Tag Archives: Flamingo

Osmond’s Las Vegas Show on Hiatus after Suicide of Marie’s Son

The suicide death of Marie Osmond’s teenage son is forcing the singer to put her Las Vegas act with brother Donny on hold for an indefinite time.

The duo’s show at the Flamingo Hotel Showroom was canceled Saturday night and People.com cites a rep who says it’s not yet known how long the hiatus will remain in effect.

Los Angeles police say Marie’s 18-year-old son, Michael Blosil, leapt to his death last Friday night from the downtown apartment building where he lived.

In a statement, Marie Osmond said she and her family were “devastated and in deep shock.”

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Donny Osmond Wins “Dancing With the Stars”

An estimated 19.2 million people watched Donny Osmond last night win “Dancing With The Stars” — the smallest audience for the show’s finale since the first season – and take home the show’s traditional mirrored ball trophy in the season finale of the ABC TV contest reality program. 

Helping push Osmond over the top was the tango he performed Tuesday with his professional dancing partner, Kym Johnson. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba hailed his performance as “artistry in motion.” It earned the top score of the final performances. 

Osmond, the former teen pop star of the iconic singing Osmond family, said the show has been a highlight in a career of ups and downs.  

The 52-year-old showbiz veteran, who headlines at the Flamingo in Las Vegas with his sister, Marie, has been performing almost all of his life, but said that there’s a difference between cutting albums and selling records and dancing competitively. 

Donny Osmond now holds the distinction of being the first Las Vegas headliner to win “Dancing’ while having a show on the Las Vegas Strip. 

He competed during the show’s finale Tuesday against singer Mya and Kelly Osbourne, daughter of rock star Ozzy Osbourne. 

Mistakes on the dance floor during the season weren’t the only missteps of ABC’s live broadcast. At the top of Tuesday’s show, as highlights from Monday’s show ran, the video froze on shot of Miss Piggy, prompting host Tom Bergeron to remind viewers that the broadcast was live and send the show to an early commercial break. 

This was the ninth edition of the contest, one of television’s most popular shows. The Nielsen Co. says ratings have been down all season for the show, an indication that viewers weren’t as attached to the contestants as they had in the past.

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Marie Osmond Tapped “Woman of the Year” in Las Vegas

Flamingo headliner Marie Osmond will reign as “Woman of the Year” at the Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Black and White Ball on January 23 at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. MarieOsmond

Bette Midler received the honor for 2009. 

Marie Osmond debuted professionally at age 3, peforming in her brothers’ act, “The Osmond Brothers.”

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Marie Osmond’s TV Talk Show Goes South

Las Vegas Flamingo headliner Marie Osmond’s television talk show, planned for a September premiere on stations in 80 percent of the U.S., has now been cancelled. marieosmond3

A weak economy was supposedly the culprit. “This project, under proper conditions, still remains a strong passion of mine,” she said in a released statement.

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Caesars Palace in Las Vegas Opens Gigantic New Meeting Space

Bad economy be darn.  Caesars Palace opened 110,000 square feet of new convention and meeting spaces on July 13, despite an economic downturn that has Las Vegas convention attendance dropping double digits, equating to 2,441 fewer meetings held this year than last. 

The convention area was part of a $1 billion expansion project of Caesars Palace that boosts the property’s total meeting space to 320,000 square feet. 

Harrah’s Entertainment in January announced it was postponing construction of the planned 660-room Octavius Tower, but would work to continue the convention area. 

The new space is the largest in Las Vegas for Harrah’s Entertainment.  The company’s other properties range in size form 160,000 square feet at the Rio, where the World Series of Poker (WSOP) is held annually, to 25,000 square feet at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. 

Caesars Palace officials expect the new space will permit it better to compete with similarly sized high-end space at the Bellagio, Encore, and Wynn Las Vegas.

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Sneak into Las Vegas Casino/Hotel Pools for FREE!

