Here's our special video interview with Elaine Wynn from our live March 20, 2010 show from the Wynn Las Vegas during the NCAA's March Madness men's basketball tournament. The conversation ranges from hoops to Obama to Aria to who may succeed Steve Wynn at Wynn Resorts. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Phone: 702-997-3300 Twitter: @TheStripPodcast Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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Las Vegas is awash in March Madness, although for legal reasons nobody around here calls it that. So we?re webcasting live from the March ? uh ? Lunacy party in a ballroom at the Wynn in honor of the NCAA basketball tournament that even has the President of the United States going a bit bracket-crazy. And because we?re at the Wynn, who better to chat with than the property?s first lady, Elaine Wynn? Wynn, now divorced from Steve Wynn but as intimately involved in the details of the company as ever, joins us later this hour to talk about her obsession with college hoops as well as her views on Aria, Obama and Harry Reid. But first, Wynn sports book director Johnny Avello stops by to talk about how the tournament became one of the biggest events in sports betting and how he became known for creating wacky lines for everything from Dancing With The Stars to the Westminster Dog Show. That?s all coming up.  In banter: VegasHappensHere.Com wins an award, Jason Alexander's a jerk, pool season's here, Sheldon hearts Florida and a bunch of restaurant closures.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComE-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comPhone: 702-997-3300Twitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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After designing several of the most beautiful hotels in Las Vegas if not the world, what does Roger Thomas do for, no pun intended, an encore? Well, for one thing, this weekend the world?s most famous movie stars will lounge in a green room of his design before appearing on stage at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood for the 82nd annual Academy Awards show. Does this star turn mean that Steve Wynn?s gay alter ego is launching a new phase of his career? Maybe, but he?s still got his hands full with projects for Wynn Resorts as varied as an luxury resort in Macau, a new beach club at Encore Las Vegas and a non-hotel casino in Philadelphia. Thomas discusses the Oscars, the Wynns, CityCenter and a whole lot more.Plus, Liberace's home is in foreclosure, Miles recounts his Carson City trek, Steve chats about the Grand Canyon Skywalk, some good and bad news on CityCenter.Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 702-997-3300Web: TheStripPodcast.ComBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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What?s it like to host the president in your home? What?s it like to play the piano for the president at his home, that big white mansion in Washington D.C.? We?re about to answer both those questions, Vegas style. Palms owner George Maloof explains how he came to know President Obama and describes the hoopla around hosting him Thursday night for a Democratic fundraiser. Then Bellagio?s pianist David Osbourne talks about performing for six U.S. presidents including the last three at the White House. And while presidents are interesting, Osbourne?s story about the last vice president, Dick Cheney, is particularly bizarre.In Banter: Harrah's gets P-Ho, Vegas gets Obama love, CityCenter does NOT get Obama love, another Lake Las Vegas closure, Chinese New Year is fun, the Viva Elvis party was not fun and why red ketchup is the new blue tape.Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 702-997-3300Web: TheStripPodcast.ComBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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Up until the end of the 1990s, Franco Dragone was Cirque du Soleil. He had created most of their productions and was responsible for the signature look that had defined the French-Canadians troupe. But after Mystere and O, he went his own direction. This hour, for the first time, hear why, what he thinks about Cirque?s massive expansion and get some details on his latest project, the $280 million production for a Macau casino. When it opens later this year, it will be the most expensive live production ever. Plus, Celine's coming back, Obama's coming back,  FAO Schwarz and Ritz-Carlton are going, the Ruffins are with child, Chippendales does it 3000 times, candy is all the rage and the NFL and Vegas are at odds yet again. ALSO: A special LIVE INTERVIEW edition of the Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week with "Jersey Boys" star Travis Cloer, who appears at the Liberace next month.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComE-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comPhone: 702-997-3300 Twitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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The head-scratching and bellyaching began way, way back in 2003 with Zumanity. Then came Ka, Love and Criss Angel Believe. But despite naysayers who think Cirque du Soleil is overextended in Las Vegas, here comes show No. 7, Viva Elvis at Aria, officially opening on Feb. 19. What?s the deal? Steve sat down in Montreal last month with Cirque CEO Daniel Lamarre, who says he wouldn?t mind having 50 shows on the Strip, if only they had the time and available showrooms. But the company is busy elsewhere these days, planning permanent productions at Radio City Music Hall and the Kodak Theatre, not to mention trying to fix the disastrous Criss Angel show at the Luxor.In Banter: Aria room rates falling some more, Super Bowl weekend is up, Obama steps in Vegas poop again and Bill Clinton is a headliner.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail": 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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He was the longest-running solo headliner in Las Vegas history, but just a few years since the end of his last gig, he?s probably largely unknown to most of you. Kenny Kerr was the first female impersonator to go mainstream on the Strip, opening in the late 1970s at the Silver Slipper, paving the way for Frank Marino. But Kerr?s story is that of great success and constant financial problems, and when Steve spoke to him in December he had left a gig at a small Italian restaurant miles from the Strip because the owner hadn?t paid him.  This hour, hear Kerr provide some fascinating history about Las Vegas, go into some shocking detail about drag queen life and, of course, some delicious slaps at his archrival.In Banter: Drama at Casino Montreal, a visit to Cirque's mothership, Aria v Bellagio, news on the Fontainebleau, Matt Goss and Krave and more.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail": 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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Could there be a better way to kick off a new year than with Mr. Las Vegas himself, Mr. Wayne Newton? The Wayner needs little introduction, so let?s just say that you?re about to hear the answer to all your questions including whether he?s had plastic surgery, what he thinks about his weathered voice and much more. Newton, who is performing at the Tropicana at least through April, also addresses his Norm Clarke plagiarism flap, explains how he recovers memorabilia stolen regularly from his Vegas home and for the first time ever reveals the scene from Vegas Vacation that he had nixed. Plus, is his Trop show profitable? What does he think of others who call themselves Mr. Las Vegas? Why doesnt' he want to see Viva Elvis? What was it like to meet Howard Hughes? And much more.In Banter: Garth's amazing NYE on the Strip, Zowie Bowie's partial demise and more.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComE-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comTwitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737

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Nowadays if you?re the offspring of an iconic celebrity, you can get work regardless of your talent as the subject of a reality TV show or by providing vacuous interviews on red carpets. But some of those who were born famous actually spend their lives trying to both make their own mark on the world and protect the legacies of their parents. In this episode, we?ll hear from two men who have done just that, Louis Prima Jr and Sandy Hackett. Prima continues to try to rescue the dying Vegas lounge act that his father made so great and Hackett is a comic and musician in his own right whose Rat Pack production at the Sahara bounces off of his own family history with Frank, Dino, Sammy and Joey. Both have struggled with and enjoyed perks from their famous names and both speak openly about that mixed blessing as well as their fascinating Vegas histories.In Banter: The Aria buffet, Phil Ruffin?s Bellagio play, the Build It Bigger on CityCenter, Forbes on Adelson and Ruffin, the MGM Mirage Xmas Day outage and more.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComE-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comTwitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737

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He can hardly keep track of how many restaurants bear his name, so he?d be forgiven if he found opening yet another one in Vegas to be run-of-the-mill. And yet Wolfgang Puck, seemed as giddy as ever as he inspected the construction site that will, in one month?s time, open as Puck Brasserie at CityCenter. Amid the hullabaloo surrounding Aria?s opening day, the 60-year-old restaurateur found time to chat with Steve about his childhood food memories, what the most famous celebrity chef in the world means by his ?less celebrity, more chef? advertising tagline and why he?ll never open a restaurant in a Steve Wynn resort.In Banter: A recap of the Aria opening, the latest on the P-Ho/Harrahs transaction, Wynn?s art purchase, Trump and Adelson?s CityCenter hate and more.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737Twitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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A special 5-minute video montage from the opening of Aria at CityCenter in Las Vegas on Dec. 16, 2009. Includes footage of MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren ringing the NYSE closing bell via satellite, fireworks over Aria and the public descending on the resort. Also featured are EXCLUSIVE photos throughout the property. The episode is scored by "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley and "Las Vegas Remixed" by Strange Radio.Site: TheStripPodcast.ComBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComE-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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Cirque du Soleil's seventh Vegas show, VIVA ELVIS, had a media preview on Dec. 15, 2009. Here is two minutes of that preview, the "Blue Suede Shoes" number. The show opens for previews Dec. 18 and has a grand opening scheduled for February 2010.Site: TheStripPodcast.ComBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComE-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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**Visit VegasTripping.Com and vote for us in the podcast, blog and Tweeter categories!**In case you haven?t heard, there?s a little company opening up a few new attractions out there on Las Vegas Boulevard this month and the guy behind all that is a fellow named Jim Murren. The CEO of MGM Mirage was, for better or worse, the visionary behind CityCenter, the $8.5 billion project that is finally a reality and has already opened the hotel-condo Vdara, the Mandarin Oriental and the mammoth Crystals shopping mall. In the interview you?ll hear in this episode, Steve challenges Murren on several ideas behind CityCenter and Murren offers some surprising boasts ? that CityCenter will singlehandedly save the Nevada economy, that he?s never set foot on Encore or Palazzo and much more. Plus, Murren admits that the problems of Fontainbleau and Echelon are good for CityCenter, has tough words about Harrah?s and Station Casinos regarding overleveraging and describes the green elements of CityCenter as ?a gift to the United States.? Also, Steve asks, much to Murren's chagrin, if CityCenter is a Vegas version of EPCOT. That?s coming up. Plus RateVegas.Com?s Hunter Hillegas is here to discuss being Steve?s date at the Mandarin Oriental gala last night, to tell all about his exclusive Aria tour and to explain how this Harrah's-Planet Ho thing makes sense. Or not.E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comTwitter: @TheStripPodcastVoicemail: 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComSite: TheStripPodcast.Com  

