Curtis Brown, Clark County Chief Deputy Public Defender Photo by Clint Karlsen.
Bryan Cheatham, Chippendales Performer Photo by John Gurzinski.
Erin Russell, Legislative Affairs Administrator, The Law Firm of Kummer, Kaempfer, Bonner, Renshaw & Ferrario Photo by Clint Karlsen.
What is sexy?
It's an attitude. A vibe. A sense of confidence that stops short of arrogance.
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It is, we submit, a quality shared by these Las Vegans who we think fit the bill as Las Vegas' 10 sexiest people.
Don't whine. We know that choosing just 10 sexy people from the mecca of sexiness that is Las Vegas is risky business. Walk into any nightclub in town at 2 in the morning, close your eyes, fling an empty Cristal bottle in any direction, and you'll probably hit someone, male or female, who'd qualify as "sexy."
But having already dared to name Las Vegas' 10 most beautiful people way back in January of 2001, we thought it was time to up the ante. Thus, today's list which, like many of the things we do in this space, is totally unscientific and absolutely arbitrary.
We're proud that our sexiest Las Vegans aren't all 20-something hardbodies or models or entertainers or nightclubbers. As far as we're concerned, it's these 10 men and women who illustrate the incredible variety of sexiness, Las Vegas-style.
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Janu Tornell, showgirl, "Folies Bergere" at the Tropicana
Any list of Las Vegas' sexiest women has to include a showgirl. And when it comes to showgirls -- a profession in which "sexy" is pretty much part of the job description -- Janu Tornell stands out.
What's most sexy, says Tornell, 41, lies in the brain.
"I think there are people who can be beautiful," she explains. "Sexy, in my definition, is just a little bit more intriguing, more mysterious, more (about) unsaid beauty."
What makes a sexy man?
"For me, sexy in a man is in his eyes," Tornell says. "I would look at the eyes first and definitely become stimulated by his brain as well. In a woman, it's the same thing. It's the way she carries herself."
And, says Tornell -- who also spent a stint as a contestant in the CBS series "Survivor: Palau" -- sexy involves "an attitude. It's just a way of carrying yourself."
Sexy, she says, is "what's behind the obvious."
CLINT HOLMES, ENTERTAINER
Any time someone uses my name and 'sexy' at the same time, I'll talk to them," entertainer Clint Holmes jokes.
"It's one of those things that's flattering, obviously," the Harrah's Las Vegas headliner explains. "But it's kind of funny because I know me, I'm with me all the time, and I know I'm not sexy.
"It's one of those things that's kind of such a funny honor. It's very nice, but does anybody really think of themselves as sexy all the time?"
Yes, and we hate those people.
Anyway, Holmes continues, "I think intelligence and humor are very sexy. I think any person who's bright, and if they're funny it almost mandates sex appeal.
"Then, if you throw kindness in with it, that's kind of a really special quality."
Still, Holmes jokes, being named one of Las Vegas' sexiest people is "a lot of fun and I'll get to lord it over my male friends. Except, they'll be sick of it in three days."
CHARIDY SULLIVAN LAFONTAINE, SINGER/DANCER
Charidy Sullivan LaFontaine has cut a wide swath of sexy since arriving in Las Vegas nine years ago, from dancing and singing in a number of shows along the Strip to cheerleading for the old Las Vegas Outlaws of the XFL to creating the role of the flame-haired lead pirate in "Sirens of TI."
So, Sullivan LaFontaine, 32, can understand the notion that nobody can do as many sexy shows as well as she has without being, in fact, sexy. Still, she has a hard time seeing it herself.
"I am hard on myself. I am my own worst critic," she says in a charming Southern accent she prays she'll never lose. "It takes a lot to impress me."
But, LaFontaine adds, "I just see myself as a a little pigtailed Georgia girl who has her head up in the stars."
She considers as sexy "somebody who is self-confident and someone who is intelligent. For me, it's well above physical appearance. It's someone knowing who they are and what they want to become and having goals.
"Of course, a great physique doesn't hurt," she adds with a laugh, "but, to me, it's more than just the package. It's what's inside that counts."
Michael Cavanaugh, singer and pianist
Michael Cavanaugh understands the potent sexual allure of mixing music and pheromones. Maybe that's why he's never thought of himself as sexy.
"People see you differently when you sing," he says. "Fans, they wait for you outside the stage door to sign autographs, and they'll be shivering and shaking. I just say, 'Relax. If you knew me for 20 minutes outside of this, you'd know I'm boring.' "
Cavanaugh, 34, came to Las Vegas in 1999 for a piano bar gig at New York-New York. After Billy Joel happened to catch him there, Cavanaugh was cast in "Movin' Out," the Broadway show based on Joel's music.
Cavanaugh performed in the show for 3 1/2 years. He returned to Las Vegas earlier this year and now is putting together his own show.
For Cavanaugh, sexiness is about "two big things: A big sense of humor and a big heart."
"Some beautiful girl dressed in some sexy outfit isn't going to turn me on as much as more of the girl-next-door who is a just a warm person and who doesn't take things too seriously. What can I say? I like to laugh."
Cavanaugh's wife of almost 13 years, Karin, certainly fits that description.
"She's been making fun of me the last couple of days," he says. "She thinks the whole (10 sexiest) thing is hilarious, and calls me names like 'Mr. Sexy' and 'Sexy Thing.' "
DR. JULIO GARCIA, PLASTIC SURGEON
Professionally speaking, Dr. Julio Garcia, 49, deals with questions of beauty and sexiness every day. So, he's given the topic a good deal of thought.
