{"id":6459,"date":"2011-04-28T13:00:30","date_gmt":"2011-04-28T21:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=6459"},"modified":"2023-05-17T03:45:35","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T11:45:35","slug":"the-verdict-celine-vs-gladys-end-is-nigh-for-sahara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/the-verdict-celine-vs-gladys-end-is-nigh-for-sahara\/","title":{"rendered":"The verdict: C\u00e9line vs. Gladys; End is nigh for Sahara; Plaza 2.0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"As Yr. Humble Blogger opines in this week’s Las Vegas CityLife<\/em>, C\u00e9line Dion<\/strong><\/a> may be quite something<\/a> but Gladys Knight<\/strong> is Something Else. If you’re a paying customer, Knight’s Tropicana Las Vegas<\/strong> show is by far the better value: longer, more spontaneous, less expensive and incomparably more intimate. You just can’t replicate that kind of audience rapport in a 4,000-seat auditorium (although Dion’s drawing power is packing the Caesars Palace<\/strong> parking garage on weekends and has enabled to the Colosseum<\/strong> to reopen its top balcony, shrouded for Bette Midler<\/strong> and Cher<\/strong>). Also, Knight could be gone — given the will o’ the wisp nature of Trop headliners — in a matter of weeks, so make haste.<\/p>\n

Sahara, R.I.P.<\/strong> In the same issue, you’ll be taken on a valedictory visit<\/a> to the soon-to-be-closed Sahara<\/strong>. The patient’s not dead yet but Lissa Townsend Rogers<\/strong> finds manager Navegante Group<\/strong> already hammering the coffin lid shut. If, as she reports, owner Sam Nazarian<\/strong> is still planning to replace the Strip dowager with “big, shiny, semi-luxury hotel with eight restaurants and two nightclubs for the hip, upscale party crowd<\/em>,” then Smilin’ Sammy Naz has learned nothing from his bootless venture into the North Strip.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ol’ Man River<\/strong>. Spring floods are going to have a rolling effect on Mississippi<\/strong>‘s western string of casinos. The state has ordered the Tunica<\/strong> venues closed, an edict that Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> plans to flout<\/a>. In view of the economic harm that rising waters mean for operators, their employees and, yes, the state budget, this would seem like a good moment to remind Bible Belt<\/strong> (and Upper Midwest<\/strong>) legislators of the continuing, self-defeating imbecility of requiring that casinos sit upon the water. I guess those moats are supposed to act as “casino condoms,” protecting the remainder of the states from — Eek!<\/em> — gambling. If Gary Loveman<\/strong> wants to rant about something useful,\u00a0 he could start with this de facto<\/em> stigma, especially when you consider how many of his properties it affects — such as the former Grand Casino Tunica<\/strong> (left<\/em>) now a Harrah’s<\/strong>-branded locale.<\/p>\n

New-look Plaza<\/strong>. The pieces are falling into place for Tamares Group<\/strong>‘s $20 million-plus remodel of the Plaza Hotel. Early glimpses are tantalizing<\/a>, if frustratingly fragmentary. Tony Santo<\/strong>, you’re such a tease!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Yr. Humble Blogger opines in this week’s Las Vegas CityLife, C\u00e9line Dion may be quite something but Gladys Knight is Something Else. If you’re a paying customer, Knight’s Tropicana Las Vegas show is by far the better value: longer, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48,65,18,51,14,4,117,7,35,33,54,47,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6459"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32631,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6459\/revisions\/32631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}