The girlie show boom is going, well, bust, as the closing of "Cover Girls" at the Golden Nugget makes three to disappear in the past month.

The show closed last weekend after barely more than three weeks in the resort's new theater. "Simply Ballroom," the companion show that shared some cast members as well as producer Jon Conway, remains open.

But the ballroom show was up and running in England, while "Cover Girls" was a new effort that suffered from an identity crisis, according to those close to the production. Neither Conway nor hotel staffers could decide what they wanted the revue to accomplish, and it was being changed so much during its short run it never had a chance to catch a stride.

At one point, "Cover Girls" was to be a topless show running at 11 or 11:30 p.m., but when the time changed to 9:30 p.m., producers attempted to make it "covered" but sexy. There also was a "chicken and egg" problem with not advertising the show until it was "ready." But if you don't advertise, low ticket sales can kill you before it ever gets ready.

The closing also came a week after the sudden resignation of Joe Leone as vice president of entertainment. Leone was instrumental in bringing Conway over from England in an effort to find something fresh for Las Vegas.

"Crazy Girls" producer Norbert Aleman has to be pleased with the timing of his decision to freshen up the Rivera revue that's headed into its 20th year. He unveiled the new edition of "Crazy Girls" last week, soon after both of Greg Thompson's shows, "Bareback" and "Erocktica," closed in the same weekend. "Erocktica" had to make room for Prince at the Rio, while Thompson opted to close "Bareback" rather than inherit a dispute over the show's logo and artwork. But there's still "Bite," "Fantasy" and "La Femme" left in a field that hit seven shows at one point last year. ...

Don't be surprised to see Elvis impersonator Trent Carlini head to the Sahara to take over the vacancy left by the departure of another bygone topless show, "Buck Wild," and more recently, "Redneck Comedy."

Carlini's "The Dream King" was last at the Las Vegas Hilton in 2004, and was one of the better Elvis tributes to be produced in a city that more often uses the King for comedic value. ...

Jerry Peluso, who had a hand in producing Carlini's Hilton show, is now behind "Fab Forever." The Beatles tribute act slipped into the Riviera without much fanfare recently to compete with Peluso's former partners, who are now staging "Fab Four Mania" at the V Theatre.

The new show hadn't generated much attention before it had to go on hiatus last weekend. The wife and 8-year-old son of Peter George, who plays John Lennon, were injured in an auto accident Sunday. ...

Cirque du Soleil found a sneaky way to raise ticket prices without advertising new prices. Before Nov. 1, if you bought, say, a $150 ticket, it was "inclusive" -- a 10 percent casino entertainment tax was deducted after the fact. Now, the consumer pays the entertainment tax on top of the purchase at the box office. ...

"Forever Plaid" got an early start on the holidays by converting to "Plaid Tidings" Wednesday. It's the second year for the Christmas edition of the Gold Coast musical. But the show has to go on vacation Nov. 30 through Dec. 11 during the National Finals Rodeo. Former Harrah's headliner Clint Holmes also will help jump-start the season with a free tree-lighting performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Montelago Village at Lake Las Vegas. ...

A couple of weeks ago, we noted the unusual number of octogenerian performers around town these days. Add to them 82-year-old pianist Roger Williams, who hasn't seen the "Autumn Leaves" fall on his annual charity marathons at the keyboard. On Friday, he hopes to spend 14 hours playing at the Fashion Show mall to benefit PBS and raise awareness for music education in schools. He starts at 8 a.m. ...

Finally, we mellow with age but still have schnozzola issues: Anyone who has followed the Pretenders over the years can't help but admire what an engaging performer Chrissie Hynde has become. Once known as a rock chick with an attitude, Hynde now sings with easy confidence and jokes with the crowd, as she did opening The Who's concert at Mandalay Bay last week.

Still, an offhand remark to Friday's crowd triggered a powerful sense of deja vu: Chatting up the front row, she said something to the effect of, "It feels weird to sit this close, doesn't it? You're looking up my snout, but I can see you, too."

The phrase brought back a distant memory of Hynde getting ticked off with a crowd member years ago. Sure enough, my review of an Aladdin show from November 1994 mentioned her angrily reaming out a guy with binoculars for "looking up my snout."

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.