Thankful singer gets sentimental

A sentimental Celine Dion said she will forever remember Caesars Palace as the site of her son's first steps.

"And his first potty training," she told the Governor's Conference on Tourism on Thursday at Caesars Palace.

Gov. Jim Gibbons presented Dion, whose 41/2-year run at Caesars Palace ends Saturday, with the newly created Nevada Entertainer of the New Millennium Award.

The award recognized Dion for "entertaining millions and changing the lives of all Nevadans through her commitment to philanthropic giving."

Nevada first lady Dawn Gibbons gifted Dion with a Nevada-mined turquoise necklace.

Dion told the gathering she will miss her life in Las Vegas and thanked her husband/manager Rene Angelil for "taking the big gamble."

"As you know, my husband is a gambler, and I'm glad he is," she said.

Angelil couldn't be happier, either. He won more than $1 million in a $100,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold-em poker tournament this week at Caesars Palace.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

Pamela Anderson sounds like she's got cold feet about doing a TV reality show with husband Rick Salomon. In a diary entry Thursday on her Web site, Anderson acknowledged she was considering it "only to promote and have people see what it's like to create a show and be on stage starring in a big Vegas production ... probably not happening anymore." She added, "I have to make a lot of big decisions." ...

Oscar winner and Broadway legend Liza Minnelli was hospitalized in Sweden on Wednesday after collapsing in an early Christmas show performance. She flew back to the United States Thursday morning. "It was a terrible situation," local promoter Michael Silfverskiold told Reuters. "She fell off the side of the stage. The production manager caught her." ...

Ex-bull rider Carl Nafzger, who trained Kentucky Derby winners Unbridled (1990) and Street Sense (2007), is in town for the National Finals Rodeo. He was a three-time NFR bull riding qualifier (1963-65) and finished 1963 ranked third overall. ...

Remember the name: Fast-rising country singer Jason Michael Carroll performs at Stoney's Rockin' Country at 9:30 p.m. today. His debut single, "Alyssa Lies," hit the Top 10 last year on Billboard's Hot Country Songs charts.

MAY I RECOMMEND ...

Clint Holmes, former Foreigner lead singer Domenick Allen and Holmes' longtime musical director Bill Fayne are teaming up for "Clint Holmes Unplugged Holiday Show" at the Sahara from Dec. 17-31. The former Harrah's headliner is close to announcing plans for his biographical musical "Just Another Man." In the works: an off-Broadway engagement in April and, from there, to Broadway.

SIGHTINGS

San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy, winner of the 2007 Cy Young Award, dining with former Chicago Cubs ace Rick Sutcliffe at Joe's Steak, Seafood & Stone Crab (Forum Shops at Caesars). ...

Grammy winner R. Kelly, stopping in LAX nightclub (Luxor) on Wednesday. Also in the house: illusionist Criss Angel, celebrating with a big group of pals at his surprise 40th birthday party. Sully Erna of Godsmack teamed up with DJ Vice for a 45-minute drum and deejay set for Angel; former Miss USA Tara Conner, Toronto Blue Jays slugger Frank Thomas, poker pro Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot and former NFL linebacker Jamie Sharper. ... Poker pals Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth, catching dinner at Fix (Bellagio) before heading back to a poker tournament.