Trump, MGM cut deal for pageant
Improbable allies Donald Trump and gaming giant MGM Mirage have apparently called a truce.
An MGM Mirage rep said Thursday that a formal announcement will be made Monday, confirming a Vegas Confidential report that Trump's Miss Universe pageant will be held at Mandalay Bay in August.
It will mark the first time Las Vegas will host the Miss Universe competition since 1996, when it was held in the Aladdin's Theatre for the Performing Arts. The city also hosted the event in 1991.
The surprise deal, believed to be a first between Trump and MGM Mirage after years of a distant relationship, comes less than six months after a bitter exchange between the New York businessman and MGM Mirage executives.
Last December, as MGM Mirage was preparing to unveil its $8.5 billion CityCenter project, Trump lambasted the megadevelopment, predicting it was doomed "to be the biggest bust in the history of real estate."
Trump's disparaging remarks, made during an appearance on CNN with Larry King, came about a month after MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren suggested Trump's Las Vegas towers and the Panorama Towers didn't compare to CityCenter.
The Panorama Towers are "not Fifth Avenue ... and Trump is certainly not Fifth Avenue," Murren was quoted in an L.A. Weekly article written by Las Vegas freelancer Steve Friess.
Alan Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Mirage, weighed in at the time with this: "I can hardly imagine anyone's opinion that matters less than his."
Trump fired back with a handwritten note on a faxed copy of a Vegas Confidential column, with Feldman's quote circled in ink.
Trump scribbled: "The CityCenter is architecturally unappealing -- It will be the biggest bust in the history of real estate -- good concept but badly designed and really badly executed. Too bad."
Newly crowned Miss USA Rima Fakih on Wednesday confirmed our Miss Universe-to-Las Vegas scoop during her appearance on "Live! With Regis and Kelly."
Vegas Confidential reported it on Twitter minutes after the Miss USA competition Sunday at Planet Hollywood Resort.
(Local celebrity blogger Robin Leach insists he tweeted the Miss Universe move to Las Vegas two hours before the pageant. His Twitter feed Sunday shows no mention of Miss Universe and when asked -- multiple times -- to provide proof, he offered none. Leach may have been busy. He's been under fire of late from Twitter followers who are challenging his use of the term "exclusive" on "Dancing With the Stars" updates that aired on East Coast TV feeds.)
MAY I RECOMMEND ...
Mirage headliner Terry Fator hosts The Animal Foundation's 7th annual "Best in Show" on Sunday at the Orleans Arena. Doors open at noon, and the show begins at 1 p.m. Tickets: $12 for adults, $5 for children 2 to 12 and seniors. Ticket info: 284-7777 or visit www.OrleansArena.com.
SIGHTINGS
British bad-boy Russell Brand, handing chips out to fans on the casino floor at Planet Hollywood Resort on Thursday prior to a red carpet event for the screening of "Get Him to the Greek." He co-stars with Sean "Diddy" Combs and Jonah Hill. ... Las Vegas Grammy winner Ne-Yo, on hand for the unveiling Thursday of a "Be a Gentleman" billboard featuring him as a child. Held at the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign on Las Vegas Boulevard South, the ceremony was part of a campaign kickoff of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America's "Be Great" advocacy campaign. Ne-Yo is an alum of the local club.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Eliot Spitzer may get his own show on CNN. It would be quite a switch for somebody else to be paying him for an hour." -- David Letterman
Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.
