiy of Dancing WithThe Stars fame joined them at their dance floor table where adoring female fan clamored to get photos with the handsome hunks.

Teen heartthrob, singer Jesse McCartney and friends dined at LAVO before adjourning to a nightclub table upstairs near Michael Phelps. 

Actor Elias Koteas was spotted dining with a female friend and then shared a bottle of champagne upstairs in the club sitting near the fabulous marble bar.

Oakland Raiders players Michael Bush, Darren McFadden and Justin Farga arrived just after midnight and immediately took their spot at a dance floor VIP table, not far from Antonio Sabato Jr. Also in the club was New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, with his sister and friends.

New Year’s Eve:

Actress Denise Richards spotted enjoying dinner in Strip House at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

The stars were out in full force at The Venetian, The Palazzo, Lavo and TAO Las Vegas.

The evening kicked off with an explosive performance by Fergie in the Venetian Ballroom! Jesse McCartney and Mena Suvari and her fiancé Simone Sestito were rocking out to "London Bridge,” “Glamorous,” and even classics like Heart's “Barracuda.” David Spade introduced Fergie and got the crowd warmed up!

Right before Fergie took the stage, fiancé Josh Duhamel gave her a kiss backstage and went to his seat to watch the concert. After her performance, Josh met her again and they walked hand in hand to Lavo at the Palazzo where Fergie hosted the New Year's Eve festivities. At 11:54pm Fergie took to the stage, danced and motivated the crowd.  After the countdown, at the stroke of midnight and after shouting "Happy New Year," Fergie ran over to Josh and gave him a kiss and hug. The two partied away into the night with family and friends. Close by were David Spade, Pauly Shore, Mena Suvari and fiancé Simone Sestito.

Over at TAO at The Venetian Hotel Resort and Casino, Carmen Electra hosted the New Year's Eve countdown and festivities. Fiancé Rob Patterson was by her side the whole night.  Immediately after ringing in the New Year, Carmen went to her table by the dance floor and graciously posed for photos with fans and onlookers. She then danced the night away with Rob getting 2009 off to a great start. Brody Jenner was also celebrating with girlfriend Jayde Nicole and mom Linda Thompson. Also at TAO was Adam Beach. After partying at LAVO, Jesse McCartney and Mena Suvari headed over to TAO and partied at the dance floor VIP tables.

Fergie, Carmen Electra and Mena Suvari have a lot in common…. All three are engaged, all were wearing Christian Louboutin Shoes on the red carpet, and all stopped and signed autographs and took pictures with fans.

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino's Body English celebrated New Year’s Eve with Good Charlotte front man and Paris Hilton’s ex-boyfriend, Benji Madden.  Madden arrived around 11 p.m. with an entourage of 12 and partied with his friends until 4 a.m.  Madden rang in the new year with a midnight countdown and went straight into his DJ set where he played over his expected hour and a half. In addition, partiers had the opportunity to win $5,000 or $10,000 every hour from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.  At the end of the night, Body English gave away a total of $25,000.

Just across the way at Carey Hart’s rock lounge Wasted Space, Pink rocked in the New Year with a 45 minute performance, singing hits from her new album release, Funhouse.  Pink was joined by Hart on stage to countdown to 2009.  They toasted champagne together and were seen hanging out throughout the night at their VIP table along with friends, including NY Yankee Jason Giambi.

Other recent and upcoming “happenings” in and around Las Vegas include:

Congratulations to publicist extraordinaire Bruce Maven for being ranked 2008’s #1 Tennis player in Las Vegas. This ranking is among tennis players from 2l years old and up.

In what has become an end-of-the-year tradition since 2004, John Curtas, food critic for News 88.9 KNPR, has announced his annual list of Las Vegas’s Restaurant Awards for 2008. According to Curtas, this year’s list is notable for, “… the explosion of great local dining that’s finally made it to our neighborhoods.”

The 2008 award recipients include:

- Cocktail Bar of the Year: The original Nora’s Cuisine on West Flamingo nabs the top spot for its trailblazing creativity in the cult of the properly crafted cocktail. A close second goes to the Downtown Cocktail Room.

- Ethnic Restaurant of the Year: Los Molcajetes, an authentic Mexican restaurant located in Northeast Las Vegas.

- Excellence in Management and Service: CUT, Wolfgang Puck’s latest restaurant located in The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino.

- Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: East side – Settebello    West side – Marché Bacchus

- Sommelier of the Year: Desi Echavarrie at Restaurant Charlie

- Pastry Chef of the Year: Vannessa Garcia at Restaurant Charlie. 

- Chef of the Year: Mitsuo Endo of RAKU.

Curtas recognized Chef Endo for his culinary mastery, saying, “…taking an invisible corner of a run-down shopping center and turning it into a local and nationally recognized restaurant is nothing short of amazing.” - Restaurant of the Year: RAKU. Curtas describes RAKU as, “…a 30-seat gem that puts out superior Japanese food on a level that Las Vegas has never before witnessed. (RAKU) specializes in small plate wonders of flavor, composition and texture. ”John Curtas’ complete 2008 awards can be downloaded at www.knpr.org.

Every Monday through Friday from 12am to 4am starting Jan. 5, 2009 , all 32 PT’s locations in the Las Vegas Valley are offering guests all drinks for 50 percent off, including draft beers, signature drinks like Vodka Citron Splash and Whiskey Jack of Clubs, in addition to cocktails like The Sartini and The Dirty Arcana.

On Saturday, January 24.McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino is celebrating its one year anniversary. Party-goers are invited to raise a beer glass, or a shot, to toast the occasion and begin the New Year with a wild, weekend bash.

I will be back next week with more of what’s “happening” in and around Las Vegas.