Forty-five beautiful and accomplished women from around the world will compete in the 14TH annual Mrs. World competition on June 23, at 5 p.m. (PDT) at the Las Vegas Hilton. Hosted by Florence Henderson, "Mrs. World" will be broadcast nationwide on the PAX TV Network as a primetime special on Saturday, July 19, from 9-11 p.m. (ET/ PT). The event is televised in the top 210 cities in America and 170 locations worldwide via syndication on the Armed Forces Television Network.

The contestants in the international competition compete in a number of categories, including interview, evening gown and swimwear.

The pageant is an extension of the "Mrs. America" competition, created by David Marmel in 1976 as a tribute to the 60-million married women in America. Mrs. World came to fruition in 1984. Tickets for this event are $30 with the tax and handling fee included, call 800-222- 5361 or 702-732-5755.

The Flamingo is taking its pool parties "Down Under" Australian style throughout the summer. Guests may enjoy 2-for-1 frozen drinks and Fosters Beer, an Australian barbecue with steak and shrimp on the "barbie," Aussie burgers and much more. Prize giveaways, live entertainment and dancing take place throughout the evening along with an opportunity to register to win a 2003 Jeep Wrangler.

Festivities take place from 4 p.m.-midnight through September 1, at the Lagoon Pool and Flamingo Beach Club, in the midst of 15 acres of lush tropical foliage and colorful wildlife. Admission to the public pool parties is free.

A new $140 million, two-story Hawaiian Marketplace is being built in place of the former Polo Plaza shopping center in front of the Polo Towers. The 80,000-square-foot mall will have subterranean parking and 60 stores. It will be enclosed with large tent-like structures creating the relaxed atmosphere of an outdoor marketplace complete with a meandering sidewalk and a man-made banyan tree as a focal point. Scheduled to open by the end of this year, the fast food pavilion will have 12 restaurants.

Comedy hypnotist Anthony Cools, who has earned a cult-like popularity persuading audience volunteers to behave outrageously on stage, will make his Las Vegas Strip debut at the Stardust in a series of weekend engagements beginning June 19-21.

Cools, a Canadian-born showman and professional therapist whose adult-themed performances have made him a hot nightclub attraction in cities across America, will appear at 11 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays in the resort's 900-seat showroom, for an open end run.

Cools keeps the ribald and risque activity from straying into X-rated zones by placing an emphasis on the hilarious aspects of the uninhibited antics. His subjects are rarely embarrassed and often return to be hypnotized. Many even purchase videos of their own uncensored performances.

In college, Cools was a television and film major and he began his career working as a radio disk jockey and a nightclub manager. He proceeded to dedicate himself to the study of hypnosis and eventually developed the expertise to help thousands of people overcome behavioral problems through videotapes and private sessions. In 1994, he became a comedy hypnotist as an experiment to increase business in his own nightclub.

Tickets to the show are $29.95 per person, plus tax, call 702-617-5577.

Paris Las Vegas is now offering a third outdoor dining option this summer with the debut of its new dinner menu at Cafe du Parc that is open Wednesday through Sunday from 7-10 p.m., call 702-967-7999.

Located on the resort's third floor pool deck, Cafe du Parc's dinner menu features meals prepared with a French flair with featured wines and specialty drinks. The average entr‚e is $17.

In addition, Paris Las Vegas is teaming up with Oasis 105.7 radio to present the Sunday Night Jazz Cruise, which is free and open to the public. Debuting tonight, June 1, the intimate jazz series is featuring some of the finest jazz musicians performing every Sunday night through July 27, except for July 6, from 7-9 p.m. on the resort's pool deck beneath the 50-story Eiffel Tower replica.

Panera Bread, the nation's leading bakery-cafe brand, has opened its first outlet west of Colorado in the new Galleria Pavilion area at the Galleria Mall in Henderson. The new store is 5,600 square feet with 70 seats allotted for an outside patio and 125 seats inside. The 500-square-foot baking area is featured prominently in the cafe where patrons can watch the daily baking process. Every loaf of bread is produced fresh daily and remaining products at the end of the night are donated to charity organizations. Hours are daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The goal for Panera Bread is to open four Las Vegas bakery-cafes within a year and 15 locations in the next five years. For information, call 702-434-4002.

Later this month, McCarran International Airport will unveil the nation's first "common use" self-service kiosk system that will enable passengers on several airlines to print their own boarding passes, even before they leave for the airport. The $2 million systems\ called "SpeedCheck" will begin with six airlines participating - Southwest, America West, Delta, Continental, Northwest and US Airways, and with passengers who aren't checking baggage. The first phase will introduce 38 kiosks, and by July, four terminals will be placed at the Las Vegas Convention Center for conventioneers to use.

Harrah's Las Vegas and the Rio are offering a 20 percent discount off regular rack room rates and two-for-one show tickets to all active military personnel, their spouses and children through July 4. It is necessary to mention the "Military Discount" when making a room reservation and to present valid active military identification upon hotel check-in.

