Beginning Sept. 9, impressionist Andre-Philippe Gagnon will make Le Theatre des Arts at Paris his new Las Vegas home. He will perform on select mid-week dates through the remainder of this year and alternate with rotation weekend headliners. Tickets will be $60 including tax, call 1-877-374-7469.

Gagnon is a native of the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec. He is most famous for his virtuoso performance of all 18 voices in the legendary famine relief song, "We Are the World." This song has become his signature song since he first sang it on television for the song's co-creator and composer, Lionel Ritchie.

Gagnon first introduced his 300-voice repertoire to Las Vegas audiences a year or so ago when he headlined at the Venetian's showroom. Since then, he's been touring internationally.

Guess what, the new outdoor pool area Hawaiian luau dinner show at the Flamingo called "Baywatch Aloha" that reportedly opened has already closed. However, the new Baywatch Restaurant inside the hotel is open.

Hilo Hattie's newest 3,800-square-foot store opened this month inside the Aladdin's Desert Passage shopping center. Hawaii's largest Hawaiian retailer is Hilo Hattie with nine stores on all the major Hawaiian islands and stores in Orange, CA; Nashville, TN; Tempe, AZ; Miami, FL and now Las Vegas. The rights to the Hilo Hattie name were taken over in 1979.

Hilo Hattie was a real person named Clarissa Haili, who was born on Oct. 28, 1901 and died in 1979. She began her career as a schoolteacher but it was her singing and dancing that gave her a place in modern history. She popularized the comic hula style with such tunes as "The Cock-Eyed Mayor of Kaunakakai," "Princess Pupule Has Plenty Papayas," and "When Hilo Hattie Does the Hula Hop."

In 1996, Hilo Hattie developed its own mail catalog and Internet site www.HiloHattie.com. This year, Hilo Hattie became a marketing partner with Disney sharing exclusive retail rights for the hand-painted bobblehead dolls from the new animated feature film, "Lilo & Stitch."

Sheryl Crow - singer, songwriter and pop recording star - will appear in concert in the Caesars Palace Pavilion with special guest Michelle Branch on Friday, Sept. 27. Tickets are $50, $75 and $100 plus tax and a $3 ticket-handling fee, call 1-800-634-6001 or 702-731-7333.

Crow rocketed to stardom after her first album was released in 1994. The Midwestern diva has just released a star-studded rock 'n' roll album, "C'mon C'mon," which features duets with classic rock artists like Don Henley, Emmylou Harris and Lenny Kravitz. Her single "Steve McQueen" from the new album premiered on CMT's "Most Wanted Live" on Aug. 8.

Branch is just 19 yeas old and she's already a pop star with many recent network television appearances and national magazine covers. She just completed the music video for her single, "Goodbye to You," and has been nominated for MTV Video Music Awards for Viewer's Choice ("Everywhere"), Best Pop Video ("All You Wanted") and Best Female Video ("All You Wanted").

The Flagstaff, AZ native picked up the guitar on her 14th birthday and immediately began writing songs. By April 2000, she had a manager and was recording her first album "Broken Bracelet." The following June, she became the opening act on tour with the rock band Hanson, and before the end of the year had a recording contract with Maverick Records. Her first album for Maverick was "The Spirit Room" and the single, "Everywhere" reached No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts.

Master impressionist Bill Acosta, "Man of 1001 Voices," will return to Las Vegas for a special three-night engagement, Sept. 6-8, at the Suncoast in the northwest part of the valley. Acosta's headliner name graced the Luxor's marquee for two years and then the Flamingo Hilton before he went back on the road touring.

Acosta is known for changing voices at least every 60 seconds and for his challenging signature piece "The Twelve Days of Christmas," where he changes voices 90 times using his vocal chasing technique. Tickets are $24.95, $29.95 and $34.95.

The queen of '80s rock, Pat Benatar will headline in the Las Vegas Hilton Theater with her husband and lead guitarist, Neil Giraldo, on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 at 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $25, $35 and $45 plus tax and handling fee, call 1-800-222-5361 or 702-732-5755.

Benatar and Giraldo released a live CD and DVD, "Live Summer Vacation," earlier this year featuring four previously unreleased songs along with acoustic versions of some of her biggest hits. She has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards for "Best Rock Performance" and won the award four consecutive years.

