Newton tells fans he will be fine

Wayne Newton on Thursday confirmed he has a viral infection in his heart, a condition he contracted while entertaining troops in Afghanistan six years ago on a USO tour.

Newton, in an interview with People magazine, said he will be out of commission for about two months but assured his fans that he's "going to be fine."

His heart condition is known as cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscle or a change in heart muscle structure. It is often associated with inadequate heart pumping or other heart function abnormalities, including viral infections.

Newton informed Harrah's on Wednesday that he was canceling his six-week holiday show. He also backed out of the upcoming "Dancing With the Stars" tour.

"This is just another little bump in the road," Newton told People. "The doctors are a little more concerned than I am. Part of their concern is that I feel so good -- I'm not taking this lightly."

He said his doctors indicated he should be back to full health in a couple months.

"I really want to apologize to the fans that were going to see me in those shows," he said. "I'm terribly apologetic. And for those who want to paint this situation with a black brush, they're not going to get their wish. I'm going to be fine."

Vegas Confidential reported on Oct. 16 that Newton had suffered a heart scare that caused him to cancel a number of shows.

Don Marrandino, president of Harrah's, said Newton "has been a great friend and our prayers are with him." The last-minute cancellation is not an issue, said Marrandino. "I would like to say that we're not mad; we just want him to get better."

RABBIT PUNCH

Local boy-makes-good Steve Schirripa got The Comedy Festival off to a hot start with his Vegas Va Voom show on Wednesday night.

About 900 patrons showed up in the Augustus Room at Caesars Palace for the old Vegas-style variety show.

"It was a home run," said "The Sopranos" star, who still books entertainment for the Riviera.

Bruce Bloch's hilarious rabbit act helped set the tone of the festival.

Skippy Ala King, Bloch's trained white rabbit that scrambles up to an open mic, waited for a so-so crowd reaction and then brought down the house with the line, "People, there's a writer's strike. I have to write my own" you know what.

Bloch, who provides Skippy's raspy voice, told me he was given the killer line shortly before the show by Hugh Fink, a writer for Craig Ferguson's show.

Schirripa, who was seen around town this week with fellow "Soprano" James Gandolfini, continues to pick up film and TV work.

His new TV food show, "Steve Schirripa's Hungry," begins airing Dec. 6 on Rainbow Media's free, on-demand network, Lifeskool, and he's doing the voice of a basset hound in "Open Season II," an animated family film. The 2006 flick featured the voices of Ashton Kutcher, Martin Lawrence and Debra Messing.

The late-night talk-show pilot he did for Fox Net "went away," he said.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

David Copperfield returned to the stage at the MGM Grand Thursday for the first time since his warehouse was raided by the FBI after a Seattle woman told authorities the magician raped her while she was at his home in the Bahamas last summer. ...

Pure Management Group opens its latest restaurant venture, Company American Bistro, this weekend. It is located adjacent to Pure's LAX nightclub at Luxor.

MAY I RECOMMEND...

Planet Hollywood Resort's grand opening red carpet extravaganza begins at 9 tonight in front of the property, with an anticipated turnout of more than 100 celebrities, including Andre Agassi, Paula Abdul, Roger Clemens, Kevin Spacey, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis.

Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock highlight tonight's lineup as the third Comedy Festival at Caesars Festival gets into full swing. For more information: www.thecomedy festival.com.

SIGHTINGS

Star chef Wolfgang Puck, assisting Spago's executive chef Eric Klein at Spago (Forum Shops at Caesars) with a special lunch for the Brookings Institution on Thursday. ... Tony Rock, Chris Rock's younger brother, hanging out at the Va Va Voom show on Wednesday. ... Actor Matthew Modine was spotted in the audience at the Democratic debate Thursday at UNLV.

THE PUNCH LINE

"Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bought his own jumbo airliner on Sunday. When Muslims are off the ground, they are free to violate their religion's strict ban on the use of alcohol. Protestants get the same waiver the moment they land in Las Vegas.'' -- Argus Hamilton

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