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Even if you know or care nothing about professional poker, it is hard to imagine you?ve never come across the name Doyle Brunson. Poker?s elder statesmen was there when Texas Hold ?Em came into being, was there when the concept of the poker tournament was invented and was there when they added hole-card cameras to poker tables to make it interesting for TV viewers to follow the action. Now, at 76, he?s published a surprisingly frank autobiography appropriately titled ?The Godfather of Poker? in which he reveals the violent early days of his gambling life, his strained relationship with his father and much more. When Steve spoke to two-time World Series of Poker Main Event champ this week, he opened up some more about the Binion family, mob enforcer Tony Spilotro, Annie Duke, Joan Rivers and Phil Hellmuth, among others. Plus, Steve did the seemingly impossible ? he won a bet off Doyle.In Banter: USA Today?s CityCenter piece, New Year?s Eve is back on top, Harrah?s is buying P-Ho but with what?, Hash House A Go Go is opening a Strip location and more.?Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail": 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast 

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You may not be all that familiar with the name Frank Caliendo, but it will become hard to miss it the next time you?re on or around the Las Vegas Boulevard. The 35-year-old impressionist known for his work on MADTV and on Fox NFL Sunday just started a 10-year deal to appear nightly at the Monte Carlo, so Steve chatted with him this hour about how that happened, about how he felt about the cancellation of his TBS sketch comedy show and much more. Plus, he explains why he wasn?t at his best the night the media came to review his show.In Banter: More pre-CityCenter thoughts, the future of non-smoking casinos, Lily Tomlin's show and slots, strippermobiles, Mirage's 20th, Golden Nugget's non-price-cutting price-cutting and more.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComVoicemail: 206-424-4737Twitter: @TheStripPodcast

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Audio from a panel discussion moderated by TheStripPodcast.Com host Steve Friess at the Global Gaming Expo that featured Roger Thomas, DeReuyter Butler, Andrew Kreft and Todd Avery Lenahan. Thomas is the mastermind behind several Wynn property designs going back to Mirage, Butler has been drawing up the architecture for Steve Wynn for 20+ years, Kreft oversees all the horticulture and Lenahan designed the Wynn Buffet as well as the Encore rooms and spa. The conversation includes new details of the plans for the Switch Beach Club area, some surprises about Wynn's initial intentions with both the Dunes and Desert Inn properties and some thoughts on Wynn/Encore versus CityCenter.E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComSite: TheStripPodcast.ComPhone: 206-424-4737Twitter: @TheStripPodcast

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At 77, William S. Boyd could just sit back, count his money and let his children carry on his family?s casino and philanthropic legacies in Nevada. But for Boyd, retirement from running the company means being active in it in other ways, and he remains very much involved in the important decisions of Boyd Gaming. Mr. Boyd speaks to Steve this hour about halting construction of Echelon, making a play for the properties of bankrupt rival Station Casinos and old versus new Vegas.In banter: Frank Caliendo opens, Steve bets on Cotto for a friend, WSOP ratings are flat, the Rio is NOT all suites, three popular attractions are now neighbors, crazy Bette fans attack and Jim Murren claims he listens to this show.Web: TheStripPodcast.comEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcastPhone: 206-424-4737

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 She?s conquered Hollywood and Broadway and won over the hearts everywhere in between so at 70, Lily Tomlin has finally decided it?s time to become a Vegas headliner. For nine nights, from Nov. 10-18, the comedienne brings her cast of famous characters ? Ernestine the telephone operator and bratty 5-year-old Edith Ann among them ? to the stage. Tomlin explains this hour her illustrious career never before included the Strip and chats with Steve about her roles in Desperate Housewives, West Wing, Damages and the X-Files. Plus, she explains why she walked off the Dick Cavett show in 1972 in a feminist huff and why she and her longtime partner Jane Wagner won?t be getting married.In Banter: A CityCenter tour, Bette's departure, the WSOP final table, Miles' Oval Office adventures, the disgraceful debasing of The Harmon, a Top Chef viewing party and some we-toldja-so's.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comTwitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComVoicemail: 206-424-4737

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Four years ago, a San Francisco chef took a gamble and opened up his San Francisco kitchen to the first challenge of a new Bravo TV show called ?Top Chef.? At the time, Hubert Keller came across as tough and grouchy but the show was a hit and his Fleur de Lys in California became a place of intrigue for its fans. Fast forward to this year when warmer, cuddlier Keller appeared first on Top Chef Masters and then in an episode of the current, Las Vegas-set season of the show. Business at Fleur de Lys ? long an underperformer at Mandalay Bay ? is booming. Keller speaks this hour about that, about what it smelled like to grow up above his family?s bakery in Alsace, France, and about how a Frenchman became one of the biggest things ever in the burger cuisine. Plus, as usual, Steve asked Keller about his food guilty pleasures.In Banter: Ticket scalping issues, Barry Manilow, the Podcast-a-Palooza, Harrah's dumb iPhone app, DB leaves Wynn, DB opening at Sands in Singapore and who is the Maori Hi Five?Twitter: @TheStripPodcastEmail: TheStripPOdcast@aol.comWeb: TheStripPodcast.ComPhone: 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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When the idea first came up, nobody -- and by nobody we mean Steve -- thought it could possibly work. Chazz Palminteri was a career character actor with modest name recognition next to the likes of, say, Holly Madison, and his plan was to bring a serious autobiographical one-man play to the Strip? Fuggedaboutit. But Palminteri has faced down doubts about "A Bronx Tale" before, and here he is now in the middle of a two-week run at the Venetian that has been extended by popular demand. Palminteri joined us live at the 2009 Vegas Podcast-A-Palooza to discuss the show, his friendship with Frank Sinatra and the chronological problem in his play that only three people have ever asked him about in 20 years.In Banter: Rating the Garth deal, revealing some new slot machine ideas coming to G2E.Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcastEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comPhone: 206-424-4737Site: TheStripPodcast.Com

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It?s the biggest TV show ever set in Las Vegas, but can CSI: Crime Scene Investigation succeed as a permanent Vegas attraction? The folks at MGM Grand decided to find out. On the occasion of the opening of the interactive solve-it-yourself CSI: The Experience, Steve sat down with both Vegas-raised creator Anthony Zuiker and the show?s longtime star, Marg Helgenberger and Helgenberger expressed some disappointment with her role.In Banter: Debate over the notion of a Top Chef restaurant, Miles' redux on those effing curtains at Switch, A Bronx Tale is excellent, Wynn's new flight deal, post-MJ career notes, weird lights on the Cosmo and more.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737Twitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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In a city of knockoffs and impersonations,  how do you go about reinterpreting a great piece of music without being tainted as a copycat? Well, it helps if you?re already a legendary rock band in your own right behind you, too. That?s how Cheap Trick?s doing it anyway, landing at the Las Vegas Hilton for nine performances of the Beatles? Sgt. Pepper?s Lonely Hearts Club Band before a full orchestra and assisted by such other pop stars as Joan Osbourne. Cheap Trick?s guitarist and vocalist Rick Nielsen joins us this hour to talk about the band?s relationship with the Beatles, about growing up in Rockford, Ill., and whether this swing of shows could portend a resident Vegas gig of some form soon.In banter: Mindy Kaling gets Vegas whiners whining, Terry Fator puts puppets on cabs, Amy gets a Vegas welcome on her European cruise, Top Chef's been good to Hubert Keller and more.Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.comWeb: TheStripPodcast.ComVoicemail: 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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Welcome to a special interview edition of The Strip. The first-ever Phantom Fan Week is coming to Las Vegas in mid-September, so Steve decided it was time to check back in with legendary Broadway producer and director Hal Prince. That event marks the first time Prince has returned to Vegas since the 2006 opening of ?Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular,? the shortened, high-tech version of the opera-house squatter tale that is the most successful musical of all time. At that time, Steve irked Prince by saying the ?Phantom? story is ?a bit of a downer,? a debate the two comically revisit in this hour. They also address Prince?s recent stroke, his close encounter with the Cirque du Soleil gang, the coming Phantom sequel and Patti LuPone?s recent on-stage outbursts. Prince, who at 81 has won a record 21 Tony awards, was instrumental in the creation of Phantom, Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Fiddler on the Roof, A Little Night Music, Evita, Sweeney Todd, Cabaret and countless other classics. He plans to open his long-awaited next musical, Paradise Found with Mandy Patinkin, next year and, as you hear, he expects the Las Vegas version of Phantom to run ?indefinitely.? We?ll be back with a regular episode next week, but as always you can email us at TheStripPodcast@aol.com, read Steve?s redesigned blog VegasHappensHere.Com and leave us voicemail at 206-424-4737.