Hard to believe but it's time for football already. Monday Night Football at the Tropicana's Celebration Lounge will begin on Sept. 9. The game will be viewed on a 10-foot by 13-foot projection screen surrounded by 10 other television sets. Large 16 ounce Budweiser and Bud light Drafts will be $2 during the game and there will be giveaway items along with a drawing for prizes. For more information, call 702-739-2222.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

Well folks, it finally happened on Aug. 13. Barbara Howell of Las Vegas was the first person to play tic-tac-toe with a live chicken at the Tropicana in Las Vegas and win $10,000. Ginger, the live chicken star of the "$10,000 Chicken Challenge," game made her Las Vegas debut on May 31, 2002. About 500 people play the game a day, so you can see the chicken usually wins. The hotel has 15 trained chickens in its coop.

This classic game of chance began in Atlantic City and now is played in Las Vegas with a live chicken at the Tropicana from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The promotion is open to the public as long as they are a Winners Club member and membership is free. Participation is limited to one play per person, per day for the duration of the promotion.

The Chippendales are at the Rio, the boys from Australia are appearing n "Thunder From Down Under" at the Excalibur, and now "Men" have arrived this week at The New Frontier on the Strip. These new hunks who bare most everything for the ladies are from Canada, Italy, Israel and the United States including Hawaii.

Reportedly something different in this new show is an authentic Marine Corp riffle drill team segment in full dress. Tickets are $29.95 plus tax, call 702-794-8200. Shows are nightly except Thursday at 9 p.m. with additional 11 p.m. shows on Friday and Saturday. Self-serve drinks are available for $1 and you must be at last 18 years old.

"Elvis: The Concert," the production that reunites former Presley bandmates and backup singers live on-stage with Elvis performing on video on a two-story screen, will be at the Aladdin Theater for the Performing Arts on Aug. 24. Joe Guercio, Elvis' original music director, will direct the live 16-piece orchestra and his original bandmates. Ticket prices range from $35 to $55.

With Sept. 11 fast approaching, some headliners and shows are choosing to go dark as a commemorative sign. The list so far who have decided to take the day off include Rita Rudner and the show "Boo!" at New York-New York, the Blue Man Group (a New York-based group) at the Luxor, hypnotist Dr. Naughty at the Greek Isles, "Skintight" at Harrah's, "Splash" at the Riviera," and "Showgirls" at the Rio.

Magician Lance Burton at Monte Carlo, Wayne Newton at the Stardust, and Penn & Teller at the Rio will already be out on vacation over the Sept. 11 date. In September, Penn & Teller will be taping television segments for "Hollywood Squares" and "Fear Factor" as well as making changes in their stage show as they begin a two-year engagement at the Rio.

Formerly the Las Vegas Karting Center, XPLEX is a .7-mile track located on South Las Vegas Boulevard near the I-15 Sloan exit and is a replica of the famous Le Mans Circuit in France. XPLEX is ready to satisfy the "need for speed" for individuals, groups or corporate events for up to 500 people.

Visitors to XPLEX can bring their own karts, rent one of the various karts in the fleet, or, for a real racing experience, take a half day or full day school with an experienced instructor. Champ car driver Bryan Herta and SSC Racing own XPLEX, which is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Driving schools are available weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 702-260-6355.

New York-New York has announced plans to construct a permanent tribute to those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 attacks. The tribute will be located at the base of the Statue of Liberty replica located at the corner of the Strip and Tropicana Ave. Construction is slated to begin in October and should be completed by year's end.

Shortly after Sept. 11, the area in front of the statue became an impromptu memorial with visitors placing poems, flowers, flags, photos and T-shirts around the area. Over time most of the varied items have been removed except for the more than 3,000 T-shirts from police and fire departments representing all 50 states. They remain draped over the fence in front of the statue. The collection of T-shirts will be housed in a permanent exhibit in the hotel.

The tribute will incorporate some of the saved artifacts in shadow boxes to be built into the granite base. Items not used in the memorial or exhibit will be archived and stored at the Special Collections Department the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The Mandalay Bay Resort Group is forging ahead with plans to display two giant pandas near its Mandalay Bay hotel-casino. The company estimates a panda exhibit could yield as much as $50 million each year for research and conservation. It could take a long time for this project to come to fruition.

Songwriter, musician, singer, screenwriter and comic actor Dennis Blair and two fellow comedians will headline the Riviera Comedy Club, Aug. 26 through Sept. 1. Blair is a Rodney Dangerfield protege, who toured with him for three years. During that time, Blair conceived and co-wrote "Easy Money," which was Dangerfield's first big hit movie, and he played two cameo roles in it.

Blair has a book out, "Me First," which tells about his experiences as the opening act for some of the industry's biggest names. He has also released two CD's "I Sleep Naked In The Rain" and "Live Performance Anxiety."

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