Garth Brooks...inducted into Hall of Fame! Gigs at Wynn Resort! June 23rd - June 25th!

On Thursday, Country & Western superstar Garth Brooks was inducted into the 42nd Songwriters "Hall of Fame" by his peers.

Brooks delighted guests when he took the stage with Billy Joel at the chi-chi awards ceremony in NYC (both were clad in chic black cowboy ensembles) and performed a vastly entertaining duet which featured the hit tune "Shameless".

Gracious Brooks was quick to turn the spotlight on Billy Joel, though, which underscored just how humble the celebrated cowpoke can be.

"Billy Joel is one of the greatest songwriters of all time," Brooks gushed in so many words, as the rapt audience gazed on from below the footlights.

The fact that Joel took a day out of his life to saunter onto the stage with Brooks made the C&W performer feel "lucky".

Fans will be, too, in the event they managed to snap up tickets for the Brooks gig about to kick-off at the Wynn Resort later this week.

When Steve Wynn first signed Garth Brooks to the upcoming stint on the strip the show-biz news made headlines around the country.

The lucrative deal left Brooks "sitting pretty" with a host of spoils that lesser-knowns could only pray and fantasize about ever achieving.

For example, a fleet of stretch "Rolls Royce" limousines purring at the curb 24/7 - and luxury jets at-the-ready to take flight on a whim at the drop-of-a-cowboy-hat - are nothing to sniff at.

How do I hop aboard, Mr. Wynn?

By the way, break a leg, eh Garth?

CONCERT DATES

June 23rd - June 25th

See 'ya there!

http://www.thetattler.biz

Las Vegas Recommended Hotels

The Plaza
Buffalo Bill's
Greek Isles Hotel (The Clarion)
Aria Hotel
Palace Station
Wild Wild West (Days Inn)
Circus Circus
Whiskey Pete's
Encore Hotel

http://www.julianayrs.com

Las Vegas...cleans up strip! Kudos...

If you're a frequent visitor to Las Vegas - and have been inclined to stroll along the strip under a starry night sky as a gentle wind blows in off the desert - you have obviously been witness to the neglected stretch of sidewalk just shy of Sahara and across from Wynn's Encore Resort.

For about a year-and-a-half - that portion of Las Vegas Boulevard has been strewn with all-manner-of rubble (left-overs from an implosion of a tired old broken-down Hotel long gone), smashed  beer bottles, smelly unsightly trash, you name it.

Even in the bright light of day, the stretch of  "no man's land", was a potential danger to tourists and locals alike.

What action was taken?

For some inexplicable reason, City Officials simply cast a blind eye in that directiion.

Shame!

What a pleasant surprise, then, to stride down the strip a few days ago and spot a landscaping project underway that looks promising for tourists who love to to take their daily walk or jog through that part of town.

The once-scruffy property which edges on the sidewalk has now been contained with a short retaining wall.

And, dotted about the strip, bushes and newly-planted trees are set in beds trimmed with brick and other outdoor garden flourishes.

No wonder the street was bustling with enthusiastic folks that morning in the desert oasis.

I couldn't help but wonder, though, if the transformation was somehow due to the fact that Steve Wynn's Beach Club is in the end phase of completion.

Did the persnickety Hotelier strong-arm some officials downtown?

News at 11!

http://www.thetattler.biz/

Las Vegas...Steve Wynn jazzing up Encore! Surf''s up...

I imagine myself in this hammock already!

Steve Wynn is jazzing up Encore!

I was out for a stroll the other morning when a ghastly mess on the strip caught my eye.

Up-front and center, outside the Encore Hotel complex - one construction crew was erecting unsightly chain-link fences and overly-bright hard plastic barriers to create a pedestrian walkway - as another shovelled up debris from a low-level structure that a wrecking ball had smashed into smithereens.

Wasn't this parcel of land owned by Steve Wynn?

At one section of the block where two-ton trucks rumbled in and out of a make-shift entrance, I spied a worker within arm's length of me, so I decided to go to the horse's mouth for information so-to-speak.

"Isn't this part of the Encore Hotel property owned by Wynn," I innocently asked the surprised female construction worker.

"Uh-huh," she grumbled back.

"He (we all know who he is, right?) is tearing down this section to put in an 18 million-dollar beach club," she shouted above he rising din.

"'Wow," was about the only response I could muster on the heels of such staggering news.

A beach club for 18 million smackeroos?

At this juncture, I put my thinking cap on.

