Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NORM: Elton to make splash with debut

Elton John debuts "Red Piano" Friday at Caesars Palace. Erskine Walcott Jr. has 'Idol' dreams Roy Horn is making progress. Catherine Zeta-Jones joins 'Ocean's 12' cast.

A spy tells me Elton John's "Red Piano" debut at Caesars Palace on Friday will be "a wild-and-woolly production" featuring a video blizzard, neon elements, giant inflatables, plus Pamela Anderson on a stripper pole.

Anderson told Jay Leno and "Tonight Show" viewers on Monday that she would be working a stripper pole in a David LaChapelle video when John launches into "The Bitch is Back." Sounds like a statement-making opener to me.

Anderson will be in the audience, I'm told, after sharing the red carpet with Oscar winners Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, Barbara Walters, Dream Works honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg and other A-listers.

With Celine Dion off on a three-week hiatus, John and LaChapelle, the fashion photography icon and video producer, have transformed The Colosseum into a visual extravaganza for the launch of the 75-show, three-year deal. The first engagement runs from Friday through Feb. 22, with another run from March 23 to April 3.

Roy Horn walking

Siegfried and Roy's inner circle is abuzz with some heartening news: Roy Horn took two steps on his own over the weekend.

It's encouraging progress in a comeback that started with his Dec. 22 return to Las Vegas from the UCLA Medical Center.

Siegfried & Roy's manager, Bernie Yuman, without going into specifics, on Tuesday confirmed that Horn is "making huge strides" in rehabilitating his left side since the Oct. 3 white tiger attack at The Mirage.

From choir to 'Idol'

Local "American Idol" entry Erskine Walcott Jr. found he could sing to high heaven as a choir member.

"Choir was his thing. He was in every choir he could be in at Las Vegas Academy," said his mother, Judy Walcott.

Her 24-year-old son performed among the round of 32 during Tuesday's episode of the Fox show. He'll find out how he fared when the results are announced during tonight's show on KVVU-TV, Channel 5.

Music has been a family obsession. His father, Erskine Walcott Sr., has been in local groups for years, including a "Legends in Concert" impersonation of the Four Tops.

It rubbed off on his son. "We use to call him `the oldies but goodies kid,' " said his mother. Young Walcott was in a national break dance contest at age 3 while growing up in New Hampshire.

"We always told him we wanted him to be a doctor, but he said he'd be a singing doctor," said his mother.

During a trip to the White House with the Las Vegas Academy choir, Walcott's voice made a big impression in the U.S. Senate.

"He did a solo, and the senators liked it so much they opened all the doors and asked him to do it again, so everybody could hear it," she said.

The Scene and Heard

"Ocean's 12" has a new addition: Zeta-Jones has joined the cast. Production begins in April, with most of the film being shot in Europe. ... Clarifying Tuesday's item about Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator Doug Starks: He is filling in a number of nights this month for Louie Velez in "A Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean" at the Greek Isles and appearing at the Cannery this weekend in "Frank, Sammy & Dean -- Hear and Now."

The Punch Line

"Committee: A group of men who individually can do nothing but as a group decide that nothing can be done." -- Fred Allen

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.