Bruno Mars take phones, gives wild show
OUTSIDE of a live performance, you’ll likely never hear or see some of Bruno Mars’ most inventive work. This includes his cover of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” which he performed after fans shouted Celine’s name during the request segment of his show at Park MGM on Saturday night.
“Y’all wanna hear Celine? Let’s go!” Mars shouted as the band played through about half of the Oscar-winning theme to “Titanic.” “I’m not the original, but I’m close!”
Going off memory on those exact words, because Mars famously “pouches” cellphones during his show, which leads to an original you will probably never hear, either: “I Took Your Phones,” with the refrain, “I’m gonna take off my shirt! And nobody is gonna see it on Instagram or Twitter!”
Mars closed the most recent run of shows in his ongoing residency at the Park Theater at Park MGM over the weekend. We don’t need visual evidence to report that he crushed it. Other than the Celine stretch and the subversive “I Took Your Phones,” I learned you are not allowed to bring binoculars into Park Theater.
A fan next to me had hers confiscated early in the show after she had them trained on the stage — which seems pointless anyway, when you have two giant LED screens beaming down at you from both sides of the theater. “I Took Your Binoculars” might be the next original for Mars’ show. Probably a deep cut.
Flipping out
Leave it to “Absinthe” to win an award for which it should never have been nominated.
The tented comedy/acrobatic show at Caesars Palace has been named Best NonAcrobatic Show by the Southern Nevada Hotel Concierge Association. The show was presented the honor on April 28 at The Smith Center. A release was sent out last week, celebrating the impressive, if ill-placed, award.
“Best non-acrobatic show? Really?” The Gazillionaire, the production’s fictional overlord, said in a news release. “Ninety percent of the show is acrobatic. But the other 10 percent is me, so what you’re saying is I’m the best part of the show!”
Also, from Spiegelworld’s official Gazillionaire Twitter account, “It was worth firing every acrobat in the show to win this prestigious award.”
Kaos for ‘Canelo’
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez marked his unanimous decision over Daniel Jacobs by going toe-to-toe (heh) with the revelers at Kaos Nightclub and Dayclub after Saturday night’s fight. Latin superstar Ozuna performed for that fiesta. Canelo showed up at about 2 a.m., looking none the worse for wear.
Also over the weekend,
Rob Gronkowski — Las Vegas’ favorite retired tight end — celebrated his departure from the NFL with an entourage that included WWE star Dean “Mojo Rawley” Muhtadi.
The ex-pat spent much of Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Palms’ new mega-club. Kaos is imposing, unwieldy, hard to tackle, but a lot of fun. Kind of like Gronk himself.
Also partying at Kaos over the weekend were such luminaries as R&B star Usher, rapper YG, Dallas Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, and retired Atlanta Falcon Roddy White.
Newton’s back
Mr. Las Vegas Wayne Newton is giving it a go Monday night, returning from back surgery to resume his residency at Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesars Palace.
Newton is cutting the show’s break-dancing segment; of course there never was any break-dancing segment … but we’ll see the master showman in action again, soon enough.
He is the world
Westgate hosted the Mrs. World pageant over the weekend. Friday was Westgate Resorts owner and pageant judge David Siegel’s 84th birthday. You know what’s coming: During Friday’s preliminary competition, all 37 contestants sang “Happy Birthday to You” to Siegel, in their native languages. That entire series of tributes took an hour, but Siegel smiled all the while and didn’t age a minute.
Cool Hang Alert
Elisa Fiorillo and Kelly Clinton-holmes’ “First Ladies of Las Vegas Entertainment” is a slammin’ show for the cozy Pegasus Showroom at Alexis
Park. Fiorillo’s run through Prince’s “Kiss” kills (she worked with him for more than six years, on tour with New Power Generation) and Clinton-holmes’ “Kelvis” Elvis tribute is great fun. The show continues at 7 p.m. Friday and is back June 8, performing Fridays and Saturdays through July. Vocalist Lisa Gay begins her series in the Pegasus room at 9 p.m. Saturday.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His Podkats! podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/ podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal. com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @Johnnykats1 on Instagram. As of 9 p.m. Sunday:
1. Tyrone Thompson, Nevada assemblyman, dies suddenly at 51
Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson, a champion for education and homelessness initiatives, died Saturday in Carson City. The North Lasvegas lawmaker fell ill in the capital in the middle of the week. He was 51.
2. Treasure Island owner eyeing Caesars’ Strip properties
Eldorado Resorts, Boyd Gaming and other large casino operators are mum about their possible interest in buying Caesars Entertainment Corp. properties. But not Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin.
3. Jimmy Kimmel takes the stage in his club opening on the Strip
The club operator arrived to a standing ovation and led with, “I am from Las Vegas. I went to Sammy Davis Jr. Junior High.”
4. Chance of storms this week in Las Vegas Valley
Clear skies early in the week in the Las Vegas Valley should give way to possible storms, according to the National Weather Service.
5. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez stays on top, beats Jacobs
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez scored a unanimous decision victory over Daniel Jacobs to unify the world middleweight boxing titles Saturday night at T-mobile Arena.