Singer bids adieu to his locks

Edwin McCain -- whose "I'll Be" is a wedding song staple -- finally cut his long hair because his two sons started thinking of his wife and him as "pretty momma and ugly momma," he says.

"I was the creepy, long-haired old guy all of a sudden," McCain says. "I went into (the kids') room one morning, and they were like, 'Momma?' I was like, 'That's it!' "

In today's Neon, McCain tells me he's related to the ex-Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

And he says he played "I'll Be" for weddings at a Krispy Kreme drive-through.

He performs Saturday at the House of Blues ($30-$35; 632-7600).

PLANNING YOUR WEEKEND

• The Miss America pageant is at Planet Hollywood at 4:30 p.m. Saturday ($71.43-$142.86).

• South Point is the place to be today and Saturday for the Championship Bull Riding World Championship ($25-$75). Also at South Point: the Art-N-Ink Festival. There's more on that in today's Neon section.

• Happy new year! It's Chinese New Year, the year of the ox. Yau Kung Moon dance group starts lion dances in the main valets and porte-cocheres at 3 p.m. Saturday at MGM; 3 p.m. Monday at Mandalay Bay; 6 p.m. Monday at Mirage; and 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bellagio. Lee-Hom Wang performs at 8 p.m. Saturday at MGM ($50.40-$176.40). Look for restaurants to offer specials. And Bellagio's Conservatory has a new year's display up. Congratulations and be prosperous.

• If you want to get cornholed, do that at the American Cornhole Organization's King of Cornhole competition today and Saturday at Sam's Town. Cornhole is ... beanbag tossing at 30 feet or so. Winner gets $1,000. Amateurs welcome. Registration is 9 a.m. Prelims run 10 a.m.-2 p.m. today. The King of Cornhole contest is 2 p.m. Saturday and is free to see.

• Actor-musician Nick "Mr. Mariah Carey" Cannon turns turntables at Pure at Caesars tonight.

• February's naked Playmate Jessica Burciaga returns Sunday to the Playboy Club at the Palms, where she was a dealer and was photographed in her nakedness.

• If you can't win Miss America, you can appear at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone at Planet Hollywood. At 11 p.m. today, more than 20 2008 contestants mingle and pose.

• A "Rock and Roll" wine tasting goes down 7-10 p.m. at ... LAX nightclub? It's true ($40). The band is The Tender Box; band member Chris Hammond's dad is NBC play-by-play commentator Tom Hammond.

Write your thoughts on my blog (reviewjournal.com/elfman) or e-mail me (delfman@reviewjournal.com), and I'll post them. My column runs Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. See you then.