Friday, July 30, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
NORM: Is Las Vegas big enough for two?
Singer Elton John is cutting calories and criticism.
Steve Wynn's resort will have company.
Donald Trump is coming to town.
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Steve Wynn won't have to wait long to get the finer details about Donald Trump's tallest tower in Las Vegas.
"We're having breakfast (Friday)," Trump said Thursday from his desk on the 26th floor at Trump Tower in New York.
Times have changed. It wasn't that long ago that it would have been dangerous to have the feuding billionaires in the same area code.
"We have a great relationship. We had one little soft spot, but that's been taken care of," said Trump.
That ''soft spot" back in the late 1980s was a battle of corporate titans, with zingers flying like bullets.
At the height of the war of words, Trump was quoted as saying he bought a chunk of Golden Nugget Inc. stock because he "always wanted Wynn to work for me."
Trump not only had lost a bidding war to the Mirage Resorts mogul to develop the $750 million Le Jardin casino and resort in Atlantic City, N.J., but Wynn won approval for a controversial 2.3-mile tunnel that would deliver customers to Wynn's door, away from Trump's Boardwalk properties. Added insult came when a Wynn-backed mayoral candidate beat Trump's guy.
"Atlantic City pulled out the red carpet as if Wynn was the new king," according to a journalist who was covering the brouhaha at the time.
"It got unbelievably vicious," said my source. "Trump kept saying Wynn wasn't going to come and, in the end, he didn't."
Now it's Trump invading Wynn's domain. The 645-foot Trump International Hotel and Tower next to the Frontier will face Wynn Las Vegas, which opens in April.
Listen closely and you hear the synergy sizzling at that end of the Strip.
"Steve is very pleased. He couldn't be happier," Trump said. "I just have a very good feeling about Las Vegas. I believe in Las Vegas and its future."
The new Elton John
Elton John not only has toned down his political commentary, he's slimming down as well.
The British pop icon no longer swipes at President Bush in his show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. He routinely introduced his band by saying, "Going to the far left, unlike your president."
Also gone from his banter is a sexual double-entendre similar to the Whoopi Goldberg raunchy reference to genitalia that ruffled feathers at a recent Kerry fund-raiser in New York.
John had some other news during Wednesday's show, which fills in when Celine Dion takes breaks. He has hired a physical trainer and said he plans to be as thin as Dion by the end of October.
"When the cat's away, the mice will diet," said Sir Elton, who put the crowd at ease early and often.
John has been busy this summer in Atlanta wrapping up his new album, which he said, in jest, would be called "Peachtree Road -- y'all."
The Scene and Heard
The Discovery Channel has ordered 18 new episodes of "American Casino," the behind-the-scenes show about Green Valley Ranch and its operation. Ratings for the Friday night slot rose in key demos, including a 50 percent ratings jump among viewers 25 to 54 from the 12 weeks prior to launch, according to the cable network.
May I recommend ...
The weekend Star Trek convention at the Las Vegas Hilton is from another world. A highlight: the costume competition at 6:45 p.m. Saturday in the main ballroom. All-day tickets start at $35. For more information call 732-5111 or check the Web site www.creationent.com.
The Punch Line
"I don't make deals for the money. I've got enough, much more than I'll ever need. I do it to do it." -- Donald Trump
Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.
