Best of Las Vegas -- Las Vegas Review Journal

Parade of well-liked Las Vegans usually includes Wynn, Jones

By JOAN PATTERSON
SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL

It is the most subjective listing in the entire Best of Las Vegas lineup. There's no need for testing the old gray matter about a wine list perused six months ago, or rehashing the queasy tour of roller coasters taken with the teen-age nephews from Dubuque.

Nope, the People listing, like those charming little high school contests that determined the best dressed, best looking and most likely to end up in jail, requires nothing more than taking a liking to somebody. Any deep thinking can be saved for the Best Slots pick.

Although the R-J readers' poll started 20 years ago, a focus on people wasn't included until 1984, when the listing was known as Seen & Heard (it changed to People in 1989).

By any name, Steve Wynn quickly became a dominant factor. Starting in 1985, he was named Favorite Las Vegan (and later Favorite Male Las Vegan) every year until 1997, when he was sidelined two years by tennis star Andre Agassi. He picked up the prize again in 1999.

Although it would seem readers must be familiar with Wynn, the casino executive also was named the Las Vegan You'd Like to Know More About most of the time this category was offered during the '90s.

Other Wynn wins included Best Casino Mogul (1994), Best Dressed (1995-96), Best Community Activist (1995), Best Looking (1996), Most Stylish and Best Philanthropist (1999).

But who can blame a public that has, after all, been exposed to the casino builder through countless newspaper and magazine articles as well as TV broadcasts. Throw in an implosion, an 8-acre lake that dances to Luciano Pavarotti, some of the best entertainment in the world and restaurants that, in a few years, bumped Las Vegas into the upper echelon of fine dining, and you have a character who tweaks the likability quotient.

He also is a man who has created thousands of jobs in this town, a thread that reaches from cocktail waitress to construction boss to the guy who works the neighborhood 7-Eleven register. Add a sense of mystery and it's easy to see why this popularity contest has been a no-brainer for so long.

But Wynn may have a serious challenger in Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who joined Best of Las Vegas last year as Las Vegan You'd Like to Know More About and Best Politician (he cleans up even more this year).

Goodman was already mayor, by the way, when readers decided in 2000 they still needed to know more about him. It seems a "60 Minutes" profile, a piece in The New Yorker and a mayoral campaign only made constituents more interested in who-the-heck they elected to the highest city office. It may have been the straight talk that garnered him the votes but, ironically, it's what people don't know about the ubiquitous Goodman that keeps them interested.

Being mayor of Las Vegas seems to win points from readers as Jan Jones won Favorite Female Las Vegan through most of the '90s, along with Most Effective Public Official (1992-94) and Most Stylish (1998).

Other high-profile Las Vegans who have consistently been the readers' choice include KLAS-TV, Channel 8 news anchor Gary Waddell, who first won as the city's Best TV Anchor in 1984 and has rarely been absent from the spot since. The only real competition for the title came from former KVBC-TV, Channel 3 anchor, and fellow nice guy, Dave Courvoisier, who won a few times during the mid-'90s.

Another challenger has been Waddell's co-anchor, Paula Francis, who also has turned up as Favorite Female Las Vegan (1997). Like Waddell, she was lauded for projecting competence and warmth during her broadcast, a style Las Vegans find easy to cozy up to. Besides, viewers seem to like the hair. Yep, in 1999 she was given the nod as TV anchor with the best do.

Another TV personality who just can't lose is Ron Futrell of KTNV-TV, Channel 13, who started winning as Best Sportscaster in 1986 and is still topping the list most years. Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith is another regular who has been voted the city's Best Print Journalist pretty much since the category was created in 1990.

Along with those tenured TV faces, one voice from the first Seen & Heard listing still entertains rockers caught up in I-15 gridlock. Big Marty, now afternoon deejay for KOMP-FM 92.3, was the first voice of radio back in 1984, 1985 and 1987. Mike O'Brian, then morning drive jock for KLUC-FM 98.5 took over in 1988 and 1990-93. It took Howard Stern to oust the popular radio personality in 1994. O'Brian can still be heard at classic rock station KXPT-FM 97.1. Just Melanie had a good run in the disc jockey category, too, winning from 1996-99 for her work on KSNE-FM 106.5.

A story about R-J readers' favorite folks has to include former KLAS-TV, Channel 8 weathercaster Eric Randall, the guy longtime Las Vegans will remember as the one who pointed out the latest cold fronts with an actual arrow attached to his finger. Although his contemporaries often poked fun at his offbeat style, Randall knew a good gimmick. He was the most well-liked weathercaster from 1984 through 1990 and in 1994, when he was abruptly fired from the station in favor of a more modest approach. Just goes to show that even this best-of poll does not necessarily a career make.

Besides Agassi, Best of Las Vegas sports categories have honored former University of Nevada, Las Vegas basketball coaches Jerry Tarkanian and Bill Bayno, UNLV football coach John Robinson, Olympic softball star Lori Harrigan and tennis player Michael Chang.

Then there's Bob Stupak's nod as Most Unappreciated Las Vegan in 1999. Stupak normally has taken a beating in Best of Las Vegas polls, but something was up. This was the first year for the category and Stupak ran away with the title, apparently winning back a city used to chuckling at his strange ideas. But they became endeared to the dreamer and his idea for the Stratosphere Tower, with its bungee ride at the top and roller coaster around the rim.

Finally, there's the Best Dead Las Vegan category that slipped into the 1994 poll. The readers' vote: Elvis Presley. Here are others Las Vegans will never forget: Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Redd Foxx and Liberace.

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