In addition, through Aug, 28, military personnel can pick up a coupon at the Ticket and Tour Office at Nellis Air force base, valid for two-for-one discounts on all Harrah's Las Vegas and Rio shows. The shows include Clint Holmes, "Skintight" and Mac King at Harrah's; plus The Scintas, Penn & Teller, "Showgirls," "Chippendales," Ronn Lucas and "Tony & Tina's Wedding" at the Rio.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

Master magician and illusionist David Copperfield will headline the MGM Grand1s intimate 740-seat Hollywood Theatre with his latest stage production show, "An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion." He'll perform two shows nightly and Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. performances are $97 inclusive and the 3 p.m. matinee shows are $79.90, call 800-929-1111 or 702-891-7777.

Tickets are now on sale today for "Zumanity," a provocative new Cirque du Soleil production to be presented on a permanent basis at New York-New York. The show will premiere on Aug. 14, with an international cast of 50 eclectic and flirtatious performers and musicians in an intimate, custom-built 1,256-seat theatre featuring a voluptuous velvet interior. Dim alcoves, intimate lighting and varied seating situations including Cabaret Stools, traditional Theater Seats, Love Seats and Duo Sofas will add to the overall experience.

Tickets are priced with tax included and range from $55 for Cabaret Stools up to $95 per person for Duo Sofas, call 866-606 7111 or 702-740 6815. "Zumanity" will be performed Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

"Zumanity" is Cirque du Soleil's 15th production since the company was founded in 1984, and its third permanent one in Las Vegas.

For the first time, after 18 record-breaking years, "An Evening at La Cage" starring Frank Marino as Joan Rivers at the Riviera is offering the show only once a night except Tuesday at 8 p.m. This move has made room for a new production, "Men, The Show," in the 10 p.m. time slot nightly except Tuesday.

Joe Trammel aka "The Man of a 1,000 Faces" who emcees and performs in "Crazy Girls"' recently added one more character to his vast repertoire. He now does Saddam Hussein to the music of "Cops," with wording "bad boy, bad boy, what you gonna do when we come for you." "Crazy Girls" has been around for over 15 years and Trammel is the first man to ever be in it. His act is purely physical comedy.

Nancy Sinatra will bring "her boots" to the House of Blues when she sings on July 16. Tickets are $25 and $30, call 702-632-7600.

Other acts include Third Eye Blind with Josh Kelley on June 25, Tracy Chapman and eastmountainsouth on June 24, and Little Feat on July 3.

CKY (Camp Kill Yourself), Revolution Smile and Leisure will play an all-ages show on June 13, followed by the All-American Rejects on June 14. Tickets for both of these shows are $12.

Geno Munari, owner and founder of the tiny Houdini Museum at the Venetian, has acquired more significant artifacts and archives from the Houdini Historic Center in Appleton, Wisconsin, which was the famed magician's adopted birthplace. He will be bringing the Appleton's extensive inventory of authenticated Houdini memorabilia that has served as a comprehensive resource for researchers and combine it with his current holdings, which include the previous Swann/Milbourne Christopher and Sidney J. Radner acquisitions. After the merge, he will present the extended collection in a larger space.

The Houdini Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for children and $5 for families, call 702-796-0301.

Loran Luft with her show "Songs My Mother Taught Me: A Celebration of the Music of Judy Garland," will lovingly bring her mother's music to the Suncoast stage, June 6-8. Her show is a personal mother and daughter story brought to life with projections screens, and clips from Garland's MGM and television career. Luft sings directly to and with her mother on screen, allowing for emotional duets. Tickets are $34.95, $39.95 and $44.95 plus tax, call 702-636-7271.

Luft's professional debut was on her mother's landmark CBS television series. Her memoir, "Me and My Shadows: Living With the Legacy of Judy Garland," spent nine weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The ABC-TV miniseries "Live With Judy Garland: Me & My Shadows" based on her book, aired in 2001 and garnered the highest ratings of the season. The mini -series was nominated with five Emmy Awards.

The Bellagio broke ground a few weeks ago on it $375 million Spa Tower. The 925-room tower will be south of the main pool area of the hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.

Swim-up blackjack, the coolest game in town, is open for the summer season and daily play at the Tropicana's main pool from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The outdoor table game has bet limits of $5-$50.

The first comprehensive 8,000-square-foot sports training facility in Nevada has opened at 880 Seven Hills Drive, Suite 100 in Henderson. It is the newest and most advanced athletic training facility on the West Coast.

Impersonator Ray Anthony has returned to the "Legends In Concert" show at the Imperial Palace portraying a young superstar whose life was tragically cut short at age 17, Ritchie "The California Kid" Valens.

A native of Trinidad who moved to Canada as a youngster, Anthony, a self-taught musician, began his professional career in high school and later toured across Ontario with an Elvis Presley tribute show. He is a versatile performer who not only sings, but, plays guitar, bass, piano and drums.

He shares the stage with an ever-rotating cast of look- and sound-alike performers such Janet Jackson, the "Boss" Bruce Springsteen, the Temptations, Cher, and Elvis Presley.

Tickets are $39.95 per person, including tax, tip and a drink. Children 12 and under are $24.95, call 888-777-7664 or 702-794-3261.

CONTINUE ON TO...:
>THIS WEEK'S LAUGHLIN SEGMENT
>LAST WEEK'S LAS VEGAS SEGMENT
>VEGAS VIEWS FULL ARCHIVES
>Return to "Heard Around Town"
>Return to Las Vegas Leisure Guide