The Fremont Street Experience has a new 8 « minute contemporary country light and sound show called "Kickin' Country." It's the second show with a country theme to play on the pedestrian mall's canopy. The first one, "Country Western Nights" debuted in December 1995.

The new show has a more contemporary format with country hits from Dwight Yoakam, Brooks & Dunn, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks. Yoakam's version of "Cattle Call" opens the show with a cowboy sitting by a campfire and a dancing horse. Brooks hit "Friends in Low Places" is used for the finale.

Catch this month's December issue of "Harper's Bazaar" and turn to page 162 where you'll find a 14-page fashion photo layout with the Magicians of the Century, Siegfried & Roy. The section called "White Magic" features evening wear and the models with the magicians, their Magical White Lions, White Siberian Tiger cub, Atlas, and Thai Ceremonial Elephant, Gildah.

International Game Technology (IGT) with the blessing of the Sinatra family is launching Frank's image on a new celebrity slot machine that will sing snippets of four songs: "My Way," "Fly Me to the Moon," "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "My Kind of Town." The Sinatra slot machine will be IGT's 17th themed machine in Nevada and it will premiere at Bellagio, Boardwalk, Golden Nugget, MGM Grand, The Mirage, New York-New York and Treasure Island.

Sinatra buffs can take note that Dec. 12 would have been his 86th birthday so Las Vegas proclaimed it "Sinatra Day." The man who helped put Las Vegas on the world map made his debut in town at the Desert Inn 50 years ago. His final Las Vegas performance was in May 1994 during memorial weekend when he opened the MGM Grand's Theatre.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is releasing the CD "Las Vegas Tribute to Frank Sinatra," which features the never-before-released song "It's Time for You."

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) held a press conference recently to announce the return of the Summer Finals Rodeo Finale of the Wrangler Pro Rodeo Tour, formerly known as the Copenhagen Cup Finale, to the MGM Grand Garden Arena Thursday, June 13 - Saturday, June 15, 2002. Tickets priced at $25, $50 and $100 are on sale now at Ticketmaster 702-474-4000.

The Crazy Armadillo, designed to look like a Mexican cantina, is the newest restaurant to open at the Stratosphere on the main casino floor. Formerly the Big Country Steakhouse, the new 150-seat eatery features Tex-Mex, Southwest and Mexican foods in an atmosphere mixed with entertainment and an oyster bar that never closes. The 24/7 oyster bar features a wide array of margaritas and a selection of oyster shooters including the lemon drop shooter, a kamikaze shooter, and a golden shooter.

The restaurant's bar is also open 24 hours and it rotates a selection of 40 tequilas. Flair bartenders perform a routine every 40 minutes.

The Crazy Armadillo is open for dinner, Thursday through Monday, from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Meals are reasonably priced. On Tuesday and Wednesday, when the restaurant's kitchen is closed, karaoke takes over from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The CBS television show "The Price Is Right" will be in town to shoot its 30th anniversary segment from 7 to 9 p.m. on Jan. 17, 2002 in the Rio Samba Theater. The festivities will represent the game show's first road trip and an exact replica of the show's permanent set will be used for host Bob Barker to welcome 1,000 participants.

An original musical called "Tease" will debut at the Blue Note on Dec. 26, and it will revive the tradition of the dinner show. The structured musical will be about dancers at a topless club.

At 11 p.m. at night, the restaurant and nightclub will become part of Club Insomnia.

Construction is under way on the 350-room Ritz-Carlton hotel at the Lake Las Vegas Resort. The hotel is part of the MonteLago Village, a 50-acre residential and retail development that is scheduled to open in late 2002. This project will be the centerpiece of the $5 billion Lake Las Vegas luxury resort.

Two more celebrity impersonator shows are being added to the Las Vegas entertainment scene.

Quietly "Rock 'n' Roll Legends" opened a couple weeks ago at the New Frontier. The new show emphasizes classic rockers such as Paul McCartney, Neil Diamond and Elvis Presley. Shows are at 4 and 7 p.m.

"Legends of Country" is at the Greek Isles hotel, which was formerly Debbie Reynolds hotel, and it's the first activity in the showroom since the purchase. The son of the Gold Coast's "Honky Tonk Angels" producer-star, Sharon Hayes, produces this show, which features tributes to male country acts such as Garth Brooks and Willie Nelson.