Does Mr. Wynn intend to fabricate a beach setting - complete with rolling waves and warm sand  oozing between the toes - to jazz up the Hotel complex a tad?

I expect he'll also be simulating the soothing sounds of the surf as it crashes oh-so-gently on the shore at Wynn's Beach.

True, the interior of the Encore is sumptuous and inviting.

But, with exception to the waterfall and grounds brimming with lush foliage, the overall outdoor image of Encore and the sister Hotel at the complex, is nothing short of the plain-Jane variety.

Moreso, me thinks that Mr. Wynn doesn't hanker up to the idea of being left in the cold.

The Aria and Mandarin Hotels (about to swing open their doors at the CityCenter this Wednesdayon  Dec. 16th) will probably steal alot of Mr. Wynn's thunder in coming days.

Even with Garth Brooks under his house wing, the Encore is vulnerable to rapidly-changing resort trends, that are luring the tourist class, "whales", and European travellers, doww new boulevards and eye-catching vistas in sin city.

Cut-rate "room sales" online are also taking a bite out of potential revenue as well.

So, Mr. Wynn - visionary that he is - has obviously hatched up a scheme to guarantee his place in the sun alongside the big players in the Desert Oasis.

Well, you Wynn some, and 'ya lose sum.

It will be interesting to see how the transformation pans out for the mercurial Wynn, and translates into greenbacks, eh?

http://www.julianayrs.com

Garth Brooks...hits Vegas! Rush line tickets available...

I reported a few weeks ago that Garth Brooks was wooed by Hotelier extraordinaire - Steve Wynn - to come out of retirement and perform long-term at the ever-popular Encore in the midst of the busy Vegas strip

Post:  10/21/09

http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2009/10/garth-brookssigned-on-for-gigs-in-vegas.html

Yup!

Tickets for tonight and over the weekend are apparently sold out, but show organizers have noted that there may be seats available at noon each day in a rush line once "cancelled" reservations are tallied and seats are freed up.

Although it's a bit frosty in the desert oasis just now, I expect a posse of die-hard fans will brave the elements, and pine in line for a crumb or two.

Brooks enjoys the good life!

He's a soccer dad with a personal jet at his disposal now-a-days.

That (the airliner) was one of the perks that Steve Wynn tossed in with the deal to seal it.

As Garth put it, somewhat humbly, "the plane was the whole thing."

Twice married, Brooks now shares wedded bliss with his second wife, Trisha Yearwood at their comfy digs in Owasso (OH).

"I told Wynn he couldn't afford me. I was wrong," the seasoned performer chuckled at a recent press junket.

Garth is allegedly signed on for up to 300 stage shows much to the delight of his fans.

See 'ya there!

Steve Wynn's swank Encore Hotel

http://www.julianayrs.com

Elaine Wynn...lands spot on 10 Best-Dressed list! Classy lady...

The lady is tall, poised, outgoing - and betcha didn't expect it - quite down-to-earth.

And, a real fashion horse in an elegant understated way.

Of course, the woman of-the-hour in Las Vegas is Elaine Wynn, wife of mercurial Steve Wynn (Las Vegas Hotel Impresario).

The morning times did a bang-up job on a feature they published on Mrs. Wynn in the weekend edition of the paper, worth taking a gander at.

When I crossed paths with Elaine Wynn at the ENCORE opening on Monday evening, it was not necessary to make a play for her attention or grapple for a quote.

Actually, I was content to casually saunter into the celebrations and drink up the festive goings-on all around me.

The unflappable hostess with-the-mostest spotted me jotting down notes as she alighted like a graceful dove next to me on the Casino floor.

"You're writing good things, I hope," she laughed innocently.

Our eyes met briefly.

Immediately, I was taken by her warmth.

My thoughts were on the sumptuous trappings, actually.

"Notes on the decor," I chirped enthusiastically.

With little more ado, Mrs. Wynn breezed off on a waft of mystical air, as I focused on the task at hand.

Occasionally, though, I spied Steve Wynn's better half observing me from a distance with a curious expression on her face.

Frankly, I found it refreshing that Elaine Wynn - despite her wealth and high station in life - reached out, was approachable, and at ease in her lofty Universe.

Couple that with her keen fashion sense, and impeccable taste, and it's easy to fathom why Elaine Wynn has landed a spot of my 1st Annual 10 Best-Dressed list to be unveiled on Wednesday, December 31st.

As Humphrey Bogart would say:

"Here's lookin' at you, kid."