Underwood can wait all day at Allegiant
UNDERWOOD has gone underground for her new “Sunday Night Football” intro. Carrie Underwood has remained in Vegasville through the break in her shows at Resorts World Theatre. The justturned-41-year-old superstar has filmed the 2025 version of her “SNF” theme, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.”
Underwood started the project Sunday, and by Monday had performed with about 50 extras. Members of the Raiderettes appeared in a dance number with Underwood on Monday in the below-surface loading dock/vegas Loop station.
Plans for another scene at that location on Tuesday were called off. Instead, Underwood took over the theater for a live-performance segment.
The idea was to create a scene similar to the bowels of Allegiant Stadium (or any NFL stadium), enforcing the theme that Underwood has, in fact, waited all day for Sunday night.
NBC has said Underwood was their only choice to pick up the song and video after Faith Hill opted not to return for the 2013 season. She recorded last year’s “SNF” video at Resorts World, and is back on stage Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Celine … Shops?
On the topic of superstars and Resorts World, I ran into Concerts West CEO John Meglen, whose company is in the AEG corporate umbrella. This was one of those “Are you kidding me?” moments. For several days I’d been attempting to wrestle a comment from Meglen regarding Celine Dion’s weekend trip to New York.
Before I could repeat my question about Celine, Meglen laughed and said, “Shopping?”
“Shopping? Seriously? Did we run out of retail in Las Vegas?” I said. Meglen was kidding — his comment was not a confirmation that Dion made the trip to New York just to shop. But she was there, climbing into a limo, flashing a thumbs-up sign to well-wishers.
This conversation with Meglen was just outside the Resorts World Theatre, fittingly, where Dion is so close, yet so far away.
Donny ‘Naked’ on the Strip
Donny Osmond has claimed, “I’m a little bit rock
‘n’ roll” since the late ’70s, when he co-starred with his sister, Marie Osmond, on national TV.
This isn’t just a piece of a song or a promo campaign. Osmond’s 1989 comeback single, “Soldier Of Love,” was pop-rock-ish. A few years earlier, he contributed a terrific rock vocal to the video of Jeff Beck’s “Ambitious.”
At 2 p.m. Friday afternoon, Osmond re-enters the rock realm. The 66-year-old entertainer joins the 100th “Naked Lunch” podcast at Harrah’s Showroom, home of Osmond’s residency production.
The show is co-hosted by rock-music journalist David Wild, best known for his lengthy career with Rolling Stone; and Phil Rosenthal, creator of the Netflix doc series “Somebody Feed Phil,” and the long-running CBS sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
Wild became acquainted with Osmond, and the star’s world-class charisma, during the release of “Soldier of Love.”
At the time, Wild was writing for Rolling Stone on Osmond’s return to the charts. Wild was also in a health crisis, undergoing surgery to remove a gallstone and was hospitalized for days.
“Somehow, Donny heard about this, and was the first person to call me,” Wild says. “I’m basically in a room, being brought back from surgery, and I hear the nurses hanging up on some guy, saying, ‘You’re not Donny Osmond.’ ” The nurses became convinced the real Donny Osmond called when flowers from Aerosmith soon arrived in Wild’s room.
Friday’s “lunch” will actually be a cake furnished by the hotel, commemorating the show’s 100th episode. A recording superstar has cut a video for Osmond, who continues his run at Harrah’s through Nov. 15-16. He’s also announced an extensive “Direct From Vegas” U.S. tour, 46 dates from June through August. And Osmond is coming back to “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” this December at Scotland’s Edinburgh Playhouse.
“The Naked Lunch” has hosted a range of celebs, including Jimmy Kimmel, Graham Nash, Carl Reiner, Jeff Bridges and Sheryl Crow. Wild has seen in Osmond the same qualities we’ve appreciated in nearly two decades of covering him, and Marie, in Las Vegas.
“What you really want to deal with is someone who’s like an ultimate pro,” Wild says. “The Osmonds, every time I’ve dealt with them, have made it clear they what they are doing. They know what they want. They know who they are. They are great to work with, because they’ve grown up in the business.”
Still in balance
Strong-man act Duo Vector — created and performed by Misha Furmanczyk and Lukasz Szczerba — and chair-balancer Maxim Popazov have signed for another year at “Absinthe.” These are the final original acts from the show’s April 2011 opening.
Popazov’s pillar of wooden chairs opens every performance. Duo Vector is physical marvel, standing O in nearly every show. Great call by Gazillionaire to loosen the purse strings on this one.
Cool Hang Alert(s)
A double dose at the new Silver Sevens Showroom, where booking Vegas headliners is a safe bet the show will actually come off (inside reference there).
Jimmy Hopper celebrates the music of Billy Joel, Elton John and Neil Diamond at 6 p.m. (dinner) 7 p.m. (show) on Friday.
Kelly Vohnn’s “Country Female Superstars” tribute to Dolly Parton, Reba Mcentire, Patsy Cline and Shania Twain is 6 p.m. (dinner), 7 p.m. (show) Saturday. Jonathan Scott produces. Go to Eventbite.com for intel.