Poetry nightclub holding its own

The budget is smaller, the venue's not massive and the advertising campaign isn't huge.

But in just a few weeks after opening, Poetry nightclub has made some sweet music with some solid events and marquee hosts leading the charge against the monsters of the Las Vegas nightlife scene.

The venue -- formerly known as OPM nightclub -- located inside the Forum Shops at Caesars came out with guns blazing when brunette beauty Carmen Electra hosted Poetry's grand opening.

Since then, Playboy model and MySpace queen Christine "Forbidden" Dolce and rap icon KRS-One (along with deejay icon Kid Capri) have taken center stage at Poetry, giving it a nice balance of celebrity hosts from all walks of life.

Look for more interesting events at Poetry in the coming months, leading up to the big New Year's Eve party planned for later this year.

Timbaland shines at Pure -- Music mogul Timbaland kicked off a six-day stretch of Halloween parties, delivering a live performance last Friday at Pure.

The Grammy award-winning producer performed some of his biggest hits, including "The Way I Are," "Say It Right" and Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack." He also performed "Apologize," a song by the group OneRepublic which appears on Timbaland's latest album, "Timbaland Presents: Shock Value."

Timbaland came onstage around 12:45 a.m. and kept the crowd going for about 45 minutes before turning the music back over to his disc jockey, DJ Freestyle Steve.

Socialite Kardashian celebrates birthday -- Socialite Kim Kardashian hosted the festivities last Friday at Jet, celebrating her 27th birthday at The Mirage venue.

Kardashian, star of the E! reality TV show "Keeping Up With The Kardashians," was joined by sisters Khloe and Kourtney on Jet's red carpet, posing for photos and doing interviews before heading into the nightclub.

In honor of her birthday, Kardashian was presented a triple-layer cake made by Jean-Phillippe Maury, the pastry chef at the Bellagio.

Prior to the party, the Kardashian sisters dined at Stack restaurant inside The Mirage.

Sighting of the week -- Hulk Hogan dropped by the Palms on Sunday for a quick visit to the Playboy Club. The former World Wrestling Federation champion took time to pose for some photos with the bunnies at the venue.

Actress Cameron Diaz made the rounds Saturday on the Las Vegas Strip. The blond beauty, in town filming her new movie, "What Happens in Vegas," started her evening with dinner at Strip House restaurant inside Planet Hollywood Resort.

Following dinner, Diaz headed to Jet around 1 a.m. where she danced in the stage area overlooking the dance floor until around 2:30 a.m. before calling it a night.

Usher coming to Vegas -- Music star Usher will host the festivities at 10 p.m. Saturday at LAX inside the Luxor.

Jeremy Pond covers the nightclub scene for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Vegas Confidential. His column appears Fridays in Neon and online at www.lvrj.com and www.normclarke.com. He can be reached at 383-0298 or via e-mail at jpond@reviewjournal.com.