It was apparently time for change on both sides of the stage when it comes to The Scintas leaving the Rio for the Sahara.

David Saxe, producer of the Sahara's "Buck Wild," was in final contract negotiations with the sibling variety act earlier this week. He plans to produce The Scintas in a 7 p.m. time slot to run along with his "Buck Wild" revue at 9 p.m.

The Scintas are scheduled to leave the Rio at the end of this month and open at the Sahara in mid-May. It was not clear if Blair Farrington, the producer of the Rio show, will continue to be involved.

While no Harrah's official spoke on the record, group personality Frank Scinta did not dispute the notion expressed by some company officials that the act had run its course as a perk for Total Rewards player's club members. "Some of them have been to see our show 10 times," Scinta said.

And, he says, the group is ready for a new challenge. "You get comfortable like an old pair of shoes. You get so comfortable you don't realize it's time for a new pair."

Saxe said he approached the group after it became apparent that "Buck Wild" was working better as a topless show six nights per week then as a 10-show mix of topless and "covered" performances.

The Scintas -- Frank, Joe and sister Chrissi, with drummer Peter O'Donnell -- opened at the Rio in April 2001, after breaking into the Las Vegas market with a previous run at the Las Vegas Hilton.

"It was a great stay while it lasted," Frank says of the Rio run. "Thanks to Harrah's they made my family a household name."

The group is using its last month at the Rio to get ready for the new show, changing things such as the opening number. "We're going to be a little looser than we've been," Frank says, more like the group's pre-Vegas days in Buffalo, N.Y. "In the past five years we've been kind of scripted."

The Rio has several proposals on the table for a replacement and is taking its time on picking a replacement. The winner is likely to be one that blends in with the casino's recent turn toward a sexy image. ...

While the Hard Rock announced last week that plans for a new version of The Joint have been postponed, the Palms is moving full steam ahead with its 2,400-seat concert venue.

The Palms' new entertainment director is H.C. Rowe, who was squeezed out of Mandalay Bay last year in the corporate consolidation with MGM Mirage. Rowe is booking concert acts into the Rain nightclub while tracking construction of the new venue.

The new room is going in near the casino buffet, replacing some of the original convention space and some Brenden Theatres screens that were moved to the west side of the building. ...

There won't be any confusing their physiques. Comedian Louie Anderson will settle into the Excalibur's "Thunder from Down Under" room for an open-ended residency starting March 17.

"Louie Larger Than Life" is the tagline for the 7 p.m. show offered six nights per week. The male revue "Thunder" isn't giving up any of its 14 weekly shows, but pushing its earlier time from 8 to 8:30 p.m.

Anderson spent several years in Las Vegas as an Orleans headliner, but his drawing power dwindled for the 800-seat theater. He only has half that many seats to sell in what's now officially known as the Thunder From Down Under Showroom.

"Thunder" producer Adam Steck also will oversee Anderson's show through his SPI Entertainment. MGM Mirage recently announced the "Thunder" troupe's deal for the room has been extended through 2012. ...

There is strong talk of a live version of the ABC TV hit "Dancing With the Stars" spinning off as a live show that would start in Las Vegas. At least one casino corporation and a team of producers affiliated with another casino company has courted the show. ...

The Killers are undeniably Las Vegas' homegrown success story these days, but don't count the women out. Things are going well for Dian Diaz, a seven-year attraction at the Bellagio's Fontana Lounge.

Her self-financed album comes out Tuesday, but an advance single, "Colour Everywhere," has been getting national airplay, hitting No. 30 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. A review in Billboard called her a "singer's singer."

The song didn't quite crack Radio & Records current Adult Contemporary Top 30 chart, but did show up in the chart's "New & Active" category with 19 stations playing the single.

Meanwhile, Kristine W, who was in many ways Diaz's predecessor as a top casino lounge attraction, continues to be heard in dance clubs.

Her song "I'll Be Your Light" hit No. 2 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart, a narrow chart category but one where she has had nine No. 1 singles since 1994.

Kristine W's career as a live performer was compromised by a battle with leukemia in 2001.

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Sundays and Thursdays.