"To me, sexy is the ability to instill a memory in someone's head that makes them think about the person when they're not there," Garcia says. "If it's only sexy when it's in front of you, it's transparent, it's not real."
Sexy is "in the brain," Garcia adds. "That is why, as people get older and someone says of their mate, 'God, you're still so sexy,' the person says, 'How can you think that?' Well, because it's much more than sex."
Now, having said all that, Garcia -- like just about everyone else on this list -- confesses that he doesn't consider himself particularly sexy.
"I am flattered about being considered," he says. "I don't feel l am, but I'm glad to realize other people are fooled."
Ruth Quinn and Ryan Wahrenbrock, palms girls
Definitions of sexy vary from person to person, but true sexy is -- as some Supreme Court justice once said about something totally different -- something you know when you see it.
Thus, we present Ruth Quinn and Ryan Wahrenbrock who, by any definition imaginable, are sexy. The 28-year-old twins came to fame by being named the first, and so far only, Palms Girls, and now work at Tryst, the nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas.
The women have become as well-known to Las Vegans as that mayor with the martinis. Yet, Ruth says being named one of Las Vegas' sexiest women came as "kind of a surprise."
Ryan agrees. "I don't think I'm sexy," she says.
Jokingly -- we have to assume -- Ryan adds: "I'm from Wisconsin. Who from Wisconsin thinks they're sexy?"
"I think we get more people saying, 'Wow, you're hot,' but I don't really hear things like 'sexy' " she adds.
So what is sexy? Confidence, Ruth says, "the way someone carries themself."
"Not to have an attitude," she continues. "Not to have cockiness. But maybe not even having to say it, not even really thinking it."
And what's not sexy? "When you think you're sexy," Ryan answers.
Chez'Ney Hadley, model
For Chez'Ney Hadley, sexy takes a bit of work.
"I feel sexy when I'm trying to be sexy," says Hadley, who's been modeling in Las Vegas and Los Angeles for about 3 1/2 years. "I don't feel I have a natural sexiness. I feel sexy when I try to be sexy."
And when she's not trying to be sexy? "In the morning, I'd say I'm probably cute," she answers with a laugh. "Then I'll get dressed and put on some clothes and maybe then I'll feel sexy.
Hadley, 23, thinks sexy lies in having confidence.
"There are people who mistake it for being, like, slutty. It's not," she says. "I really feel it's how you carry yourself and what you think of yourself, the confidence you show. Whatever you have on, if you think it's sexy, it shows."
Then, Hadley adds, if "you're the kind of person people can talk to -- you're a warm person -- that's even sexier."
When she's on a modeling job, Hadley goes into a sort of sexy zone and pretends she's someone else, "because I really do feel self-conscious, like everybody else.
"It's like a bigger version of me, like the person who's not scared of anything, because I'm a scaredy-cat."
CURTIS BROWN, CLARK COUNTY CHIEF DEPUTY PUBLIC DEFENDER
Curtis Brown seemed a bit more surprised than most when told that he'd earned a place on this list. The notion of being named one of the 10 sexiest Las Vegans, he says, "came out of nowhere."
Brown, 42, thinks confidence makes someone sexy.
"To me, it's an internal confidence and assurance in themselves; really, a belief in their ability to accomplish anything," he explains.
"I'm not going to be naive. Obviously, my characterization of women being sexy parallels external beauty as well. I find my wife incredibly sexy, but she also exhibits those characteristics of internal confidence. And, she's quite striking."
That, by the way, would be Janet, who's been married to Brown since September.
Brown said Janet was "excited" to hear about his honor. But, he adds with a laugh, "her opinion was essentially that she's known that the whole time."
BRYAN CHEATHAM, CHIPPENDALES PERFORMER
Bryan Cheatham doesn't think he's sexy and doesn't try to be sexy. But if scads of screaming women want to think so, that's fine with him.
Cheatham, 28, is master of ceremonies, singer and lead dancer in "Chippendales: The Show" at the Rio. His reaction to being included in our little undertaking was both sincere -- "Awesome." -- and cause for puzzlement.
"I'm surprised, because I don't think I'm sexy,' he says. "I just do my job, which is entertaining women, and I have fun doing it and, if in the process, they think I'm sexy, that's an added bonus."
As Cheatham sees it, trying to be sexy is a recipe for failure.
"If I try to be sexy, it doesn't work," he says. "I mean, sexy to me is somebody who doesn't try to be sexy or doesn't think they're sexy. It just sort of happens."
"Confidence is very sexy," he says, as are "unique looks."
"And another element is the eyes. You can tell a story with a person's eyes. I find that sexy."
Erin Russell, legislative affairs administrator, the law firm of Kummer, Kaempfer, Bonner, Renshaw & Ferrario
It's hard to believe now, but Erin Russell says that, back in college, she was "the ugly duckling" of her sorority.
So, it's probably understandable that Russell, 28, isn't completely buying into this whole sexy thing.
"I think it's extremely flattering to be considered sexy," she says. "But in a city such as Las Vegas, there's so many very sexy, attractive people who can be found anywhere you turn."
Maybe, like Russell, we find confidence and smarts -- she's currently studying for a doctoral degree in public administration -- sexy.
Sexiness is "an inner confidence," Russell says. "If I see someone walking around embracing who they are, that, to me, is extremely sexy."
Yet, she adds, "it's about being humble, too. I don't want to mistake confidence for cockiness. There's a difference there.
"I definitely am not the supermodel type, but I have a more academic side to me, too. To some people, that might be attractive and sexy."
