Sunday, June 01, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: Norm!
Flamboyant Rock may get MTV show
Local character Monti Rock III appeared as himself in the film "Saturday Night Fever."
Courtesy Photo
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Former disco queen Monti Rock III, a self-described "happy has-been" on an eternal comeback trail, may be re-emerging in an Anna Nicole Smith-like reality show.
A flamboyant fixture during New York's swinging 1970s and Studio 54 scene, Rock is meeting with MTV executives Monday to discuss doing a show with zany actor-comedian Tom Green. "They want me to become the Anna Nicole of Las Vegas. I would go into people's homes and terrorize them."
Rock has been in a shock and aw-w-w-h mode for years. Usually out in public with one of his five fake stuffed cats draped over a leopard-print outfit, the monocled Rock is one of our leading local characters and shameless self-promoters (in a crowded field).
You'll find him gadflying around the local scene in his leopard-print Ford Focus. Printed on the sides and back of the car are the words: "In this car drives a legend in his own mind."
Rock's career has been all over the map. A celebrity hairdresser-turned-disco diva, he sold 7 million copies of the disco record "Get Dancin" as Disco Tex and the Sex-o-Lettes. He appeared as himself, a deejay, for $11,000, in "Saturday Night Fever."
Fran Drescher, who had a cameo in the film, "is one pushy broad," says Rock. Don't get him started.
A darling of talk-show host Johnny Carson, Rock appeared on "The Tonight Show" 84 times over 17 years.
"I was like a male Madonna: a walking scandal. I was not your run-of-the-mill fruit," said Rock, who held his "fifth annual" 60th birthday bash Saturday night at Chameleon Studios. For the past three of his five years in Las Vegas, he has been Gaming Today's entertainment columnist.
"I'm a weird dude. I'm not a columnist. I'm just someone who enjoys being Hedda Hopper," and dressing like her, it could be said. "But I belong being a columnist because I've lived it all."
The Scene and Heard
Henderson's Serena Henry, a former singer with Clint Holmes at Harrah's, is one of the 24 finalists on NBC's "Fame with Debbie Allen." She's appearing in Wednesday's show. (8 p.m., KVBC-TV, Channel 3). ...
Mirage headliner Danny Gans is closing his Sept. 11 show to the public and doing a freebie for all local police and firefighters. "Just to show our gratitude," said Gans, who donated $10,000 a week to the local and national Red Cross in the three months following 9-11. ...
The name game: Eagle-eyed Thad Lowe of Pahrump noticed that two of the state Senate votes against passage of a measure to lower the blood-alcohol level at which a driver is considered intoxicated came from Bob Beers and Tom Collins.
Sightings
Supermodel Heidi Klum, cover girl of Sports Illustrated's 1998 swimsuit issue, at rumjungle (Mandalay Bay) in a dressy all-white outfit on Friday night. In town to unveil her new jewelry line at the Gem & Jewelry Show, she attended the Gotham Magazine party at rumjungle and also hit Caramel, the Bellagio nightclub. She took an 11:45 p.m. flight to New York, where she caught the last scheduled flight of the Concorde to Paris on her way to Monte Carlo and the Gran Prix. ... Also spotted at the gem show: actress Loretta Swit (Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in M*A*S*H). She has a jewelry line named Switheart. ... At Rain, the Palms nightclub Friday: 'N Sync's Lance Bass, Dennis Haskins ("Saved by the Bell"), Kevin Wiseman ("Alias") and Sebastian Bach, lead of "Jesus Christ Superstar." ... "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest at the House of Blues Foundation Room (Mandalay Bay), celebrating the successful sale of his new syndicated weeknight entertainment show to Fox affiliate KVVU-TV, Channel 5. The show starts in the fall. ... Meat Loaf and a host of celebs, including the cast of "Lizzie McGuire," squaring off in a softball challenge at UNLV's Earl E. Wilson Stadium on Friday, the kickoff event for the Lili Claire Foundation Benefit Dinner at the Ritz Carlton next Saturday. ... Robert Earl, Planet Hollywood's co-founder and chief executive officer, dining at Commander's Palace on Wednesday with Mike Mecca, Earl's new president and CEO of the recently purchased Aladdin. ... "Mamma Mia!" cast members Tina Walsh, Karole Foreman and Jennifer Perry singing "Dancing Queen" for representatives of several hundred CBS affiliates during their annual conference at Bellagio on Wednesday.
The Punch Line
"Having children is like having a bowling alley installed in your head." -- Martin Mull
Reach Norm Clarke at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.
