Celebrity Gossip From Las Vegas With Robin Leach | Luxe Life Digest

MGM's Project City Center is the talk of the town now that CEO Terry Lanni has unveiled the daunting details and massive model of the $5 Billion undertaking -- America's largest-ever privately financed construction project! With 18-million sq.ft to heat and cool, the central energy plant alone will cost $100 million to build. Set to open late 2009, Project City Center will include a 60 story, 4000 room casino hotel, two 400-room 'Cirque du Soleil' boutique hotels (imagine...), 1640 luxury condos, and a half-million sq.ft of stores, theaters and restaurants, to be located on the Strip between the Bellagio and the Monte Carlo. To say this will totally redefine the Vegas experience is almost an understatement.

Cesar Pelli, who's designed the world's tallest buildings -- the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur -- is halfway thru his 20 month design process as lead architect, and my friend Adam Tihany will be principal designer of the luxury hotel. The MGM honcho told me: "There's not a city in the world that's ahead of Vegas in quality of dining, hotel suites, entertainment and shopping. Now we'll add the living component of permanent residences right on The Strip."

Luxe life has also got the first look at Vegas' largest entertainment venue, TAO Asian Bistro, which at 43,000 sq.ft is a giant four floor restaurant, ultra lounge and nightclub. It opens tonight (Thurs. Sept. 22) at The Venetian for local VIPs, with the grand celebrity opening on Saturday. My chef friends Sam Hazen and Josh Thompson serve up Hong Kong Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisines. But the food is only part of the story. From my sneak peek at its waterfalls, infinity pool with rare Oriental carp, and hand-carved 20-ft. tall Buddha, I can tell you it will undoubtedly be the hottest, hippest spot in town. If you can, try to book in the Temple room, with its 100s of carved Buddha monks, floating VIP seats, anda 9000 lb. 12ft. tall 20-armed Quan Yin statue! The $25-million complex is not only the most expensive entertainment venue ever built in Vegas, but also the largest, able to accommodate 2200 guests...  And speaking of guests, in celebration of her boyfriend's birthday, at the last minute, pop star Janet Jackson bought out the entire restaurant and nightclub for tomorrow (Fri.). She and record producer beau Jermaine Dupri will party the night away under extraordinarily tight security to prevent gatecrashers (remember, it's still a day before the official grand opening). The soiree is set to cost Ms. J over $1 million!

While thinking of the Venetian, I have to mention the 140 fine art pieces of 16th and 17th Century Russian treasures from the Kremlin on display in the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum. At the gala opening even my breath was taken away when I realized that 500 years ago the Tsars were already living Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous!! As the MasterCard commercial says: PRICELESS.

And if you're in town for some celeb sighting, here's a tip: the cast of hit NBC series 'Las Vegas' will kick off the new fall season and celebrate CD & DVD releases Saturday night (Sept 24) with a party at Rain in The Palms. So if you're a James Caan, Molly Sims, or Josh Dumel fan, be there for their red carpet arrivals.  

On that note, mark Sat Oct 1 in your diaries now so you can be in Vegas for Andre Agassi's 10th Grand Slam For Children, with Duran Duran, Celine Dion, and George Lopez as just 3 of the confirmed superstars providing music and laughter at MGM's Grand Garden Arena. Buy your tickets here. To date, the US Open tennis finalist (who promises to play again next year) has raised over $42 million for his charity...

The power-packed weekend ahead actually began last night (Wed. Sept. 21) with the transformation of the Jaguars strip club into Scores. Yep, Howard Stern's favorite NYC topless joint has opened in Vegas as the 44-DDs of the business. Tonight (Thurs. Sept. 22) thru Saturday, classic crooner Tony Bennett sings at the Golden Nugget, as does Barry Manilow at the Hilton and '60s veteran Gene Pitney at the Orleans. Rockers Dave Navarro and Velvet Revolver's Matt Sorum turn DJs on back-to-back spin sessions at PURE nightclub in Caesars, Friday and Saturday... On the same nights, Ray Romano will make 'em laugh at the Mirage and vocalist extraordinaire Rita Coolidge jazzes up the Suncoast. For smooth soul Friday night, it's the beautiful dreaming of Vanessa Williams on the Lake Las Vegas floating stage while Peabo Bryson and Brenda Russell are featured in Norman Brown’s Summer Storm at the Texas Station. New Orleans legend Aaron Neville keeps the Big Easy spirit alive Saturday at the Henderson Pavilion.

Hard to pick from all those winners... but if you really want the hottest ticket among the stars in town, it has to be the Friday season opener of Beacher's Madhouse at the Hard Rock. Think New Years Eve on steroids, with insanity and mayhem mixed up in the sexy comedic cocktail. Beacher's is now every Friday thru Oct 7, switching to Saturday shows thru Thanksgiving. Watch our new exclusive backstage All Access Vegas video here and you’ll understand why everybody from Paris Hilton to Pete Rose have experienced its inspired bedlam. Jeff Beacher even uses my voice for his long red carpet royal introduction--but I'm sure more of the revelers are watching the 50 bikini- and lingerie-clad dancers than listening to me!!!

We want to hear from you with your likes and dislikes. picksand pans. Email us at robinsvegas@aol.com .

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