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: [email protected]": 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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: [email protected]: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737

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: [email protected]: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.comVoicemail: 206-424-4737

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: [email protected]: 206-424-4737Twitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.Com

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: [email protected]: @TheStripPodcast

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.

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Twitter: @TheStripPodcast

Voicemail: 206-424-4737

Blog: VegasHappensHere.Com

Site: TheStripPodcast.Com

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: [email protected]": 206-424-4737Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcast

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: [email protected]: VegasHappensHere.ComVoicemail: 206-424-4737Twitter: @TheStripPodcast

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: [email protected]: VegasHappensHere.ComSite: TheStripPodcast.ComPhone: 206-424-4737Twitter: @TheStripPodcast

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: [email protected]: VegasHappensHere.ComTwitter: @TheStripPodcastPhone: 206-424-4737