Las Vegas tourists and residents alike enjoy splashing around in pools and trying to cool off  as temperatures hit the triple digits.  But with our economy languishing in the doldrums, it’s sometimes hard to find enough dough to pay for the experience.  So, here’s our Las Vegas Backstage Access listing of the most sneak-friendly pools in Las Vegas.  Enter at your own risk!

Tropicana – 3801 S. Las Vegas Blvd.   Start at the Reno Avenue entrance at the southwest side of the Tropicana.  It’s maybe not the classiest place, but it’s gigantic, including a swim-up bar, blackjack tables, and two separate hot tubs. 

Flamingo – 3555 S. Las Vegas Blvd.  Go in the parking garage, walk down the metal staircase, go across the street and head directly into the extremely crowded pool area.  Could be there is staff members at entrance, but usually not a problem to enter. 

Riviera – 2901 S. Las Vegas Blvd.  Their very deep pool isn’t fancy with waterfalls, bars and such, but very relaxing.  They don’t ask to see a room key to get a beach towel, just think of a name and room number and write ’em down before you enter. 

Artisan – 1501 W. Sahara Ave.  Valet park your cark and saunter through the lobby.  Features a cool grotto with foliage and comfy lounge furniture.  Not a bar at the pool, but you can use the pool phone to call the bar and a bartender will bring your cocktails poolside. 

Golden Nugget – 129 Fremont Street  Security guards stand sentry at the door, but just look like you’re going swimming, bring your own towels, and wait for families to go through and follow them.  Huge waterslide that goes through a shark tank.  Very luxurious with cushioned deck chairs and VIP areas.

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Marie Osmond ‘Very Supportive’ of Gay Rights

Las Vegas performer Marie Osmond has come out in favor of gay rights. marieosmond2

In an interview with Los Angeles radio station KOST 103.5, the Flamingo headline said it was “not a sensitive issue” for her.

Osmond said she supports gay couples having civil rights. 

“I think it’s important to look that at the commandment love thy neighbor as thyself,” said Osmond, who has eight children.  Her oldest daughter, Jessica, 21, has been in a gay relationship for three years.

Please see prior Feb. 24 and April 20, 2009 Las Vegas Backstage Access articles.

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Grammy Winner Toni Braxton Sues Lloyd’s of London

Former Flamingo headliner and Las Vegas resident Toni Braxton is suing insurance giant specialist Lloyd’s of Londontonibraxton for refusing to pay her for the months of work she missed entertaining in Las Vegas because of her alleged heart condition. 

The six-time Grammy winner is suing for undisclosed damages, claiming she bought “non-appearance” and “cancellation” insurance which protects entertainers in case of cancellations. 

Published reports indicate Braxton discovered she had pericarditis, an inflammation of the sack surrounding the heart, after the birth of her second son, Diezel, on March 31, 2003. 

However, not long after leaving the Flamingo – still having nine months on her entertainment contract – Braxton competed on ABC TVs “Dancing with the Stars.”

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19th Annual Epicurean Affair Returns to Las Vegas on April 23

The 19th annual Epicurean Affair, sponsored by the Nevada Hotel & Lodging Association, the Nevada Restaurant Association and Flamingo Las Vegas, returns for its fourth consecutive year on April 23 at 6 p.m. to the Flamingo in epicureanLas Vegas.

Long considered the Las Vegas culinary event of the year, the Epicurean Affair allows guests the opportunity to sample delicious food, wine and cocktails at the Flamingo’s 15-acre tropical oasis, represented by more than 100 of Las Vegas’ top bars and AAA, Michelin, Mobil and James Beard Foundation award-winning restaurants and chefs.  General admission is $100 per person.  For info, call the Flamingo Box Office at (702) 733-3333.

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‘Osmondmania’: Las Vegas Blessing or Curse?