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Raw footage courtesy of KLAS-TV in Las Vegas of Elijah "Lil Elijah J" Johnson of The Lion King performing "Dancing Machine" at the Pearl in the Palms on Aug. 29, 2009 for the "Las Vegas Celebrates The Music of Michael Jackson" benefit concert. The concert raised more than $100,000 for the Clark County Public Education Foundation earmarked for music education programs in Las Vegas-area schools.The concert was produced by Erich Bergen of Jersey Boys and Steve Friess of VegasHappensHere.Com and co-host of TheStripPodcast.Com. See VegasLovesMJ.Com for more info or contact VegasLovesMJ@yahoo.com.

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If you were at the Palms on Saturday for the Michael Jackson tribute benefit, you might want to put your ticket stub in a safe place. Years from now, the concert may very well be remembered in the same light as Motown 25, a magical moment when the world witnessed the birth of a major talent. This time, it was Elijah Johnson, the 11-year-old star of the Lion King at Mandalay Bay, who flew onto the stage in a burst of energy and confidence and sang and danced with an exuberance that now has the Tonight Show calling. Johnson, who leaves the cast of Lion King in October, joins us this hour with his father in the studio to discuss that magical moment last weekend and what it could mean for his future. In Banter: MJ benefit follow-up, Earl Turner's peeps are jerks, McKee's Carmen Electra infatuation, MGM Mirage's condo issues and more.Thanks to Stiffs & Georges blogger Dave McKee of Huntington Press for filling in for Miles. Read his work at http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/blogs/dmckee.Site: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737Twitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.Com 

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She?s been mocked mercilessly for her voice, her red carpet antics and, of course, her plastic surgery. And yet at 76 years old, Joan Rivers is somehow still relevant, with a new show on TV Land called How?d You Get So Rich and stand-up shows this weekend and next at the Venetian. Rivers returns to our version of The Strip, too, to gab about her recent slam on all poker players on The Celebrity Apprentice, about how she?s more famous today than her late nemesis Johnny Carson and about which stars she thinks have ? get this ? had bad plastic surgery. In Banter: The fake Hotel 32 iPod app, more MJ-Vegas benefit news, what Holly's really like and a report on the Bootleg Canyon Flightlines attraction.That?s all coming up, plus news from Vegas, a new trivia question, the poll, listener feedback and, as always, the Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week. You?re on the Strip.Website ? thestrippodcast.com?email: TheStripPodcast.ComPhone 206-424-4737Blog ?vegashappenshere.comLive chat room at LVROCKS.COM Tuesday 7-8 pm PTTwitter: twitter.com/thestrippodcast 

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For an upcoming story for Vegas Magazine, I had to try out the Bootleg Canyon Flightlines, a four-ride zipline attraction outside Boulder City, Nevada, near Las Vegas. Here's some video -- watch us get stuck! Check out VegasHappensHere.Com for more photos and links to Trevor's Flickr album. Also see bcflightlines.com for more info. Follow me on Twitter @TheStripPodcast!

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You have until WEDNESDAY, AUG 26, to enter to win tickets to the Aug. 29 concert at the Pearl, ?Las Vegas Celebrates The Music of Michael Jackson.? Here?s how: call 206-424-4737 and leave a message explaining which Michael Jackson song is your favorite and why. You can even sing a few bars. We?ll draw one winner and give you two tickets to the concert. But you have to call in by noon Pacific Time on Aug. 26.   As always, our website is theStripPodcast.Com, email us at TheStrippodcast@aol.com, visit Steve?s blog, VegasHappensHere.Com, and leave us any ol? voicemail at 206-424-4737.   And now onto this week?s interview. Daniel Negreanu?s general demeanor is calm and breezy, which has earning him the demure nickname of Kid Poker. But the kid, presently No. 3 on the list of all-time earnings in poker tournament play at $11.6 million, has a bit of a wicked side, too. His Tweets during this year?s World Series of Poker were rife with snark about other players, Asian drivers and weird encounters with fans on the rail, and in this week?s conversation, Negreanu has some harsh words for fellow star Annie Duke?s representation of the game on the recent season of Celebrity Apprentice. Plus, is it true that most poker players are atheists? Negreanu answers that, too.   Take a listen and have a great week.

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Whether you buy hypnotism or not, there's no denying that Anthony Cools has Las Vegas under his spell. The Paris Las Vegas headliner has become a somehwat unlikely Strip entrepreneur, responsible for four shows besides his own including Bobby Slayton and Penny Lane at the Tropicana and Mental and Freaks at O'Sheas. Cools explains how he became the king of middle-brow and why he thinks some of the more disgusting acts that take place at Freaks are really "quite romantic."In Banter: Amy and Steve discuss Mental and Freaks, another MJ raid, Laughlin sees an uptick, Steve's Steve-O story and a Maggiano's deal for Amy, and more.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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Whether you buy hypnotism or not, there's no denying that Anthony Cools has Las Vegas under his spell. The Paris Las Vegas headliner has become a somehwat unlikely Strip entrepreneur, responsible for four shows besides his own including Bobby Slayton and Penny Lane at the Tropicana and Mental and Freaks at O'Sheas. Cools explains how he became the king of middle-brow and why he thinks some of the more disgusting acts that take place at Freaks are really "quite romantic."In Banter: Amy and Steve discuss Mental and Freaks, another MJ raid, Laughlin sees an uptick, Steve's Steve-O story and a Maggiano's deal for Amy, and more.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast 

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What?s a legend of Motown doing as the chief backer of a Vegas production featuring a white former boy band from Australia? Smokey Robinson explains that, talks about Michael Jackson and sings a few bars of the first song he ever wrote this hour. It?s no ?My Girl,? but he was only 6 when he wrote it. That?s coming up, plus Andrew Tierney of that very band, Human Nature, talks about the group's transition from top-of-the-heap Down Under to headliners at, uh, the Imperial Palace.In Banter: MJ concert details, the attack of the Chitown columnist, Beyonce v Anthony Cools, Prive's woes, Tao's interesting idea and more.Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737Site: TheStripPodcast.Com

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What?s a legend of Motown doing as the chief backer of a Vegas production featuring a white former boy band from Australia? Smokey Robinson explains that, talks about Michael Jackson and sings a few bars of the first song he ever wrote this hour. It?s no ?My Girl,? but he was only 6 when he wrote it. That?s coming up, plus Andrew Tierney of that very band, Human Nature, talks about the group's transition from top-of-the-heap Down Under to headliners at, uh, the Imperial Palace.In Banter: MJ concert details, the attack of the Chitown columnist, Beyonce v Anthony Cools, Prive's woes, Tao's interesting idea and more.Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737Site: TheStripPodcast.Com

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Hey everyone! We couldn?t pull off a regular show this past week because both Steve and I had to work overtime on Tuesday, so instead we?re posting this interview with comic actor Bob Saget. The Saget interview was recorded back in April and never ran because Saget?s dates at the Pearl Theater at the Palms were canceled, but it?s actually a pretty interesting discussion. Saget became famous as a wholesome TV sitcom dad from 1987 to 1995 on ?Full House? but more recently turned his own image inside out by being the filthiest, raunchiest comic to appear in the 2005 documentary ?The Aristocrats.? In this conversation, Saget talks about his image, about clubbing with the Olsen twins and his new show, premiering this fall, called Surviving Suburbia.As always, email us at TheStripPodcast@aol.com with comments or questions.

