Matchmaker show to feature Marino
Frank Marino, the long-reigning queen of Las Vegas female impersonators, is featured on Bravo's "Millionaire Matchmaker" next week in pursuit of a love connection.
Marino, the star of "Divas Las Vegas" at Imperial Palace and before that "La Cage" for 23 years at the Riviera, taped the show in June during a break in his 18-year relationship with Alex Schechter.
The episode airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. locally. Marino is hosting a viewing party of the New York feed for friends and media from 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday at the Imperial Palace sports and race book.
"Not only am I the celeb guest, but I impersonated (host) Patti Stanger as part of the show," Marino said. "Patti's a real tough cookie, but I think she finally met her match.
Stanger's sidekicks Destin Pfaff and Rachel Federoff will be attending.
In the episode, Marino chooses one of 20 candidates and invites his date on "an adventurous outing" to Las Vegas.
"I did something I would never do myself. I stepped out of my comfort zone. Something very daring because I'm very cautious. If it wasn't for the fact there was a TV camera on me, I would have backed out."
MEDIA UPDATE
Former Las Vegas sports talk host Mike Responts, better known as "The Sports Pig," is in town with 15,000 visiting Boise State fans.
He has been working in Boise for a year. It's familiar territory because he moved here from there in 1996 and has been back and forth several times on various radio gigs.
He has had a front-row seat in Boise State's rise from a Big Sky Conference member (1970-1996) to a top 10 BCS program.
The Broncos' move to the Big East may strike many as a travel nightmare for fans, along with the loss of natural rivals, but it's being welcomed by a majority of fans, he said, because "for so many years they've been denied and screwed."
Responts, who teamed up with Steve Cofield on "The Wise Guys" on Fox 920, admits he would much rather have trips to San Diego and Las Vegas on the schedule. But The Mountain TV contact is "so horrific," he said, that BSU had to make the move to keep the national brand growing after being on ESPN 53 times. ...
UNLV football analyst Mike Pritchard has a sentimental connection in today's showdown of college kingpins Louisiana State and Alabama, ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
Pritchard, a prized prospect out of Rancho High School in the mid-1980s, was recruited to the University of Colorado by Les Miles, LSU's head coach since 2005.
Miles, an assistant under Bill McCartney, outrecruited the University of Illinois, which had landed quarterback Jeff George.
Pritchard credits Miles for getting him intrigued about visiting Colorado.
"He's as passionate and energetic and puzzling as when he was recruiting me, said Pritchard, a star wide receiver on the University of Colorado's 1990 national championship team. He was the Atlanta Falcons' first round pick, No. 13 overall, in 1991.
SIGHTINGS
Rod Stewart, dining at Spago (Forum Shops at Caesars) on Thursday. Matthew Kennedy, grandson of Robert Kennedy, dining at Craft Steakhouse (MGM Grand) on Thursday with longtime Las Vegan Gene Kilroy. Kennedy, 31, is the director of Office of Statistics Partnership in Washington. D.C. He and his twin brother, Joe, have been tagged as "The Next Kennedy Brothers" by Boston Magazine. At separate tables at Marche Bacchus on Thursday: former U.S. Sen. John Ensign and attorney Glen Lerner.
THE PUNCH LINE
"That's like J.Lo getting marriage advice from Kim Kardashian." -- David Letterman, on President Barack Obama giving Europe advice on its debt crisis.
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