Osmondmania.  It’s everywhere- the Las Vegas equivalent to motherhood and apple pie.donnymarie

The seven Osmonds have been performing in front of world-wide audiences for 50 years.  They were virtually born on stage and continue to make it their home, thrilling many millions of people with their unique brand of barbershop, pop, rock, country, and jazz music

With millions of albums and have several gold and platinum records to their credit, the Osmonds have broken records for sell out performances once held by the Beatles and Elvis, and won numerous awards including the People’s Choice Award.

And choking economy or not, Donny and Marie Osmond continue to perform and shine brightly on the Las Vegas Strip.  Taking the helm when past Flamingo headliner Toni Braxton had to end her show last April due to health concerns, their 90-minute greatest-hits multimedia show at the Flamingo Showroom, which opened September 9, 2008, has an extended run through October 2010.

Now it appears the Osmonds will be Las Vegas for an eternity- and then some.  “The Osmond musical name-and teeth- will live for a long time,” jokes Donny, 51. “Marie and I still are working hard in Vegas because, with dozens of grandkids waiting in the wings and needing jobs one day, we may have to take over every hotel on the Strip.” 

Osmondmania appears here to stay in Las Vegas.

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Boston’s Vinnie Favorito Packs ‘Em In at the Flamingo in Las Vegas

Times are tough, but you wouldn’t know it by watching the insulting Boston comic Vinnie Favorito throw down a torrent of smack and pack ’em in nightly at the Flamingo in Las Vegas.vinniefavorito

Although we’re all perhaps feeling a little down on ourselves right now, Favorito has refined his ethnic humor to fit our blended and ever evolving society.  He has his black jokes and his Mexican jokes, but when he finds a couple in the audience with of each he asks, “When something’s missing, who do you blame?”

Why is Favorito’s style so popular?  It’s hard to know for certain, but maybe there’s an undercurrent of nostalgia for the simpler era of chop-busting.

Or perhaps it’s because we have moved so far past those simple definining lines in the real world, and it’s now just harmlessly ridiculous when Favorito acts mock-astonished that a Mexican couple has no children.

Either way, there is something direct and kinetic about a guy that keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering if you’ll be the next victim.

Vinnie Favorito carries on the Don Rickles torch daily at 8 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturdays at the Flamingo in Las Vegas.

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Suds Gush at Sin City Brewing Company in Las Vegas

Economy got you down?  Well, head down to the Flamingo in Las Vegas come this March and you will have a new place to drown your sorrows.  

The Sin City Brewing Company has plans to open its second Las Vegas location inside the Flamingo.   (The brewery’s original location is inside the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas.) 

The new Las Vegas-based microbrewery will be located near the hotel’s guest entrance and valet area and have an outdoor patio area adjacent to the Flamingo’s 15-acre pool and wildlife complex.

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Las Vegas ‘Bottoms Up’: World Series of Beer Pong

To say the 414 teams of two currently participating in the World Series of Beer Pong at the Flamingo in Las Vegas will have a level head and clear thinking after chugging down unimaginable glasses of beer when it is all over, is just not going to happen.  Teams from around the country are participating in the drinking game, with the winning team to be crowned on Monday, January 5.  They will try to take home, coordination willing, a purse of $50,000- which will go a long way in buying a whole lot more of Pabst Blue Ribbon brewskies (official tournament beer). 

The object of the game is for the teams, most in their 20s, to alternately toss pingpong balls across an 8-beerpongfoot table into cups of beer.  Then, when a ball lands in a cup, the opposing team must drink its contents.  Obviously, as time goes on, dexterity is severely challenged, but eventually an inebriated team is crowned the victor, and most likely whisked away to “sleep on the prize” off for weeks. 

The event was the brainchild three years ago of Billy Gaines and Duncan Carroll, who saw the potential for a national tournament, most likely in a beer haze, having their first tournament at the Oasis Resort in Mesquite, Nevada.  It’s come along way from the first 80-team competition, guzzling ’em down for a $10,000 grand prize.  But the ol’ beer buzz is just the same.

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