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You think she's just a blond, air-headed, surgically enhanced... oh, wait. That's last week's guest. This week, we've got Charo  the giggly, jiggly Spanish singer and guitarist, who in the early 1970s was making as much as Sinatra for shows on the Strip, is back in town with a new headliner show at the Riviera. Steve chatted with Charo this week about plastic surgery, her affection for RuPaul and where her signature ?cuchi cuchi? line came from.In banter: A weird WSOP interview story, a weird Panorama Towers ad, a weird Caesars Palace sign, a baffling Monte Carlo strategy and more.Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComSite: TheStripPodcast.ComE-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737

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Holly Madison admits it: She wants to be famous. And she doesn?t mind being famous just for being famous ? in the tradition of Pam Anderson and Marilyn Monroe, she says ? but she wants to try her hand at a few things first. To that end, the ex-Playmate who appeared as Hugh Hefner?s No. 1 babe on ?The Girls Next Door? and spent a few months as Criss Angel?s girlfriend, now stars as the innocent-turned-naughty Bo Peep in the Planet Hollywood burlesque production, ?Peepshow.? In this conversation, Madison discusses her ambitions, the situations in which she is not comfortable being nude and ? as odd as it may sound ? what she?s reading right now. You?ll be surprised that it?s not in English.In Banter: The big MJ tribute benefit concert, Peep v Crazy, WSOP and Twitter, Welcome to LV sign vandals, Prive/PHo fined, Harrah's latest Big Idea, MGM's CSI attraction, comings and goings and more.Web: TheStripPodcast.comBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcastVoicemail: 206-424-4737Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com

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On stage and on your stereo, he is laid back and comfortable. But in tonight?s interview, saxophonist Kenny G shows other sides of his persona: arrogant, vain, opinionated and controversial. The musician, who has sold 75 million albums worldwide, also provides a fascinate behind-the-scenes story about his first time on Johnny Carson, discusses Bill Clinton?s influence on the popularity of the sax and has some terse words for audience-scolding showstoppers like Patti LuPone. Plus, a special INTERVIEW edition of the Trivia Question featuring Anthony Curtis, aka Curtis Flowers speaking for the first time about his alias. In Banter: Michael Jackson's memorial, Steve is Hispanic, the WSOP is off and running, The Hangover is Vegasly accurate and more Web: TheStripPodcast.com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Phone; 206-424-4737

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Hide the kiddies, brace yourself and, if you?re easily offended, you may want to skip at least the second half of this week?s show. Andrew Dice Clay is coming to Vegas in July for another set of shows on the Strip that may portend a headliner residency, so the controversial and foul-mouthed comic is our guest tonight. Is he, as he likes to say, the Elvis of comedy, or is he, as Steve put it in their conversation much to Dice?s annoyance, an overgrown Fonzie? Judge for yourself this hour as they go at it about the 51-year-old?s overactive sex life, about ejecting hecklers and about why he canceled some recent shows in Utah. Plus, hear his version of what happened when Saturday Night Live player Nora Dunn quit the show because he was hosting. In Banter: The Twin River racino, Michael Jackson?s death, Patti LuPone?s outburst, the Danny Gans 911 call, the tricky Brotastic ad, the survey about Vegas tourist walking habits and Lance Burton looks forward to six more years and (then?) the Monte Carlo?s implosion. Plus, the trivia question, poll, listener feedback and the Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com Email: ThteStripPodcast@aol.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Voicemail: 206-424-4737

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This week, on the Strip: We spoke to her nearly two years ago and she was hinting at a comeback she didn?t want to jinx. And, in fact, Broadway legend ? and Steve?s gayest obsession ? Patti Lupone did have a trick up her sleeve: A few months later, she returned to the Great White Way in the title role of ?Gypsy? and walked off with her first Tony award since her 1981 triumph for ?Evita.? Lupone is back in Vegas on June 20 and 21 for shows at the Orleans, so Steve got her back on the line to see how her life has changed. Among other things, Lupone went on a bit of a rant about poor Susan Boyle and the nature of celebrity. That?s coming up. Also, we check in with Mayor Oscar Goodman about Obama?s recent visit and gives an update on plans to resettle the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas. In Banter: Cinevegas, Sheer Madness, a listeners' Wynn visit, how Steve saved $400 on his Connecticut rental car, All-In: The Poker Movie, Charo, Larry King, MGM Grand Egypt and more. Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Twitter: Twitter.com/thestrippodcast Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Phone: 206-424-4737

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At a Cinevegas screening of the recut version of the 1982 Hal Ashby film "Lookin' To Get Out" on June 14, actor Jon Voight related a never-before-heard tale of a harrowing incident in which one of Siegfried & Roy's tigers tackled an elderly woman and had to be talked down by a member of the film crew. In the movie, Voight and Burt Young play pals and gamblers who come to Vegas to try to make back money Voight's character lost in a poker game. The film was made largely at the old MGM Grand (now Bally's) and Ann-Margret plays a woman from Voight's past. The characters played by Voight, Young and Ann-Margret, attend a show in what is probably the Jubilee! Theater and Siegfried & Roy are among the acts shown. According to Voight, Young was acting in the shot as though the tiger had startled him running about on the stage with Roy. Young was wearing sunglasses, and Voight surmised that the combination of Young's fake startling and the reflection of the lighting on the glasses caused the tiger to get scared and "he ran off the stage and on to a table." Watch the rest of the story or read it on VegasHappensHere.Com. E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737 Site: TheStrippodcast.com

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In our quest to cover all the classic old-timers of Vegas lore, one fixture we hadn?t yet caught up with was Englebert Humperdinck, the British chart-topper who was first brought to the Strip in 1968 by none other than Dean Martin. Humperdinck, now 73, talks about everything from Liberace to Lambert, recalls Howard Stern's playing with his hair, explains why James Blunt fits in the canon with Clapton and McCartney and discusses the fact that his rival, Tom Jones, has received a knighthood while he has not. Humperdinck performs in Vegas at the Orleans on June 11-14 playing his hits as well as the contemporary pop songs he covered in his 2007 album, ?The Winding Road.? In Banter: Danny Gans? cause of death, the Cinevegas passes contest winner, the future of the TI, Steve?s show spree, changes at Peepshow, Robuchon?s odd discount and the Chippendales do Paris. Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Phone: 206-424-4737 E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Site: TheStripPodcast.com

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Actor Jon Voight ?s roles in Midnight Cowboy, Deliverance and Coming Home made him one of the most iconic movie stars of the 1970s. He?s also the father of one of the most iconic movie stars of this era, Angelina Jolie. Voight is being honored with the Marquee Award at Cinevegas at a ceremony where an overhauled version of his 1982 Vegas-set comedy ?Lookin? To Get Out? will be screened. The film, a critical and box office bomb when it first came out, also stars Ann-Margret and was Angelina Jolie?s first film role. In this conversation, Steve and Jon Voight discuss his experiences with everything from Midnight Cowboy to Coming Home to Seinfeld. Then Voight explains how he turned from being an anti-Vietnam War activist to a fan of George W. Bush and Sarah Palin. He also has some harsh words for President Barack Obama. We?ll be back with a regular episode next week, so join us at 6:45 p.m.ish Pacific for the lvie show at LVRocks.Com on Tuesday, June 9. Until then, enjoy the interview. Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Site: TheStripPodcast.Com

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It may be one heckuva a recession, but the Hard Rock Hotel has pulled out all the stops on its new version of The Joint, spending $60 million on the posh new concert venue and signing modern Las Vegas? first resident rock ?n roll act in Carlos Santana. The 61-year-old guitar legend granted Steve one of only a few interviews in advance of his first set of shows, which begin Wednesday night. Santana talks to Steve about playing the old Joint on the millennial New Year?s Eve, about his views about Vegas and about which athlete he thinks is more impressive than Tiger Woods. That?s coming up. Also, more on Steve?s explosive chat last week with Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson in which explains his company?s freefall and bats back against Steve Wynn?s criticism of their strategy in Macau. In Banter: More on Bethlehem and Adelson, Danny Gans memorial and curse, Wolfgang Puck, Obama: The Las Vegas Spectacular, Adam Lambert, Jeff Beacher and more. Thanks to guest-host Murphy for filling in for an ailing Miles. Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Web: TheStripPodcast.Com Phone: 206-424-4737

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Special coverage of the May 22, 2009 opening of the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem. For Steve's NYT piece and KNPR appearance as well as lots of photos, search "sands" at VegasHappensHere.Com. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737

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Comic and political commentator Dennis Miller has a reputation for being cantankerous and on this week?s show, he lives up to that image to the fullest. More than three years after he came on this show and complimented us as erudite and astute, he?s back in a tense conversation that he ends abruptly because it?s, well, ?too deep.? That?s coming up. Plus, news from Vegas, the trivia question, a new poll and, as always, the Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week. You?re on the Strip, brought to you by. In Banter: No news on Danny Gans yet, is Lion King a wise Vegas move, British Airways opens daily nonstops, the pasties are gone from and Holly Madison is coming to Peepshow and Menopause finds a new home at the recently hipped-up Luxor. Thanks to Amy of GritsToGlitz.Com for subbing for Steve. Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Site: TheStripPodcast.com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Phone: 206-424-4737

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Steve appears on KNPR to rap with host Dave Berns and R-J columnist Doug Elfman on May 15, 2009. Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Web: TheStripPodcast.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Voicemail: 206-424-4737

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Las Vegas is in stunned mourning this week following the shocking death Friday of impressionist Danny Gans. We?ll talk about that at the top of the show, but it?s also fitting that our guest this week is comic Jeff Foxworthy because Gans spent at least 10 minutes in every show doing Foxworthy and his trademark redneck jokes. Foxworthy talks about Gans, about performing for presidents Clinton and Bush and about hosting dimwit adults on the hit TV game show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? In banter: Danny Gans? death, Jim Murren?s defense, China?s wacky swine flu response, Peepshow?s surprisingly great, Peppermill?s surprisingly classy and Vegas stocks are inexplicably way up. Web: TheStriPPodcast.com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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Reissuing our Danny Gans interview from 3/2/06 on the occasion of his death at age 52 on 5/1/09. Email TheStripPodcast@aol.com or call 206-424-4737 to offer condolences or relate memories of the Vegas legend.

