Charo, the famous "Cuchi-Cuchi" girl, has opened in a production show called "Bravo" at the Showroom at the Venetian. The famous singer, dancer, composer, and world-class flamenco-guitar virtuoso leads a cast of dancers and a four-piece live band in a Latin influenced show.

Charo is joined by Mexican comedy duo, Mario and Daniel, who have recently been seen in their new hit sitcom, "Viva Vegas," on Telemundo.

The multi-talented Charo used to be a showroom regular in Las Vegas in the '70s and early '80s. A current Sprint television commercial has brought her back into the limelight. Her indefinite venture at the Venetian is co-produced by On Stage Entertainment, which produces "Legends in Concert" at the Imperial Palace.

Show times are 9 p.m. nightly except Sunday with an additional 7 p.m. show on Wednesday. Tickets are $48, $59 and $69, call 702-414-2001.

Find out if you're a redneck by catching Grammy-nominated comedian, Jeff Foxworthy at the Rio in the Samba Theater, Dec. 6-8. Tickets are $77, call 1-800-PLAYRIO or visit the Web site: www.playrio.com.

Most famous for his "You Might Be A Redneck If..." routine, Foxworthy has released three comedy recordings, which have tallied sales of more than eight million units. He starred on "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" for two consecutive seasons and is also the author of nine best-selling books.

The much-anticipated Palms opened last week, one month before the projected opening date. It's being billed as "the party place" and geared toward locals and tourists. One person described the property as a cross between Mandalay Bay and The Hard Rock. When you enter through the main front door entrance, your first thought is the Hard Rock. The design is a retro 1950s sleek Space age image.

Nightclubs, seven restaurants and a 20,000-square foot, three-story health spa and salon set the Palms, located one-mile west off the Strip and across the street from the Gold Coast and Rio hotels on Flamingo Road, apart from the huge mega-resorts. The $270 million property has one 42-story wafer-shaped tower with 455 guestrooms so size-wise it's much smaller than the mega-resorts.

Having a resident palmist in a little hideaway off the casino is totally unique. There's no charge for the exotic service. Plus in the high-roller lounge, guests who smoke can choose the tobacco they want and then watch their cigarettes or cigars be rolled to order.

Each restaurant and nightclub seems to have an identifiable touch setting it apart in some manner. For example, the Little Buddha Cafe is an eclectic Asian mix. The eye-catcher decoration in the main dining room and the room behind it are two 10-foot Buddha's placed back-to-back with smaller Buddhas placed throughout.

The adjacent River Bar has a river that runs through it. The water runs across the channel in the bar and then falls into an iron well to be recycled.

N9NE is Chicago's hippest steakhouse with chic, stainless steel and Lucite decor, silver mesh curtains, silver fabrics, dark walnut woods plus leather and suede furniture. The lighting is high-tech. Central to the 175-seat dining room is the 16-seat caviar bar.

Alize is a new French concept eatery on the 56th floor. It's almost totally glass-enclosed with a breathtaking view of the city. The centerpiece in this dining room is the 12-foot glass wine cellar exhibiting nearly 1,000 fine wines.

The three-story nightclub Rain has private boxes, and high-tech lighting and stage effects. The room can also be used for small concerts.

Probably the Ghostbar on the 55th floor is getting the most notoriety. The panoramic view is enjoyed inside by floor to ceiling windows and outside on a 270-degree wrap-around deck. The conversation piece is a thick piece of glass bedded into the floor where people can test their courage and stand on it. You can look down through the glass to the pool below. The feeling is eerie and not for the faint-of-heart.

The property is owned and run by 37-year-old George Maloof Jr., who is the new wonder boy in town much like Steve Wynn was before he grew to his guru status. Maloof opened the Fiesta in North Las Vegas in 1994 for $28 million and sold it to Station Casinos for $185 million.

This week at the Palms, Brenden Theatres made its Nevada debut with a 14-screen multiplex. Its direct competition is the nearby popular Century movie theaters at The Orleans, which expands from 12 to 18 screens on Dec. 21. Johnny Brenden owns Brenden Theatres and he's the grandson of legendary exhibitor Ted Mann.

The 14 auditoriums at the Palms, which range in size from about 100 to almost 500 seats, feature curved screens, stadium seating and rocking-chair seats that convert to love seats when the cupholder armrests are raised.

The theater's decor salutes movie-palace heritage with such touches as streamlined chrome pillars, a neon marquee, mirrored balls marking the auditorium entrances and a starlit ceiling sparkling above the box office.

