Monday, December 30, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Shooting Stars: Venetian home to New Year's special

What would New Year's Eve be without a few fireworks?

It certainly wouldn't be New Year's Eve in Las Vegas.

The Strip's real live fireworks extravaganza will light up the sky too late for East Coast TV watchers to appreciate.

They'll have to make do with fireworks of the musical variety, as the Fox network's "America's Party: Live From Las Vegas" goes live from The Venetian from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, hosted by "American Idol's" Ryan Seacrest. (As always, Las Vegan viewers get the tape-delated version, scheduled to air from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.)

From a stage on the pedestrian bridge in front of the hotel's Doge's Palace replica, a variety of musical acts -- from Ja Rule, Ashanti and Dru Hill to Sugar Ray, Dirty Vegas and New Found Glory -- will perform for an invited audience of 1,000. (No tickets are available to the public.)

Sheryl Crow also will turn up -- in a remote hook-up from a Venetian ballroom, where she's headlining a concert.

Rounding out the star lineup: pre-taped numbers from the Rolling Stones (from Los Angeles) and Bon Jovi (from Australia). Their performances, along with Crow's, will be shown on the hotel's clock-tower marquee.

"We wish" the Stones and Bon Jovi were performing live in Las Vegas, admits Rick Garson, one of the show's executive producers.

But most of the show will be live, he adds, citing the Strip's trademark electricity as a prime motivator for bringing the show to Las Vegas.

"I was here over the summer and I said, `This would be a great place to do New Year's Eve,' " Garson recalls, "because of the energy -- and because it's the entertainment capital of the world."

Between commercials, the show will feature some of that entertainment, showcasing "the hot clubs, the hot shows," Garson says, calling the special "a 90-minute commercial for the city of Las Vegas."

Among the Strip fixtures Garson hopes to highlight in pre-taped segments: Cirque du Soleil's "O," Blue Man Group, Lance Burton, Danny Gans and "Jubilee!"

Fox officials approached The Venetian about "a month and a half ago" to discuss the show, according to hotel spokesman Kurt Ouchida.

Garson acknowledged that the show "has come together fairly quickly," but adds that "in the time we put this together," producers managed to assemble a strong musical lineup.

The brief preparation time also created a few questions about crowd control on the Strip, which expects more than 250,000 New Year's Eve revelers.

"We had some minor concerns" about the Fox special, reports Sgt. Tom Page of the Metropolitan Police Department's special events section. But "to the best of our knowledge, it's still a go."

Las Vegas police will not staff the Fox concert because it's on Venetian property.

But because officers report for duty on the Strip at 6 p.m. -- an hour before the Fox audience is scheduled to arrive -- they'll be available "to keep the pedestrians moving" during the live performances, Page says.

If all goes well, Garson hopes "America's Party" will become a New Year's Eve TV tradition on Fox, much as "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" has become a fixture on ABC.

"People this year are watching to see how we do," Garson acknowledges. "We're the new kid on the block. But we're hopefully creating a franchise."

Speaking of "New Year's Rockin' Eve," that venerable institution -- in its 31st year -- gets the party started this afternoon at the Aladdin Theatre, taping a segment featuring Alabama in action.

The country veterans, launching their farewell tour, will be part of a segment scheduled to air in the 10-11 p.m. slot.

While most of "New Year's Rockin' Eve" will bounce between New York and Los Angeles, producer Larry Klein of Dick Clark Productions says the show hopes to add more Las Vegas in future years.

"We love your town," he says. "We want to do an entire show from Las Vegas."

Not only is Las Vegas "right for our show, it's right for New Year's Eve," Klein comments. "The fun, the lights ... it's just exciting."

Maybe next year.

Shifting from 2002 to 2003, Japan's Fuji network begins a six-day shoot Friday for a 90-minute travel special highlighting Las Vegas and New York destinations.

Actresses Eiko Koike and Eriko Sato will host the show, which will offer behind-the-scenes looks at some leading Las Vegas attractions, according to production coordinator Jun Nagashima.

In addition to interviews with Siegfried and Roy and "Lord of the Dance's" Michael Flatley, the show plans to explore the inner workings of Bellagio's spouting fountains and Treasure Island's buccaneer battle.

The special will air in prime-time in February, Nagashima reports.

And coming up Sunday, NBC's "Fear Factor" begins a four-day shoot on a 90-minute special, kicking things off with an open-to-the-public stunt at the Fremont Street Experience.

"We never reveal the stunt to the contestants," according to executive producer Matt Kunitz says. But "we use the feeling of the Fremont Street Experience for one."

The show's six contestants will challenge the Glitter Gulch attraction's towering light canopy Sunday night. Kunitz advises potential onlookers not to expect any action before 10 p.m. -- and not to expect that action to conclude for at least two hours.

Also scheduled to start a four-day shoot Sunday: an Animal Planet special devoted to Silverton magician Dirk Arthur and his big cat co-stars, tentatively titled "The Cat Whisperer."

Tune in next year -- in other words, next week -- for more details on these and other upcoming made-in-Vegas productions.

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays.COMING TUESDAY