In the summer of 2012, Caesars Entertainment booked Taylor Hicks for an eight-week run at Bally’s. The hard-charging vocalist proved so popular that he was held over for several additional weeks. Impressed, Caesars signed Hicks to a one-year residency the following September, one that saw him make his return that October 17. At the time, our Stiffs & Georges blog opined "Prices will still begin at a wallet-friendly $40/seat and, in light of the amount and quality of a show Hicks puts on, that’s an incredibly good value for your money."
As for other American Idol winners, Chris Daughtry comes through occasionally with his eponymous band. However, the only one with a frequent Vegas presence is Kelly Clarkson, who has played the iHeart Radio festival at MGM Grand (where she made headlines by performing barefoot, as is her custom). In recent years, Clarkson has graced the Palms, the Cosmopolitan and taped a Christmas special at the Venetian. The latter casino went uncredited on the NBC-TV "Cautionary Christmas Special," in which it was depicted as a Manhattan theater. Clarkson returns to Vegas later this summer, in tandem with Pentatonix, but ticket prices are steep, even though the Mandalay Bay Event Center is a 12,000-seat cavern.
Given its lean track record in recent years, the final, upcoming season of American Idol seems unlikely to produce any headliner-quality vocalists. Or, as one anonymous wag penned its obituary on the Internet, "15 years and only two viable recording artists."
