Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: Norm!
Local celebrity could be among participants in new reality show
Robin Leach refused to comment on whether he will be in the cast of a reality show set in Australia.
Ralph Fountain/REVIEW-JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
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ABC's new reality show "I'm a Celebrity -- Get Me Out of Here!" will have a local entry.
Spies tell me Robin Leach was spotted getting advice from Siegfried & Roy's snake dancer on how to overcome his fear of snakes.
ABC, after fending off a copyright infringement court challenge from CBS on Monday, plans to unveil the new show today.
Leach, reached Tuesday, would not comment. "I'm sworn to secrecy."
But an industry source said Leach, best known as the cockney-voiced host of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," will be the senior citizen among a cast of eight celebs placed in the Australian wilds.
The show, a spinoff of a British hit series that earned mammoth ratings, will break ground next month as the first-ever, live, seven-day-a-week, prime-time feed over three weeks. Cast members will be voted off by viewers.
That means Leach will be abandoning the good life of champagne and caviar for swamp water, bugs and snakes. The latter apparently scares him even more than the thought of matrimony.
New kid on block
The surprise of the night at the roast of Amazing Johnathan on Monday came when a livid Siegfried Fischbacher stormed in the Riviera ballroom.
Johnathan is moving from the Golden Nugget to the Flamingo. Feigning anger that another magician was moving into his neighborhood, Siegfried railed at the roastee for everything, including Johnathan's raunchy Siegfried & Roy bit with stuffed white tigers.
In a flash, Darren Romeo, Siegfried's "Voice of Magic" protege, leaped off the dais, ran up to the legendary illusionist, fell at his feet and bowed.
It was a Vegas moment, and Siegfried received a well-deserved ovation for joining the fun at 1 a.m.
The Scene and Heard
Sevilla, the Latin restaurant-nightclub at the Aladdin, opens its doors from 10 p.m. to midnight tonight, then Thursday, after a VIP party, from 11:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. If resident headliner Charo believes in omens, here's one: Her birthday is today. Happy birthday Charo, however young you are.
Sightings
Film legends Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft at Penn & Teller on Sunday at the Rio. They were in town to pay tribute to magician Harry Lorraine, an honoree at the magicians convention, and visit Brooks' brother, Bernie, a longtime Las Vegas resident ... New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi, signing baseballs for charity and tipping out at $100-plus during Monday's flair bartender competition at the Roadrunner, 2430 E. Pebble ... Arnold Schwarzenegger, helping Elaine Wynn and school Superintendent Carlos Garcia load an Office Depot truck with Inner City Games registration booklets Monday in front of Le Reve. Later he was at Palace Station, thanking all of the school liaisons involved in the Inner City program ... David Cassidy, dining Sunday in BullShrimp at Green Valley Ranch ... Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith and Ike Turner (no, not together) at Del Frisco's ... Actress Sharon Gless, checking out Piero's Italian Ristorante for her birthday party in May ... Musician Quincy Jones, dining with Elaine Wynn at Picasso; at another table, pop queen-turned-Broadway-star Debbie Gibson with local producer Myron Martin and wife Dana Rogers Martin.
The Punch Line
"We're here tonight to honor a man who has done for magic what John Wayne Gacy did for clowning." -- Chris Ritter, Amazing Johnathan's road manager.
Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can reach him at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.Local celebrity could be among participants in new reality show
