Burton to be featured in special

With a title like "The Greatest Magicians on Planet Earth," it's hardly surprising that Strip headliner Lance Burton would play a leading role in this series of prime-time specials for German television.

The 90-minute show will focus on Burton at home and onstage during a two-day shoot expected to wrap today.

On the itinerary: favorite Burton haunts, from Gary Darwin's Magic Museum to the Bootlegger, along with Burton's showroom home at the Monte Carlo.

The special also will include footage from Burton's previous TV specials.

Franklin, a German talk show host and magician in his own right, hosts the special, which is scheduled to air over the holidays on Germany's ARD network.

Dance chance: Another Strip performer steps into the international spotlight this week as Montreal-based Zone 3 Productions focuses on Naomi Stikeman, a dancer in Celine Dion's Caesars Palace show.

Footage of Stikeman at work will be featured in a half-hour TV documentary about six Canadian dancers, to air next year in Quebec, according to production coordinator Marieve Desjardins.

First (chow) down: Hawaii's the origin of another TV documentary on the location schedule, this one titled "Tailgating: 101" and exploring the all-American combination of food and football.

The production was expected at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday to catch the action prior to the UNLV vs. Hawaii game, reports producer Natalie Holi of Moonlight Media.

Reeling from reality: Don't look now, but yet another celebutante "reality" series hits town this week.

E! Entertainment Television's "nonscripted family sitcom" (from Ryan Seacrest Productions and Bunim-Murray Productions, the folks who brought MTV's "The Real World" to Las Vegas) follows Kim Kardashian, described by E! as "a successful entrepreneur, model and actress." (They're too polite to mention her paparazzi-bait friendship with previous E! reality star Paris Hilton -- or her starring role in a sex tape with ex-boyfriend Ray J.)

The production's expected here Friday through Sunday; the series debuts this fall.

Looking for cooking: As a culinary capital, Las Vegas is a logical stop on the Food Network's five-city search for "The Next Food Network Star's" upcoming fourth season.

Casting directors will be at The Venetian's David Burke restaurant from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 25; hopefuls should bring a completed application (available at www.FoodNetwork.com), photograph and resume or biography. (And if you miss the local audition, you can always submit a three-minute tape to be considered.)

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at 383-0272 or e-mail her at ccling@reviewjournal.com.