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Some chefs are TV stars first, then Vegas restaurateurs. Tom Colicchio did it the other way around. The five-time James Beard Award winner already owned Craftsteak and ?wichcraft at the MGM Grand when he was tapped to become the chief judge for the hit Bravo reality competition Top Chef. The show began filming its sixth season in Las Vegas this week, although this interview took place a day before that was confirmed. Still, Steve spoke to Colicchio at length about everything from his criticism of the show?s finale format to the late Natasha Richardson?s stint as a guest judge last season. Colicchio also retells how he saved the life of a famous food writer at an Obama inauguration party in January. Plus, as always, we asked him about his fast food preferences, if any. In Banter: Top Chef a'coming, Angel v. Perez, Fontainebleau's problems, coinful slots, changes to WSOP and more. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Voicemiail: 206-424-4737 E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com

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When Steve makes a joke that?s so awful it?s funny, Miles refers to him as Shecky Friess. That?s because long before Steve was hamming it up badly, comic Shecky Greene was one of the legendary comedians who made Las Vegas what it is today. Greene, now 83, is back in town for a three-show gig at the Suncoast next month, so Shecky Friess chatted him up about being tackled by Buddy Hackett in the middle of Paradise Road, about crashing his car in the Caesars Palace fountains and about which of the current crop of comics he loves and which he hates with, as Shecky put it, ?a purple passion.? Take a listen and have a great week. Web: TheStripPodcast.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737

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In retrospect, Dee Snider was born to play Vegas. And finally, thanks to Monster Circus at the Las Vegas Hilton, that time has come for the long-haired, gravel-throated, lingerie-wearing front man for the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. The former choir boy from Long Island speaks this hour to Steve about the show, about just how subversive all that hard-rocking crossdressing was back in the day and about Barry Manilow?s reaction to sharing his showroom with this bunch. Plus, is Gene Simmons of Kiss really is as big a jerk as he seems? Snider has some interesting thoughts on that, too. In Banter: Le Reve's new ending, the Venetian's umbrella act, Wynn on TV, Hellmuth via chariot, bye-bye whore tax and a great new Vegas pay-per-view idea. Email: TheStripPOdcast@aol.com Web: TheStripPOdcast.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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Stevie and Marie, Part II In Banter: MGM goes up and down, Tony Curtis is weird, CityCenter may seem cluttered and legislators ponder a whore tax. Last week she talked about genteel topics like Groucho Marx pinching her butt and brother Donny falling off tables. But this week, Marie Osmond gets controversial, particularly when she?s talking about what she knows about the behind-the-scenes world of Dancing With the Stars and American Idol. Blog: VegasHappenshere.Com Site: TheStripPodcast.Com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Phone: 206-424-4747

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Steve appeared with the R-J's Doug Elfman for an hour on KNPR's State of Nevada with host Dave Berns. Fun, wide-ranging discussion.

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She?s a little bit country and a little bit, well, you know the rest. But she?s also now a big bit of a Strip headliner. Marie Osmond, she of the gigantic gleaming smile stretched across the Flamingo, joins us this hour to talk about show business nepotism, performing with everyone from Groucho Marx to Snoop Dogg and the night she and Donny performed their Vegas show in the dark. In Banter: Freaks at O'Sheas, MGM drama, Follies bye- bye, Vegas impersonator jailed in Suriname. Web: TheStripPodcast.com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Phone: 206-424-4734 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Twitter: Twitter.Com/TheStripPodcast

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His father built the Mirage, Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas, Sam?s Town, the Rio, Caesars Forum Shops and countless other iconic structures. But now is 35-year-old Anthony Marnell III?s time, with the surprisingly successful opening of the $1 billion M Resort way, way, WAY south on Las Vegas Boulevard. Marnell the younger talks this hour about the future of his famous M Blimp, about growing up on Vegas construction sites and about why the new resort is in some ways a way for his father to receive the recognition he deserves. Plus, Steve confronts him about whether putting a pharmacy in a casino is, as Steve believes, predatory. In Banter: MGM Mirage's woes, Phil Ruffin's financing issue, Luxor billboards, hard-to-believe Lion King ticket sales, getting in trouble taking pictures in casinoes and thoughts on Terry Fator. Phone: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Web: TheStripPodcast.Com

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Steve appeared on KNPR's State of Nevada on March 19 to chat about all things Vegas entertainment and business. Fun stuff.

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On Feb. 10, I observed Cirque du Soleil's open audition process for dancers. Here's some of the footage of what went on and how it worked. Read my Las Vegas Weekly column on the auditions by searching 'cirque' at VegasHappensHere.Com Web: TheStripPodcast.Com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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Before there was Shake-Your-Bon-Bon Ricky Martin, there was another singer by the same name, albeit spelled a little differently.  Dean Martin's son Ricci joins Steve for a fun walk down memory lane, with some great anecdotes about Sinatra and Old Vegas and some thoughts on the children of celebrities. This is an interview-only episode while we await the return of the LVRocks studio. And there will be a return! Stay tuned! Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Site: TheStripPodcast.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.com Phone: 206-424-4737

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Call it the impressionist period of Las Vegas. This month, three major impersonator acts open ? or reopen. Danny Gans relocated to Encore, Terry Fator took Gans? space at the Mirage and Gordie Brown, late of the Venetian, has returned to his old Golden Nugget haunts. Fator and Brown both join us this hour. Find out what Fator?s new Mirage-appropriate puppet will be and hear all about Brown?s early years as a celebrity stalker. Plus, Steve grills Brown on parts of his act he didn?t like. In Banter: Behind the scenes at Cirque dance auditions, Oscar v Obama, Curtas v Encore, bye-bye La Cage and Heidi Fleiss, the Excalibur?s new deal. Site: TheStripPodcast.Com Blog: VegasHappensHEre.Com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737

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Raw audio from LV Mayor Oscar Goodman's press conference on Feb. 12 about the flap with Obama. Very entertaining.

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He owns a record eleven World Series of Poker bracelets and has earned well over $8 million in his poker tournament career, but the reputed bad boy of Texas Hold ?Em isn?t done yet. Phil Hellmuth, who has a forthcoming documentary and memoir, opens up this hour about his quest for bracelet number 12, about how why he stormed off the set of NBC?s Poker After Dark two years ago and about what the 2008 World Series of Poker final table contestants did wrong. In Banter: Fishing in Vegas, a mea culpa and taxing the brothels. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com E-Mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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Others may be more creative, more ambitious and more flamboyant, but nobody nobody on the modern scene today is as brilliant ? or as fortunate ? at making deals as Phil Ruffin. The 72-year-old Kansas billionaire sold the New Frontier land in 2007 for a record $35 million an acre before the real estate crash, and now he?s used a mere $775 million of that profit to pick up the Treasure Island. For the first time this hour, Ruffin discloses some new plans for the property, explains why he?s unlikely to ever buy a Harrah?s property and reveals the reason he?ll never build anything in Vegas. Plus, he dishes about Wynn, Trump, his young wife and the billionaires? poker game he wins year after year. In banter: Obama?s Vegas stage moment, Folies, Menopause and Scintas closing, Rita will go on and on, MGM Mirage?s reservation system woes, the F?Bleau will be finished, does anyone care about Joaquin Phoenix?s music career? Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Site: TheStripPodcast.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737    

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Steve, Steve, Steve. Wynn, that is. We?ve tallied up the Top 10 moments of 2008 as voted on by you and, surprise surprise, Mr. Wynn is involved in some way in six of them. But, still, a few others made outrageously memorable remarks on this program during the year that was, and we take our annual look back at all of it tonight. For good measure, though, we?ve got some never-before-heard bits to keep it fresh.  Plus, news from Vegas, a new trivia question and a poll. You?re on the Strip, brought to you by Priceline.Com and Hotels.Com, and we?re kicking off a new year with a new theme song! In Banter: The mob museum, Octavius tower blues, our staycation at Trump and Encore and a very weird phone call. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com Phone: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com

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This is a clip form KNPR's State of Nevada hosted by Dave Berns in which James called during a discussion of economic problems this morning to report that half the employees at Top of the World restaurant at Stratosphere were told  they're going part-time indefinitely.  

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We?ve walked through Encore with him and chatted him up about everything from that damaged Picasso to the exact curvature of his resort towers. So what?s left to talk about with Steve Wynn? Well, it?s Steve Wynn, so there?s always more. We finish playing our pre-Encore interview tonight with discussion of Wynn?s athletic prowess, his concerns about the economy and a little Gandhi chit-chat, too. In Banter: Switch at Encore, the view from Capital Grille, Criss Angel on Larry King, Danny Gans? Encore poster and free coffee at Silverton. Web; TheStripPodcast.com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Twitter: Twitter.com/TheStripPodcast Voicemail: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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This is Steve Wynn?s week, no doubt about it. On what is traditionally one of the slowest nights in Las Vegas and in the middle of the worst recession in generations, he opened the doors to his $2.3 billion expansion, Encore. The results were a flood of curious explorers that led to bumper to bumper traffic on the Strip as far south as the Mandalay Bay and a line all the way into the Wynn casino. In honor of that milestone, over the next two weeks we?re presenting our interview earlier this month with Wynn in which he talks about everything from the shape of the buildings to the original plans for the Encore TV commercial. In banter: Criss Angel woes, Encore first impressions, CityCenter shopping, the TI sale and more.  Web: TheStripPodcast.com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Voicemail: 206-424-4737

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Video from 12/22/08 as Steve and Elaine Wynn declare Encore open to the public and allow betting to begin.

