The pool area at Red Rock Resort has a tropical theme. Rande Gerber unveils Cherry, his latest nightclub venture, at the resort's opening tonight. Photo by Jeff Scheid.

Nightclub guru Rande Gerber adds another flavor to the white-hot local scene when he unveils Cherry tonight at the opening of Red Rock Resort.

He's betting No. 21 in his club and bar empire will be as big a hit, or bigger, than Whiskey, his Green Valley Ranch venture.

Green Valley Ranch "was such a success," he said, that it convinced him to take another shot at suburbia.

Whiskey proved there was a market for the party crowd that would rather not "deal with the Strip craziness," he said. Before partnering with the Fertitta family at Green Valley Ranch in 2001, Gerber had talks to put a club in the Bellagio, he said.

Las Vegas has been on a four-year nightclub-building binge, with each new addition raising the bar.

There's nothing vanilla about Cherry, and the topping figures to be the private pool area that overlooks the main pool.

The pool component features eight cabanas and a megasound system.

And, yes, he expects to see his pal, George Clooney, dropping in soon. "We've got a room waiting for him," said Gerber.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

Playing blackjack in Las Vegas was more profitable over the weekend for Tiger Woods than his recent Masters appearance. Woods, who won $315,700 for sharing third place in the Masters, told friends he won more than $500,000 on the green felt surface at the MGM Grand's Mansion. ...

There was a whole lot of commotion at Ellis Island's karaoke bar on Friday when a dead ringer for U2's Bono sang, signed autographs and posed for photographs. Since it was the only sighting all weekend, we're not convinced, so we're requesting more proof. Send your photos to norm@reviewjournal.com and we'll sort it out. ...

UNLV grad Guy Fieri is among the two finalists for the Food Network's reality show "The Next Food Network Star." The spike-haired chef from Sonoma County, Calif., is vying for the chance to get his own show on the Food Network. Online and text messaging voting this week will determine the winner. To vote, go to foodnetwork.com. ...

A second Madonna show has been added to her "Confessions Tour" stop in Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend. Added to her May 27 date at the MGM Grand Garden Arena will be a Sunday, May 28 show. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena box office and all Ticketmaster outlets (Smith's, Tower Records, RobinsonsMay and Ritmo Latino).

SIGHTINGS

Latin heartthrob Luis Miguel, dining at Spago (Forum Shops at Caesars) and stopping in Red Square (Mandalay Bay) on Sunday. ... Eddie Murphy's ex, Nicole Murphy, pulled onstage for the simulated orgy scene at "Zumanity" (New York-New York) on Sunday. Their divorce was finalized late last week. ... At Kokomos (Mirage): Actor Lorenzo Lamas, having champagne with actress Hunter Tylo; Paul Haggis, director of and co-writer of "Crash," with his family in the private dining room; Hope Solo, goalie for the USA Women's Olympic soccer team and Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss. ... Illusionist Criss Angel, getting in the Easter spirit by making two Playboy bunnies appear from an empty box in front of a packed house at Body English (Hard Rock Hotel) early Easter morning.

THE PUNCH LINE

"In a feature article in Sports Illustrated on Kobe Bryant, a professor at USC said Kobe is not very popular with fans. He said that Kobe has about as much street cred as Dick Cheney. Actually, Cheney has more street cred -- he actually shot a guy." -- Jay Leno

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