SHOOTING STARS: ‘American Idol’ reteams with Cirque du Soleil for ‘Love’ song

All you need is “Love.” At least if you’re “American Idol.”

Fox’s top-rated talent search returns to Las Vegas this week for another Cirque du Soleil partnership, this time showcasing The Mirage’s Beatles-themed “Love” show.

According to the show’s Clark County film permit, the six-day visit — scheduled to conclude Thursday — will include contestants strolling down the Strip, possibly ending up at Bellagio’s familiar fountains.

A Fox representative declined comment, but various reports (from the Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly’s Internet site and the New York Post, among other sources) indicate that as many as 60 contestants (chosen from more than 300 hopefuls at the show’s “Hollywood Week”) will sing Beatles tunes on the “Love” stage for judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.
It’s the second time “American Idol” has showcased Cirque’s Vegas showroom mystique; “Idol” previously visited Aria’s “Viva Elvis!” for “Elvis Week.”

‘Body’ wrap: It’s a wrap, as of Wednesday, for the drama “An Entire Body,” which focuses on a single mother (“Six Feet Under’s” Lauren Ambrose, pictured) so desperate she considers giving up her 8-year-old daughter (“Secretariat’s” Audrey P. Scott) in an under-the-table adoption.

The movie completes its multiweek location shoot with dramatic scenes on South Las Vegas Boulevard, near the M Resort; other last-week locations include the Ponderosa Motel on East Fremont Street and the Boulevard Park Apartments on Desert Inn Road, reports production supervisor Chris Ramirez of Las Vegas-based Lola Pictures, which has been providing production services for the shoot.

Even though the Palms isn’t on “An Entire Body’s” location list, it played an off-screen role in the movie’s development — because writer-director Bryan Wizemann, a 1991 Chaparral High School graduate, began scripting the drama while at the Palms for the 2005 Cine Vegas film festival.

At Cine Vegas for the premiere of his feature “Losing Ground,” which he adapted from his play, Wizemann was inspired to write what became “An Entire Body,” Ramirez notes.

The script went on to win third place in the 2007 Slamdance film festival’s feature screenplay competition; producer Michael Ryan (“Junebug,” “Choke”) hopes to premiere “An Entire Body” at next year’s Cannes film festival.

Also on the feature film front, the romantic comedy “Stand By Me,” featuring Bollywood stars Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor, continues production around town this week.

‘Storage’ bids: In Las Vegas, gambling takes a variety of forms.

Including gambling on what’s been abandoned inside a rented storage locker.

That explains why A&E’s reality series “Storage Wars” is in Las Vegas.

“Every few months, StorageOne draws buyers from all over the place to their marathonlike auction,” explains A&E publicist Gina Nocero. “Our guys are gamblers by nature; they just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy all these storage sheds” — or, more precisely, what’s inside them.

The “Storage Wars” shoot, which began last week, is expected to continue through Wednesday; airdate for the Las Vegas episode has not yet been determined, according to Nocero.

Reality bites: Speaking of reality TV, several Vegas-based series continue rolling this week, including Travel Channel’s “Skin City,” Oxygen’s “Bachelorette Party,” MTV’s “The Real World” and E!’s “Holly’s World.” As always, stay tuned to Shooting Stars for additional details.