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We know you?re sick of politics this time of year, but we?re serving it up this week with a distinctive female touch. First, a very rare interview with the first lady of Las Vegas, Elaine Wynn, as she explains her journey from lifelong Republican to Obamatic, much to the dismay of her industry and her husband. You might?ve heard of him. Then, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley returns to the program to explain what?s happening with that Internet gambling ban, but what Steve secretly really wanted to know is, has she had any more plastic surgery? In Banter: Criss Angel's follies, is Mel B a superstar, Bye, Danny Gans' billboard, Steve's on (yikes!) Facebook,  and no, McCarran Airport is actually NOT the busiest in America on Thanksgiving. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Phone: 206-424-4737  

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Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, the former street performer who redefined the human circus into a worldwide entertainment phenomenon, just helped open the company?s sixth show on the Las Vegas Strip, Criss Angel Believe. He gave Steve 10 minutes the day of the show?s opening which, of course, meant Steve took 15. In this conversation, Laliberte defends the show and his alliance with the controversial Mindfreak illusionist, discusses the recent purchase of a large chunk of his company by Dubai and tells why there won?t be a Cirque show at Mandalay Bay ? YET. Just a note, this interview was conducted outside so Laliberte could smoke, so there is some background noise. In banter: Terry Lanni goes bye-bye, LVS lays off 11,000, MGM Mirage's CityCenter condo sales suck, Vegas may be shrinking, Wynn joins the S&P 500, Bob Maheu's awesome house and Jubilee! goes, uh, topful.  Web: TheStripPodcast.com Email: TheStrippodcast@aol.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Phone: 206-424-4737

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Comic Wanda Sykes comes out as gay at at the Las Vegas gay marriage rally on Nov. 14, 2008. Steve conducted a brief interview with her after her public comments. Steve covered the rally for The New York Times. Also on this file is a brief chat with an 18-year-old UNLV student on his reaction to the vote in California on Nov. 4 to re-ban gay marriage. Site: TheStripPodcast.Com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Phone: 206-424-4737

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Comic Wanda Sykes comes out as gay at at the Las Vegas gay marriage rally on Nov. 14, 2008. Steve conducted a brief interview with her after her public comments. Steve covered the rally for The New York Times. Also on this file is a brief chat with an 18-year-old UNLV student on his reaction to the vote in California on Nov. 4 to re-ban gay marriage. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com E-Mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voice: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com    

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If you thought Tony Curtis? remarks on last week?s show were something, just wait till you hear the rest of it. The actor, out with a sex-soaked memoir of his career and life, offers some tough words this hour for a long list of Hollywood figures including Jerry Lewis, Angela Lansbury, Danny Kaye, Neil Simon and more. Then, later, he discusses his own mental health issues, his views of old and new Vegas and tries to explain why he?s so disappointed by his film career. In Banter: Is Criss No. 1, Paris is for shopping and what really ails Las Vegas Sands? Web: TheStripPodcast.com Phone: 206-424-4737 Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Twitter.com/TheStripPodcast Blog: VegasHappensHere.com

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Here's raw audio from the post-verdict press conference of Yale Galanter, OJ Simpson's attorney.

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There is a fine line in comedy between being Don Rickles and being Michael Richards. Somehow, comic Bobby Slayton has carefully negotiated that complicated path, spicing his act with stereotypes, insults and foul language while never actually sparking any widespread controversy. Slayton, who appears nightly at the Hooters Hotel-Casino, joins us this hour to explain how he does it and what it may have cost him in career opportunities. In Banter: The Lion King is coming, Donny & Marie are here, the Believe theater, a poker whippersnapper and the OJ and Plaza v Plaza cases are still in court.Site: TheStripPodcast.comE-mail: Thestrippodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.com 

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If O.J. Simpson is on trial, then Dominick Dunne must be in town. The ailing Vanity Fair columnist and CourtTV personality, legendary for chronicling the intersection of celebrity and the criminal justice system, ignored doctor?s orders and his family?s wishes to descend on Las Vegas for the trial of, well, the month. He's had challenges -- he left court ill on Monday but returned Tuesday -- but his reward has been the warm embrace of Las Vegas high society, such as it is, and a loving New York Times profile rendered by none other than your Strip co-host, Steve. Dunne, an accomplished novelist and Hollywood producer in addition to his career observing the high-profile trials, opens up this hour about his health and why this is his final trial, what the difference between Britney Spears and Zsa Zsa Gabor is and whether John McCain is too old to be president. Plus, he tells one of the greatest Steve Wynn anecdotes of all time. In Banter: Why Aria's great food line up is disappointing, the Venetian funk spreads and the fake OJ crime scene.Web: TheStripPodcast.ComEmail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComVoicemail: 206-424-4737Twitter: twitter.com/thestrippodcast  

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The Beatles were reincarnated in Las Vegas as a Cirque show. The Four Seasons and Abba came back as hit musicals. And Donny & Marie are returning as, well, Donny & Marie. But only the Grateful Dead could resurface on the Las Vegas Strip as, well, a volcano. Sort of. Dead drummer Mickey Hart has teamed up with an Indian musical maestro to score the classic street side attraction at the Mirage with a score that Hart says will blow you away. We?ll talk to Hart this hour about that and more this hour. In Banter: Notes from OJville, IGT layoffs, we?re a-Twitter, a too-catchy ditty, Gordie Brown goes back downtown and Andre Agassi?s benefit goes upscale. Site: http://www.thestrippodcast.com Blog: http://VegasHappensHere.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/thestrippodcast MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/TheStripPodcast Voicemail: 206-424-4737 E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com

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The show you hear may make us sound like well-spoken, polite, erudite podcasters, but like many things in Las Vegas, that?s an illusion. For the past three years, we?ve been recording our show live with a listening audience of, well, tens, on the Internet. And so, as we did last year for our anniversary, we?re pulling the curtains back this week and airing all the behind-the-scenes drama. The curses! The chat people! The arguments! The Neil Sedaka impressions! The Steve abuse! It?s our 3rd birthday and we couldn?t be more thrilled, so sit back, relax ? and beware. In Banter: Vegas Podcast-a-Palooza thoughts, Mark has left LVRocks to reinvent the air conditioning, where the would 40/40 Club work, Yellow Tail Sushi opens at Bellagio,  Criss Angel ups the hype with another delay, the M Resort?s blimp is delayed too, Virgin America debuts this week, the Price is Right Live?s fun but odd, Manilow changes his name and direct flights to China could be years away. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Phone: 206-424-4737 E-mail TheStripPodcast@aol.com  

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Web: TheStripPodcast.Com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Phone: 206-424-4737 E-mail TheStripPodcast@aol.com

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Here's audio from Steve's 8/28 appearance on Nevada Newsmakers, a daily half-hour TV show based out of Reno. The discussion centers around how the national media deals with all things Vegas.  Find more Nevada Newsmakers shows at NevadaNewsmakers.com. Web: TheStripPodcast.com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Voicemail: 206-424-4737

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Here's the audio from the 8/16 Vegas Podcast-a-Palooza at the Palms. Hunter Hillegas (Vegas Gang), Tim and Michele Dressen (Five Hundy By Midnight) and us answered questions from the audience about how we do our shows and why. Site: TheStripPodcast.Com Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Voicemail: 206-424-4737 

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This week on the Strip: You may love him or you may hate him, but you cannot deny this one truth: Carrot Top is a Vegas star. And he?s the kind of star whose act could only have this kind of longevity on the Strip. Scott Thompson, the comic with the enormous orange plume and the shockingly ripped physique, joins us live today to explain his journey from Butts Road ? no, really ? to Las Vegas Boulevard.  That?s coming up. Plus, news from Vegas, a new poll, the trivia question and, as always, the Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week. This is The Strip, we?re at the Palms and our part of the 2008 Vegas Podcast-a-Palooza starts right now. PLUS: The Robert Earl rapproachement, Sheldon Adelson's protection and Steve's pre-Palooza nightmare. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737 Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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If there?s anyone who can attest to the fact that achieving fame in Las Vegas is never easy, it?s illusionist Nathan Burton. Yes, his goofy grin is now plastered across a tower of the Flamingo Las Vegas now -- and he reveals what that costs! -- but his journey to that triumph required two decades of work, gigs at countless hotels and appearances on not one but two top-rated reality TV competitions. Oh, and sealing himself in a box with seven Vegas showgirls for a week didn?t hurt, either. Burton joined us in the studio, as did Amy Turner of GritsToGlitz.Com subbing for a working Miles. In Banter: The ladies' night ruling, BestofVegas.Com's screw-up and Steve's theory on that Cirque-Dubai transaction. Web: TheStripPodcast.Com E-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Voicemail: 206-424-4737  Blog: VegasHappensHere.com

