Anderson’s plans bigger than life

Before landing in Las Vegas as a magician's assistant, Pamela Anderson was considering an over-the-top strip club deal that had a lot of legs.

The Playboy cover icon met with Scores owner Dennis DeGori three years ago to hammer out the details.

A source close to the negotiations said DeGori offered her a percentage in the club and a 10-year, $1 million-a-year contract. In return, the "Baywatch" beauty had to make two-hour visits four times a year.

During the meeting, which included Anderson pal gay fashion photographer David LaChapelle, Anderson dropped a bombshell. She proposed that the club be named The Burning Bush, and she wanted a supersized sign of herself in front -- á la Vegas Vic, the 40-foot neon cowboy above Fremont Street.

Then, Anderson's plan took a wicked left turn: The sign, she said, would be so large that cars could drive between her legs for a car wash. Guess where the spray would come from.

DeGori had his reservations, and Anderson eventually bailed on the idea, saying she "didn't want to hurt her reputation," according to my source.

Her car wash concept followed a similar theme of what Anderson, during a February 2004 interview, told me she had planned for the interior. Club goers would enter by passing through a giant pair of legs featuring her other assets.

At that time, she wanted the club named LaChaPamela, she said, and added it would reflect her personal tastes: a vegetarian menu, soy milk cocktails, and no leather or fur on the staff.

CRITICS ROUGH UP WAYNE

Critics were none too kind to Wayne Newton for his fill-in performance for Gloria Estefan during "Dancing With the Stars" on Tuesday night.

Newton gave a live performance of "Danke Schoen," his 1963 hit at age 21 that launched his career.

"Pretty horrendous -- like a bad karaoke version of himself," wrote the Baltimore Sun.

Entertainment Weekly said Newton forgot the words and the vocal track sounded like "a garbled recording of an incorrectly programmed Wayne Newton robot. That was dying. Underwater."

Meantime, I'm hearing Las Vegas resident Gennifer Flowers is in training with professional local dancer Tony Delgado of Delgado Dance Studios.

Flowers, a professional singer, came forward during Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential election campaign claiming that she had had a 12-year affair with him.

PURPLE PROSE

My apologies upfront if you detect a tinge of purple in my prose over the next couple of weeks.

I'm heading for the World Series next week to follow the purple-clad Colorado Rockies, a team I covered not only from their conception, but during the courtship, all nine years of it in my case.

How's that? Well, I left The Associated Press in 1984, after 12 years, to head up coverage for the Rocky Mountain News of Major League Baseball's hoped-for arrival.

With all the hurdles they had to clear, it's a sweet irony that a manager named Hurdle would lead them to the promised land.

They started the year as 100-1 underdogs to reach the World Series, and you could have gotten a million to one that they would get there by winning 21 of 22.

I look forward to taking a break from the world of Kid Rock to bring you some of my favorite war stories about the kid Rocks.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

Chef Kerry Simon's last day for "fun dining" at the Hard Rock Hotel is Nov. 19. He's leaving Simon Kitchen & Bar after five years for several new projects, including a Simon at the Cathouse, a new ultralounge and tapas restaurant at Luxor. And he's in talks for an eatery with a menu similar to his Hard Rock menu, but with sushi, at a new condo connected to a hip off-Strip property with twin towers.

SIGHTINGS

Actor/choreographer Cris Judd, at Pure (Caesars Palace) on Tuesday. ... Chicago Cubs slugger Derrek Lee, Denver Broncos wide receiver Javon Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Shawn Chacon and actress Ashley Scott, taking in the scene at Body English nightclub Sunday at the Hard Rock Hotel. ... Legendary race car driver Anthony "Andy" Granatelli, attending Gordie Brown's show at The Venetian with his wife, Dolly.

THE PUNCH LINE

"I know your cousin Barack O'Lama." -- From David Letterman's Top Ten Questions President Bush Asked The Dalai Lama

Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.