Brenden plans to add a giant-format Imax theater to the Palms in about a year and a half, after the Luxor's exclusivity agreement expires.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

The World Featherweight Championship fight is scheduled at the MGM Grand on Saturday, March 2, 2002, and will be televised and distributed by Home Box Office (HBO) pay-per-view.

The challengers will be Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales II. They each declared victory in their first epic battle on Feb. 19, 2000, even though Morales had his hand raised in Ring Magazine's 2000 "fight o the Year." Tickets are priced from $50 up to $700, call Ticketmaster at 702-474-4000.

The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is right around the corner running Dec. 7-16. Country singer and songwriter Dwight Yoakam will headline at

Le Theatre des Arts at Paris Las Vegas Dec. 7-9. With his trademark painted-on, knee-blown jeans and low-riding cowboy hat often shadowing his eyes, Yaokam has been hailed as a "hipster-twang" idol.

Yoakam has added acting to his credits with his commanding role in Billy Bob Thorton's Oscar-winning movie "Sling Blade." Tickets to his show at Paris are $60, call 1-877-374-7469 or 702-946-4567.

It's been an Internet phenomenon. A Las Vegas radio team at KOMP-FM's morning radio show wrote a patriotism-fueled parody song about a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "The Bin Laden Bomb Song" is sung to Harry Belafonte's 1956 hit calypso-pop classic, "The Banana Boat Song." It is being played on more than 100 U.S. radio stations and around the world via the Internet. The station's Web site is komp.com.

An Australian animation company heard the song and created a "South Park"-style cartoon to act as an accompaniment. The video has been downloaded more than 10 million times. It's available on two Web sites: madblast.com and gotllaughs.com.

Comedian Craig Shoemaker will headline the Riviera Comedy Club for three special nights, Nov. 30-Dec. 2. The opening act will be writer/stand-up comedian Tony Vicich. Tickets are $17.95 plus taxes, call 702-794-9433.

Shoemaker is known for his signature comedy persona, "The LoveMaster." Shoemaker wrote, co-produced and starred in the independent feature of the same name. "The LoveMaster" co-starring Farrah Fawcett, George Wendt and Courtney Thorne-Smith, won the Independent Film Festival in Los Angeles and is now being released on video. The "LoveMaster" CD is being followed up by a new performance record, "Son of LoveMaster," which is mostly Shoemaker's standup act, recorded live at the Ice House in Pasadena, California.

Last weekend the Grammy's Art of Music Gallery opened at the Forum Shops at Caesars. The gallery is connected with the Grammy Foundation, a nonprofit arm of the Recording Academy, which presents the annual Grammy Awards.

The shop features original sculpture and paintings along with prints and memorabilia by musicians both dead and alive who turned artists. The gallery will blend elements of a rock concert hall and art house. Sales representatives will wear backstage passes; music will play on speakers. Sometimes performers will give acoustic concerts on a small in-house stage. The gallery will have planned events such as its opener with Grace Slick, former lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane.

The Las Vegas venue is the first of six Grammy galleries set to open in the next six months in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Hawaii.

This year, Las Vegas had two holiday light shows and both are located a few miles from The Strip and raise money for charity.

The Gift of Lights is a new drive-through light show at Sunset Park that will run until Dec. 26. It features more than 40 spread out light displays sponsored by local businesses. Admission is $10 per car and Christmas music can be tuned in on the radio. The attraction opens at 5 p.m. and stays open until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturdays. The entrance is on Eastern Ave. south of Sunset Road.

On the opposite side of town at 6300 Oakey Blvd., is the 10th Magical Forest running until Dec. 29. Opportunity Village decorates a two-acre area with hundreds of evergreens illuminated by three million lights. A magical castle, Santa's toy workshop, a log cabin and a three-dimensional light display of reindeer pulling a sled are among the features. New this year is a carousel ride for a $1. Visitors can walk the artificial snow covered forest or take a small yellow train ride for $3. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for children.

There's a new table game in town being tried out at Palace Station. "Next Card 21" plays like standard blackjack, but offers players the opportunity to place a side bet on which card the next card dealt to them will be. The side bet pays 10-1.

A new finale was recently incorporated into the famous French review, "Folies Bergere," at the Tropicana. The show has also acquired a new female lead singer Traci Ault. No stranger to working on the Las Vegas Strip, she has appeared in productions at Harrah's, MGM Grand, Luxor and Stratosphere. The "Folies Bergere" is the nation's longest running production show. It was imported from Paris, France in 1959 by Entertainment Director Lou Walters.

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