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On paper, David Spade wouldn?t seem a likely to become a star, let alone a ladies? man. And yet, more than two decades after he got his start in comedy clubs and was guided by Dennis Miller to a role on Saturday Night Live, Spade is a staple of American TV comedy as star of such hits as Just Shoot Me, 8 Simple Rules and Rules of Engagement. Spade, who usually performs his stand-up twice a month at the Planet Hollywood spoke to Steve about being the surprising object of affection of many a hot babe, about the tragedies that surround him and about the difficulty of mocking Barack Obama. Plus, Vegas nightlife guru Jack Colton of JackColton.Com explains the noisy club scene, Steve Wynn's hooker tangle and why Alan Thicke will never be on this program.Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.comWeb: TheStripPodcast.ComBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComCall: 206-424-4737

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On paper, David Spade wouldn?t seem a likely to become a star, let alone a ladies? man. And yet, more than two decades after he got his start in comedy clubs and was guided by Dennis Miller to a role on Saturday Night Live, Spade is a staple of American TV comedy as star of such hits as Just Shoot Me, 8 Simple Rules and Rules of Engagement. Spade, who usually performs his stand-up twice a month at the Planet Hollywood spoke to Steve about being the surprising object of affection of many a hot babe, about the tragedies that surround him and about the difficulty of mocking Barack Obama. Plus, Vegas nightlife guru Jack Colton of JackColton.Com explains the noisy club scene, Steve Wynn's hooker tangle and why Alan Thicke will never be on this program. Email: TheStripPodcast@aol.com Web: TheStripPodcast.Com Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com Call: 206-424-4737 

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Jay Leno has always been comfortably inside the lines of mainstream American comedy while Damon Wayans has built a family business out of going out on a limb. So what do these two comics have in common? For one, both are performing in Las Vegas this month. For another, they?re both on the show this week. Leno reacts to questions as about why he?s not more respected by the entertainment media while Wayans tries to explain the method to his mad career. In Banter: Steve's drinking binge, Steve Wynn's favorite drink,  the blue tape is gone, Miles lusts for Clean House, The WSJ covers Vegas debt and Harrah's addresses the environment.Call 206-424-4737, email thestrippodcast@aol.com, read VegasHappensHere.Com and visit TheStrippodcast.Com, too.

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Reissuing the June 8, 2006 episode featuring George and Giles Martin, the father-and-son duo who created the Love soundtrack from the tracks at Abbey Road Studios. This interview was conducted for a USA Today piece in advance of the show's opening at the Mirage. Call 206-424-4737, e-mail TheStripPodcast@aol.com, visit TheStripPodcast.Com and read VegasHappensHere.Com daily.

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REISSUING THIS 11/07 INTERVIEW WITH PATTI LUPONE IN WHICH SHE HINTS AT SOMETHING BIG SHE MAY HAVE COMING UP... WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE THE SHOW THAT WON HER HER SECOND TONY TONIGHT. Tony winner Patti Lupone talks about her long Broadway career and why she hated playing her signature role, Evita. Then, Ellen DeGeneres discusses the writer?s strike, her dog controversy and the TBS variety show she filmed in Vegas last week. Plus, news about Planet Hollywood, Zumanity, Crown Tower the Plaza and more.Donate $25 or more and pick anything you want off the prize list on thestrippodcast.com. You get a prize and you help us up. Good deal! There are a couple of items on the list that are exempt. Call 206-424-4737, email thestrippodcast@aol.com, read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com.

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REISSUING THIS 11/07 INTERVIEW WITH PATTI LUPONE IN WHICH SHE HINTS AT SOMETHING BIG SHE MAY HAVE COMING UP... WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE THE SHOW THAT WON HER HER SECOND TONY TONIGHT. Tony winner Patti Lupone talks about her long Broadway career and why she hated playing her signature role, Evita. Then, Ellen DeGeneres discusses the writer?s strike, her dog controversy and the TBS variety show she filmed in Vegas last week. Plus, news about Planet Hollywood, Zumanity, Crown Tower the Plaza and more.Donate $25 or more and pick anything you want off the prize list on thestrippodcast.com. You get a prize and you help us up. Good deal! There are a couple of items on the list that are exempt. Call 206-424-4737, email thestrippodcast@aol.com, read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com.

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This week, Microsoft rolls out its new Surface technology in the form of six $10,000 bar-lounge tabletops at the I Bar inside the casino at the Rio upon which, via some sophisticated touch-screen tech, customers can play games (video bowling, pinball), view YouTube videos, see who's sitting at other tables and send messages, take photos of themselves to send to friends and, oh yes, order drinks. And here's some video I took -- think of it as The Strip Podcast Goes Pop-Up Video for all the comments I stuck in there. I used the thing to find my childhood home in Syosset, N.Y.! Call 206-424-4737, e-mail thestrippodcast@aol.com, read vegashappenshere.com

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A year ago, Jerry Yang was a just a 39-year-old social worker from Temecula, California, with six kids, a hefty mortgage and a wife who worked nights to make ends meet. Today, he?s living proof of why the annual World Series of Poker is the one championship that anyone can win. Yang spent $225 to enter a local satellite tournament that led him to a seat at the 2007 Main Event where he walked away $8.25 million richer. Next month, he begins a defense of that crown but this week, he?s live in our studio to talk about the year that was, what he?s done with all that money and how he feels about the changes being made to this year?s W.S.O.P. In Banter: CityCenter's brief strike, more Fontainbleau plans revealed, a tourism firm thinks straight men are neglected in Vegas and K-Fed is Father of the Year. Call 206-424-4737, e-mail thestrippodcast@aol.com, the blog is at VegasHappensHere.Com

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Rita Rudner is having another important career moment. The comic has a new book out that?s both funny and surprisingly emotional and she?s recently become the first Vegas comedian to star in a PBS special to air in June. Rudner, whose girly voice and wry battle-of-the-sexes observations continue to pack ?em in nightly at the Harrah?s Las Vegas resort, joins us live this hour to catch us up on all of her activities. In Banter: The shit really flies at Panorama, revisiting Manilow, notes from Tussaud's and SATC is coming to Vegas, sort of.Call 206-424-4737, e-mail thestrippodcast@aol.com, read the blog at VegasHappensHere.Com.

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We?re getting a little bit country, a little bit soul this week with interviews with two very different artists. First, former teen prodigy LeAnn Rimes is all grown up and writing her own music these days, some of it offering a window into what it was like to transition from teen phenom to married lady. Then, Erykah Badu, the R&B star often likened to Billie Holliday, is back after a five-year break with three ? yes, three ? new albums this year. She?ll explain how Apple?s Garageband kicked off that spate. Also, the winner of our Jersey Boys tickets giveaway is revealed! In Banter/News: Steve's Angelic moment, singing about Aria, hooray to Jubilee and peeking in on Fontainebleau a tad. Call 206-424-4737, e-mail thestrippodcast@aol.com, read the blog at VegasHappensHere.Com. 

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Video from the Jersey Boys premiere and Frankie Valli birthday tribute on May 3, 2008 in Las Vegas at Palazzo. Find out how to win tickets to Jersey Boys at TheStripPodcast.Com or ReadVegas.Com. Also, subscribe to the show via iTunes or Zune! 

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Steve Wynn ? again! No, sorry. Gotcha! A podcaster cannot dine on Wynn alone. But speaking of dining, how about we serve you up a generous helping of two hot Vegas chefs, Kerry Simon and Charlie Trotter? Both have new restaurants in town, Simon at the Luxor and the Palms and Trotter at Palazzo. So we ask them about the dining scene, about their foie gras aversions and, of course, about what kind of fast food they eat.  Plus, in banter:  Perez Hilton sucks, the Donnie and Marie idea sucks, a Hustler hotel-casino would suck and the broken Encore sign sucks. Call 206-424-4737, e-mail thestrippodcast@aol.com, read the blog at vegashappenshere.com. 

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Twice in one month! Wow! Steve Wynn is back to discuss the recession, reveal some intriguing new plans for the future of his golf course and declare Spamalot, closing this summer, a success. Oh, and he explains how it is he did NOT lie to Steve a few weeks ago about those Danny Gans rumors. Sorta. In Banter: Powerful people are listening, Harrah's IS punishing the R-J, Criss Angel has not repented, the What Happens in Vegas trailer is good, Andrew Lloyd Webber is writing a Phantom sequel and more. Call 206-424-4737, email TheStripPodcast.com, check the blog at ReadVegas.Com or visit the site at TheStripPodcast.Com.   

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The LVCVA, to combat the recession, created these spots. Your thoughts? Come to ReadVegas.Com and talk about it.

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Steve appeared on KNPR's State of Nevada on Monday, April 21, to discuss the R-J v Harrah's issue and Sheldon Adelson's appearance in court last week.  

