Reba McEntire returned to her National Finals Rodeo roots. Photo by Jeff Scheid.
Britney Spears surfaced in Las Vegas on Friday, her 24th birthday, amid fresh reports that her marriage has turned toxic.
Rumored to be in hiding much of the week after a blowup with her party-loving, career-challenged husband, Kevin Federline, Spears was "in town," a Wynn resort source confirmed.
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Don't be surprised, sources say, if she shows up onstage for Tuesday's Billboard Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena and is a featured part of the Palms' recording studio unveiling after the Billboard Awards.
Another source said Spears had three rooms at the Wynn: one for herself, another for her mother, Lynn, and another for her nanny and 2 1/2-month-old son, Sean Preston.
Federline was reportedly flying into Las Vegas this weekend, but there were questions whether he was joining Spears.
The pop sensation, who has been taking a sabbatical to start a family, was out on the town Wednesday in Los Angeles with some gal pals and part-time Las Vegan Phil Maloof.
Spears' father, Jamie, works at Maloof's Beverly Hills home as a chef. That's called networking.
Britney reportedly booted Federline out of their Malibu home and then left for an undisclosed location "far away from him," a source said.
Her wedding ring has been replaced, a spy says, by a skull-and-crossbones ring.
Her ties to the Maloof family go back several years, even before Palms owner George Maloof helped get her out of her Jan. 3, 2004, quickie marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander.
The Maloof family is lifting the curtain with media tours of the multimillion-dollar recording studios in the new Fantasy Tower.
Larry Rudolph, Spears' manager for nine years before they split shortly after her annulled Las Vegas marriage, is associated with the recording studio project, one of the most ambitious in the country.
REBA'S NFR ROOTS
Reba McEntire announced her 2006 multiweek deal with the Las Vegas Hilton on Friday, then returned to her National Finals Rodeo roots.
The country star kicked off the NFR by singing the national anthem during the opening session at Thomas & Mack Center.
In a special re-enactment of how she was discovered 31 years ago as a teenager in Oklahoma City, then home of the NFR, she even had arena announcer Clem McSpadden, 80, on hand to introduce her.
"Eleven months later, I got my first recording contract, thanks to Red Steagal," she told me, referring to a country singer who recognized the red-haired teen's flaming potential.
SIGHTINGS
Gwen Stefani, spotted at the Wynn on Friday. ... Roy Horn, addressing a New Las Vegas Marathon VIP crowd at Turnberry's Stirling Club on Friday. Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher were presented as the marathon's first winners of the Siegfried & Roy Award. ..."Batman" Michael Keaton, checking in at the Green Valley Ranch lobby on Friday. ... "Sugar" Shane Mosley and Ishe Smith of "The Contender," at OPM nightclub (Forum Shops at Caesars). ... Wayne Newton, pulled onstage by Neal McCoy during the 19th Annual Downtown Hoedown at the Fremont Street Experience on Thursday. Newton got in the NFR spirit by donning a cowboy hat while onstage. ... Dustin Elliott, the 2004 bullriding world champion, signing autographs at the Stratosphere's retail shop on Friday. He's back today, at 2 p.m. ... Sylvester Stallone, dining at Aureole Swan Court (Mandalay Bay) on Thursday. He's in town to shoot scenes for "Rocky VI."
THE PUNCH LINE
"Next year keep an extra number for Siegfried and me. It's going to be the rabbit and the turtle running." -- Roy Horn, after the duo had the New Las Vegas Marathon's first Siegfried & Roy Award named after them on Friday at Turnberry's Stirling Club.
