George Clooney and pals may try for "Ocean's Thirteen."
Bette Midler will bring even more class to Wynn Las Vegas.
Dave Chappelle is a coveted comedy headliner.
We've gazed into our crystal ball -- or was it Cristal bubbles -- and foresee a newsy new year in 2006:
1. Biggest parties of the year? Cirque du Soleil's Beatles show opens in May in the former Siegfried & Roy Theater at The Mirage. Word has it there will be a Yellow Submarine restaurant next door.
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Also: the Aladdin's conversion into Planet Hollywood in December, during the weekend leading into the Radio Music Awards.
And the Playboy Club opens atop the Palms' Fantasy Tower this spring.
2. Look for "Ocean's Thirteen" starring George Clooney and fellow heistmeisters, to be filmed here.
3. The arrival of "Spamalot" from Broadway and Bette Midler will take Wynn Las Vegas to another level in entertainment.
4. The next celebrity chef to enter our stunning, ever-expanding constellation: Mario Batali, known for his rustic Italian menu, will open an Italian seafood restaurant at The Venetian. It will open this fall near the Blue Man Group Theater. He's also reserved space for a second restaurant when the Palazzo opens at The Venetian in 2008.
5. The Comedy Festival was just the beginning of a new wave of big-time comedy in Las Vegas.
The main rumblings center on comedic headliners at the Rio and Harrah's. The race is on, I hear, to land Dave Chappelle and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the hottest acts out there.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
Costumes and props for "Love Is A Pain," the critically savaged new show at the Riviera, were missing on Friday -- along with the cast. Never a good sign. ...
Barry Humphries, who finished her "Dame Edna" run at the Luxor on Saturday, told Robin Leach that after hearing of fellow Aussie/high roller Kerry Packer's death, "I looked out my window expecting to see the casinos covered in black crepe." The whale of whales, Packer, 68, died on Monday. There's another local connection: Aladdin CEO Mike Mecca ran Packer's Crown casino in Melbourne for four years.
Happy New Year's and thanks to all who made it such a memorable one.
SIGHTINGS
Terrell Owens of the Philadelphia Eagles, buying a Batman shadow box signed by Christian Bale at the Antiquities store in the Forum Shops at Caesars on Saturday. ... Rob Lowe and his son, checking out Rick Thomas' big-cat show at the Stardust on Saturday. ... Kid Rock, dining at N9NE Steakhouse (Palms) with NFL pass catchers Keyshawn Johnson of the Dallas Cowboys and Owens, who spent most of the season on the Eagles' reserve-suspended list. ... Kanye West, with no security or entourage in sight, shaking hands with fans in the Aladdin casino on Friday. ... Checking out the opening of Jet (The Mirage) on Friday: Nicky Hilton and beau Kevin Connelly, Benjamin McKenzie of "The O.C." and TV prankster Jamie Kennedy. ... Hilton and Connelly had dinner at Stack (The Mirage) with sister Paris Hilton and her boyfriend, Stavros Niarchos. ... Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, at Caramel (Bellagio) on Friday. ... Paris Hilton, going industrial- strength blond at Canyon Ranch salon (The Venetian) on Saturday. ... Supermodel Linda Evangelista, having champagne with a gentleman at Light (Bellagio) on Friday. ... At Tryst (Wynn): Kid Rock, Cedric the Entertainer, Jason Giambi, Tito Ortiz, members of Matchbox Twenty, Javon Walker, Ice-T and Owens. Ice-T also attended Celine Dion's show with wife Coco, dined at William B's (Stardust) with showbiz hypnotists Michael Johns and Terry Stokes and attended Stokes' "Hypnosis Gone Wild" at the Stardust.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Passed out in the onion dip is Robert Downey Jr." -- David Letterman's Top 10 Signs You're At a Bad New Year's Eve Party.