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You know a recession is pretty bad when it?s felt even in Las Vegas. Terry Lanni, the CEO of MGM Mirage, spoke to Steve earlier this month about these challenging economic times, about which of the young moguls of Vegas he admires and about the struggle to name the CityCenter Hotel. That?s coming up. Plus, news from Vegas, a new trivia question, the poll, a lot of listener feedback on last week?s provocative letter about the decline of Las Vegas, and as always, The Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week. In Banter: MGM layoffs, Harrah's dumps the R-J, mobile billboards under the microscope, Steve Scores and the Criss Angel nightmare for Cirque. E-mail thestrippodcast@aol.com, visit thestrippodcast.com or read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com. Call the voicemail at 206-424-4737.

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The last time we heard from Roseanne Barr was before she signed to do a run at the New York-New York. That gig came and went and now Barr is playing through May at the Sahara. She spoke to Steve about the differences between working at opposite ends of the Strip, about giving Judd Apatow and Joss Whedon their writing starts on her legendary sitcom and about when she started calling herself the Domestic Goddess. Barr appears at 9:30 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday at the Sahara Hotel. In Banter:  Food at Strip Clubs, frigging expensive shows and feuds with just about everyone. C all us at 206-424-4737, e-mail thestrippodcast@aol.com and 206-424-4737.  

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Guess who! It's Wynn on the young lions of Vegas, Encore, Christina Binkley's book "Winner Takes All," Eliot Spitzer, public art and Sheldon Adelson's delusions. In Banter: Chewing on the best part of "Winner Takes All" by Christina Binkley, wondering who would swim in a salt-water pool, laughing about the Westin charging conventioneers, baffling over a McCain remark in Vegas and admitting being punk'd on April Fool's Day.Call 206-424-4737, e-mail thestrippodcast@aol.com, read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com.

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Steve's Dec 2007 interview with "Money Honey" Maria Bartiromo for a Vegas Magazine cover story on her journalistic controversies, casinos versus stock markets and 9/11/01, also her birthday. Call our voicemail at 206-424-4737, e-mail thestrippodcast@aol.com or read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com. 

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There are a lot of artists you?d expect to find on the Las Vegas Strip. Performing artists, that is. But it?s a pretty sure bet that you never expected to find an artist like Maya Lin there. Neither did she. And yet the Vietnam Veterans Memorial sculptress is about to become a Vegas headliner, one of the major attractions in an ambitious $40 million public arts collection being assembled by MGM Mirage for its $8 billion CityCenter project. Tonight we?ll hear all about what sort of piece she?s getting $3 million to create for Las Vegas, about her first impressions of our fair town and, for the first time, about how she?s re-envisioning her most famous works.   In Banter: Encore's opening soon, Steve loses 95 cents at Mandalay, Blue Man Group is looking for men and women (?), Bill Maher gets it wrong and Billy Crystal's odd "classics." E-mail us at TheStripPodcast@aol.com, call 206-424-4737 or read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com. 

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Three weeks ago, when the Monte Carlo erupted in flames, magician Lance Burton was forced to cancel shows for only the second time in his 12-year run there. This Friday, though, it?s back to work for Burton as the beleaguered resort reopens to the public -- along with the best illusionist spectacle in Vegas. Steve spoke to Lance earlier today about the fire, his future and a surprising phone call he got from Roy Horn. In Banter: Broadway West's death knell, changing Spamalot lyrics, Menopause The Musical is a huge success, the Silverton's Bass Pro Shop is No. 1 as an apparel shop!?!, what happens to the coins in the fountain and more. E-mail us at thestrippodcast@aol.com, call 206-424-4737, read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com.   

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Here's Steve's appearance on KNPR's "State of Nevada" with Dave Berns discussing his NY Times piece from 2/3 on the lack of a Vegas paparazzi.

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Before Robuchon, before Palmer, before Lagasse and before Flay, there was Puck. Wolfgang Puck, of course. His Spago back in the early 1990s set off the star-chef boom here, and this month the most prolific restaurateur in Las Vegas is about to opens his sixth Strip restaurant, Cut, at the Palazzo. So Steve asked him about his proliferation and gets him to name his favorite fast food joint. Also, sticking with the theme of originals, Steve chats with Frankie Avalon, one of the original American teen heartthrob and a Vegas veteran. That?s all coming up, plus news from Vegas, listener feedback, a new poll, the trivia question and, as always, the Top Secret Tourist Tip of the Week. E-mail TheStripPodcast@aol.com, call 206-424-4737 or read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com.  

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The first new Las Vegas Strip resort in nearly three years held its grand opening in grand style last weekend. The Palazzo is the taller, blonder, slightly more elegant 3,000-room addition to its sister property, the Venetian, and it served as an excellent time to sit down for an interview with Las Vegas Sands C.E.O. Sheldon Adelson. While we can?t play all the audio from Steve?s two-hour conversation, we have received permission to play some of it, so sit back, relax, and get ready to hear some provocative comments from the Anti-Wynn. In Banter: An incompetent Cathouse barrista, Election Day at the Wynn, Diana Ross rescued by a drag queen, Menopause hits 1000, R.I.P. Heath Ledger and more. E-mail us at thestrippodcast@aol.com, call 206-424-4737, read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com.     

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The eyes of the political world are fixed on Las Vegas in advance of this Saturday?s Nevada presidential caucuses and, well, we know you just don?t give a damn about that. So instead, we figured we?d turn to the one politician who won?t bore you with a health-care plan or depress you about the war in Iraq. Why, it?s  the gin-swilling, showgirl-hugging mayor Oscar Goodman! Goodman has much to say about the future of downtown Las Vegas and attacks all the presidential candidates for not making any campaign stops in casinos. Plus, Steve's Adelson chat, Miles' thoughts on the new Palazzo and Elaine Wynn has Obamamania! Email us at thestrippodcast@aol.com, 206-424-4737 or read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com. 

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Two weeks ago, Bette Midler talked about her new show, her movies and her music. So what?s left? Stick around and hear all about her early days playing in gay bathhouses and much more. Plus, we win two Trippies, go to Trailer Station and check out Love again. Call 206-424-4737 or email thestrippodcast@aol.com.   

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This week, on the Strip: Another crazy year in Las Vegas has come and gone, and nowhere was it crazier than right here on this podcast. Fourteen times in the past 12 months, scoops you heard here first made it into Norm Clarke?s Review-Journal gossip column, but on this year-in-review roundup, we?re only revisiting the best moments -- as voted upon by YOU. So sit back, relax and enjoy the countdown. And, if you missed some of these shows, here?s your chance to hear them without having to wade through all those hours. In Banter: Our New Year's Eve, Wynn's power and the Palazzo's first look. Read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com, call 206-424-4737 or see our site at thestrippodcast.com.   

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Welcome to a Strip extra. CNN?s main anchor, Wolf Blitzer, came to Las Vegas in mid-November to moderate a Democratic presidential candidate debate at UNLV.  Steve collared Wolf Blitzer for a chat about the national media?s coverage of Las Vegas, his thoughts about flamboyant mayor Oscar Goodman and the general state of coverage of celebrities these days. We?ll be back with our regular show ? featuring part one of our Bette Midler conversation -- next week. Until then, visit us online at thestrippodcast.com, read Steve?s blog at TheStripPodcast.blogspot.com or leave us a voice mail at 206-424-4737. Merry Christmas, and enjoy the interview.

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Tony Marnell Jr. was the architect and builder behind several of the most important structures in Las Vegas history, including the Mirage, Forum Shops, Wynn Las Vegas and all five Cirque du Soleil theaters. In this lengthy conversation with Steve for a Vegas Magazine profile, the CEO of Marnell Corrao Associates recalls his humble childhood, discusses working with Wynn on those landmark projects and predicts his son, Anthony Marnell III, will be a leader in the next generation of Vegas moguls. We?ll be back with our regular show ? featuring part one of our Bette Midler conversation -- next week. Until then, visit us online at thestrippodcast.com, read Steve?s blog at TheStripPodcast.blogspot.com or leave us a voice mail at 206-424-4737. Merry Christmas, and enjoy the interview.

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Naomi Stikeman, a classically trained ballet dancer from Montreal who auditioned for "...A New Day" on a lark and ended up in Celine's show for its entire run, discusses what the songstress is really like, recalls the audition and talks aobut why she felt she was selling out by taking the gig.  Call 206-424-4737 or e-mail TheStripPodcast@aol.com. 

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The queen of Las Vegas is abdicating. After nearly five groundbreaking ? and highly profitable ? years, Celine Dion is voluntarily flinging herself off her Colosseum throne and heading back out into the world of international touring, new albums and possible additional parenthood. So what has her reign meant for Las Vegas? We?ll talk live to Brian Burke, the artistic director of Celine?s A New Day as well as the Wynn production, Le Reve.  Plus, Steve is in New York attending to a family health crisis, so Miles is joined in the studio by Amy of "Grits to Glitz." In Banter, they wonder about the prospects of a Donnie-and-Marie show at the Flamingo, Caesars raises its betting limits, Bette's got a new name and Amy shares her favorite and least favorite Vegas shows. Send us feedback at thestrippodcast@aol.com, call 206-424-4737, read the blog at thestrippodcast.blogspot.com. 

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