TOP OF NEXT COLUMN

Terrible's hotel-casino recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. Chips featuring the faces of the Las Vegas property's owners, who are all members of the Herbst family, were introduced.

Closing down the Black Canyon Raft Tours magnificent pontoon journey down the Colorado River from behind Hoover Dam is a sad note for tourism in the area. Hopefully the tour will start up again.

Soul diva Patti LaBelle will headline a New Year's Eve dinner show at Caesars Palace. The evening will feature a four-course gourmet meal along with dancing and entertainment by singer Tony Tillman and his band. Tickets are $200 with tax and gratuity included, plus a $3 handling fee per person. For tickets, call 1-800-445-4544 or 702-731-7333.

LaBelle is a two-time Grammy Award winner whose latest album is "When a Woman Loves." The Philadelphia native has been topping the charts since her 1961 hit with the Bluebelles, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman."

Lil' Elmo & the Cosmos, LA's finest classic rock-n-roll band, will ring in the new year at the Tropicana in the Tiffany Theatre. The group's career includes performing at five Super Bowls and opening for superstars such as Tony Bennett, Diana Ross, The Beach Boys, BB King and Ray Charles. Tickets for the 10:30 p.m. show cost $50 plus tax and surcharge. The price includes a split of champagne for the midnight toast and party favors, call 702-739-2411.

Guns N' Roses will perform in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve for the second straight year. The band will perform at the Hard Rock Hotel on Dec. 29 and 31. Tickets range from $128 to $303, call 702-693-5066.

The Doobie Brothers, now mostly comprised of veterans of the band, will perform at the MGM Grand Conference Center's Premier Ballroom on Dec. 31. The show includes a cocktail reception and a four-course dinner. Tickets are $295, call 702-474-4000.

Fitzgeralds in downtown Las Vegas has a new owner who is the first black person to wholly own a Nevada casino. Don Barden from Detroit bought the Fitzgeralds properties in Las Vegas, Mississippi and Colorado for $149 million.

Barden says the Fitzgeralds name will stay for now. The Las Vegas property opened in 1988.

Mandalay Bay will present Asian singing sensation CoCo Lee on Saturday, Dec. 22. Lee's special guest will be Lawrence Kai Wah Ng, a well-known Hong Kong actor who has starred in 27 different television series. Tickets range from $38 up to $128, call 1-877-632-7400 or 702-632-7580

Lee released her first album in 1994 entitled "Love It Now." Her mark as an international performer came in 1998 when she recorded a duet with Julio Iglesias, and performed with Ricky Martin and MIchael Jackson. Last year, Lee released her first English Album "Best of My Love." She was also featured on the soundtrack for the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and later became the first Asian performer invited to sing at the Academy Awards.

A timeshare developer has acquired the 236-room Royal Hotel on Convention Center Drive. Fifty of the hotel's rooms are now sold as timeshares and the conversion will continue. Long-term plans call for the addition of a 36-story, 250-unit timeshare tower.

Two historic landmarks are going to be moving to the Clark County Heritage Museum in Henderson. One is a turn-of-the century railroad cottage on South Third Street in Las Vegas. It was home to railroad workers who helped establish Las Vegas as a stopover between Salt Lake City and California. The cottage is one of about 65 built between 1909 and 1911.

The other architectural artifact is a 12-foot-by-20-foot structure that was the ticket office for one of the first Grand Canyon air-tour companies and the home of Boulder City's first black family. The building in the late 1920s was the ticket office for Ruckstell's Grand Canyon Airlines. It was moved in 1935 to Arizona Street and the Bradley's, who worked for Ruckstell's tour company, moved into it.

Puck's Las Vegas eateries are offering a complimentary bottle of wine with every meal through Dec. 30. Parties larger than four receive two bottles. The holiday offer is valid at Spago, Lupo, Postrio and Chinois by informing the person making your reservation or telling the hostess when you arrive.

The Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort in Lee Canyon has opened its season for the snowboarders and skiers.

The $300 million Green Valley Ranch in Henderson is still planning to open on Dec. 18. The new off-Strip resort will feature a 50,000-square-foot casino.

An exhibit about the history of rodeo, especially as it relates to Nevada, is on display at the Nevada State Museum in Lorenzi Park. "Cowboy Up! One Hundred Years of Rodeo" will run through March 10, 2002. The exhibit includes trophy saddles, photographs, rodeo paraphernalia, buckles, and literature. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and admission is $2 for adults and free for children under age 18. For information, call 702-486-5205.

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