Maloof pleased with MTV’s VMAs

Ratings for the MTV Video Music Awards show soared a whopping 23 percent from a year ago, according to George Maloof, owner of the Palms, location of the event.

MTV "was very pleased," said Maloof, and "I have no regrets. I think it was great for the city. It was a big party."

The publicity from Sunday's two-hour show, he said, was worth the investment for the Palms, which had removed 400 slot machines for five days and turned over high-roller suites for various venues.

In return, the Palms got millions in marketing value and coverage from more than 300 media outlets.

Ratings for the VMAs had been sinking in recent years, and there has been speculation about whether MTV's showcase event had lost its appeal.

Curiosity about whether Britney Spears could overcome her personal issues drove new viewers to the broadcast and the promise of what Maloof called "a very Vegas experience."

The overall show was "a huge success," he said, while adding that "some of it got overshadowed by other things." He referred to the scuffle between Kid Rock and Tommy Lee during Alicia Keys' "Freedom" performance and Spears' much-maligned opening.

"I think some of it has been exaggerated," Maloof said. "Her performance probably wasn't what people expected. It wasn't one of her best performances, but the amount of pressure she was under, maybe that was part of it.

"It doesn't mean she can't figure it out."

MTV executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic shot down reports that Spears canceled Criss Angel's illusions hours before the show.

"It fell out before that. We weren't involved in the planning of that. That was Britney and her camp's decision. I'm not sure why."

Meanwhile, Motley Crue's Lee threw more fuel on the fire, referring to Rock as "Kid Pebble" and suggesting his punch was "more like a bitch slap."

Lee said he was standing up to "embrace him with a semi hug" when he got whacked.

Lee apologized to Keys, Maloof and MTV "for the disrespectful" action of Rock.

HAIR TODAY, GONE ...

Spears' backstage drama at the MTV VMAs included her insistence that she have brown hair. But she was overruled by her management team and she wore extensions from Jessica Simpson's Hair-u-Wear line, Vegas Confidential has learned.

Backstage spies say Spears pitched a fit. She had arranged for her own hair stylist to make the trip for $10,000.

"She wanted to go brown, but her people said, 'No way,' " a backstage source said.

The New York Post reported Spears showed up to a rehearsal 31/2 hours late "and she walked in with a frozen margarita. It was so disrespectful."

SIGHTINGS

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, acting like lovebirds during dinner with his mom at Tableau (Wynn) on Sunday after the VMAs. ... Dan Aykroyd, dining at SW Steakhouse (Wynn) on Monday night before checking out Blush. ... Singer Ashlee Simpson, with some lady friends partying Monday on the Ghostbar observatory deck at the Palms. The group washed down requested french fries with Johnnie Walker Blue. At the Playboy Club: rapper Ludacris, playing blackjack, accompanied by Kato Kaelin. ... Lee, at the 10 p.m. performance of "Love" (Mirage) on Monday with a group friends -- and a bodyguard. He showed up with Pamela Anderson at LAX (Luxor) after the VMAs. When they dropped in Noir Bar (Luxor), someone in the party requested that Kid Rock not be allowed in if he showed up. ... At OPM (Forum Shops at Caesars) on Sunday: rapper David Banner, emceeing and singing for two hours, with B.E.T. deejay Madd Linx deejaying; rapper MIMS performed his hit, "This Is Why I'm Hot" and did a duet with Sean Kingston, who was escorted in and out because he is underage; rapper Too Short showed up with 20 models and sang many of his hits. ... At Sunday's MTV VMAs after party at LAX nightclub inside the Luxor: Sean "Diddy" Combs, Spears, Paris Hilton, rapper Eve, Angel, Ne-Yo, Cassie and Robin Thicke, rapper Yung Joc, actor Taye Diggs, singer Ray J, actor Adrian Grenier, actor Josh Henderson, Jeff Beacher, MTV reality stars Brody Jenner, Lauren Conrad, Whitney Port and Frankie Delgado, Too Short, rocker Cisco Adler, MTV star Steve-O, Quiet Riot frontman Kevin DuBrow and Adrienne Bailon of "The Cheetah Girls."