Celebs cut back on making it rain

The champagne-spraying, cash-tossing era may be fading from the Las Vegas nightclub scene.

It's the latest sign that even the superrich are in a belt-tightening mode.

"Vegas is drying up," said Branden Powers, a partner and director of marketing at Poetry nightclub (formerly OPM) at the Forum Shops at Caesars. While New Year's Eve business was strong, "December was off 25-40 percent on most nights," Powers said.

In recent years, clubgoers could count on celebrities to show up and "make it rain," a popular craze that involved large amounts of cash being tossed in the air.

That wasn't the case at a number of clubs on New Year's Eve, including Poetry.

"We had sporadic showers," said Powers. "It was only a drizzle. It wasn't at all like the hundreds of thousands of dollars we've seen in the past."

No one "made it rain" more than boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, who showed up at Poetry and other popular clubs on the Strip almost every week with stacks of cash, $10,000 to $20,000, that he would toss into the crowd.

But Mayweather has apparently cut back. It's been months since a club reported a Mayweather money toss.

Also missing has been the more recent trend of celebrities spraying the club crowds with champagne. That started to fizzle shortly after a brutal beating in June involving Javon Walker of the Oakland Raiders.

Police theorize he may have become a target of a criminal element after spraying crowds at Tryst nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas and Body English at the Hard Rock Hotel on successive nights at about 3 a.m.

Walker was found unconscious in a driveway behind the Strip. He reported that he was missing more than $100,000 in jewelry after the beating.

RAKU RACKS UP HONORS

A 30-seat Japanese restaurant has scored top restaurant and chef-of-the-year honors from KNPR food critic John Curtas. Raku, located in Summerlin at 5030 Spring Mountain Road, "puts out superior Japanese food on a level that Las Vegas has never before witnessed," according to Curtas.

Top chef honors went to Raku's Mitsuo Endo. Curtas' other selections include: Cocktail bar of the Year: The original Nora's Cuisine on West Flamingo; Ethnic restaurant of the year: Los Molcajetes in Northeast Las Vegas. Neighborhood Restaurants of the year: East side, Settebello; West side, Marché Bacchus. For the full list go to: www.knpr.org.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

KLAS-TV, Channel 8's new chief meteorologist will be Darren Miller, the R-J's Steve Bornfeld reported in his R-J blog on Friday. He replaced Gina Cancelliere, who decided to shift from TV to full-time motherhood. Miller, whose on-air debut is Jan. 12, was the morning weatherman at WXIN in Indianapolis. He is familiar with desert weather, having worked at KESQ in Palm Desert. ...

Shaun Clancy, who became famous for banning the singing of "Danny Boy" in his New York City saloon, Foley's Irish bar, proposed to his girlfriend, Dee, at the Bellagio last week...

SIGHTINGS

At Tryst nightclub inside Wynn Las Vegas: Pop singer Jesse McCartney, Cleveland Browns wide receivers Braylon Edwards and Donte Stallworth, Playboy Playmate Raquel Gibson, FHM model Vida Guerra and actress Alisa Reyes. ... Illusionist Criss Angel and Holly Madison, accompanied by her parents, sharing desserts on Thursday at Fix Restaurant & Bar (Bellagio). ...

At Tao (Venetian) on Thursday night: Olympian and world record holder Michael Phelps at the club's annual "Hungover and Broke" post-New Year's Eve party for locals who were working on the actual event. Also there: Former 'N Sync member and "Dancing with the Stars" finalist Lance Bass with co-star Cheryl Burke and fellow "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Maurice Green. They were seated near actress Mena Suvari who arrived with fiancee Simone Sestito. ...

At Lavo (Palazzo) on Thursday night: Kathy and Rick Hilton and their sons dining on their annual New Year's outing to Las Vegas...

THE PUNCH LINE

"If romance can't last between a 28-year-old model and an 82-year-old man who wears a bathrobe to the office, why should the rest of us even bother trying?" -- Time magazine, on the breakup of Holly Madison and Hugh Hefner.

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