This Week In Photos: Brandon, Celine and, Whoa, A Bikini Contest

It was a busy week on the Vegas Strip. Celine. Brandon. Holly. But then all these bikinis happened! So you'll see the stars below but first, this is Studio 54's third prelim for the Miss Knockout competition. The eventual winner will win $5,000 and a contract to be a ring girl. (Courtesy photo by Bryan Haraway.)

The real news, however: At Pure, Las Vegas ambassador to the world Brandon Flowers put on a surprise performance of “Viva Las Vegas," "Mr. Brightside" and a solo song to celebrate the club's six-year anniversary. (Courtesy photos AMG Group.)

For St. Patrick's night, House of Pain went to Tao to sing "Jump Around." Jermaine Dupri was there with a friend. (Courtesy photo by Al Powers.)

Also for St. Patrick’s, Holly Madison, Laura Croft and Angel Porrino of "Holly's World" did up Chateau Beer Garden at Paris. Holly hosts at Chateau tonight. (Courtesy photo by Chateau.)

Jerry Tarkanian joined Hank Goldberg and Chuck Esposito for the opening of March Madness at Lagasse's Stadium. (Courtesy photos by Images of Vegas/IS Photography.)

Oh wait, the real news is Vegas ambassador to the world Celine Dion opened her new show at Caesars. It’s quite different than her previous show. Gone are the Cirque elements, slanted stage and much of her own material. She still does the big Celine numbers, but also throws in some jazz, some Michael Jackson (my least favorite part of the show, but just because I detest his horrid music which makes me want to gag), and the highlight, a beautiful French song I've loved for years ("Ne me quitte pas") that she barely finished without crying. I have one suggestion for Celine. The visuals are quite taking, simply because of the magnitude of them. They stretch across what seems like a mile high and a hangar tall. However, right around "Beauty and the Beast," I began to think, "If the graphics of these visuals were in a video game, that video game would be in 1992." So my suggestion is pretty grand. Call up George Lucas' people or Electronic Arts' execs and see if some of their illustrators can't come watch the show then create a new visual every three weeks or so, to replace the lackluster ones, until all the songs are accompanied by even more impressive graphics. They're not all bad. Not at all. The jazz backdrop is perfect and loevely. The crazy-flower thing is nfity pop. I'm just talking about a handful of not-quite-right graphics. Oh, and at the end, these lights were cool but a few shined right in my face for a full minute. I had to cover my eyes and miss at least 60 seconds of Celine's performance. Don't shine lights as bright as the sun into people's retinas, please, thanks, you're the best. (Courtesy photos by Denise Truscello/Wire Image.)