Celine, Sinatra, Seinfeld all in Spector’s Spectrum at Palm Restaurant

The question to Palm Restaurant General Manager Larry Close was simple enough. So was his answer.

“How does someone get on your wall?” I asked.

“E-mail me a photo,” he said.

Hmmm. I’d expected this exchange to turn out like the joke, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Famously answered: “Practice, practice, practice.”

But Close, who operates the popular eatery and bar at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, was not kidding. Soon after that exchange last September, when the restaurant had finished a full-scale renovation (and had its walls stripped of its many celebrity portraits), I sent him the photo that runs with this column. He invited me in to watch as artist Steve Spector spun his magic on one of the pillars near the entrance, just right of the host stand.

Spector has been a contracted artist at the Palm since 1999, after connecting with Close through pure happenstance.

“I was working at the arcade at Excalibur, doing air-brush portraits outside where kids play the games, and these two young guys told me about the Palm Restaurant,” Spector said as he took a break from his artwork. “I found Larry, we talked and I’ve been with the company ever since.”

The current lineup includes such recent additions as Elvis Presley, Celine Dion and Nic Cage. Other eye-catchers: Frank Sinatra, Carlos Santana, Jerry Seinfeld and Rod Stewart. Well-known civic figures include Larry Ruvo and his wife, Camille; Smith Center President Myron Martin, Southern Wine & Spirits exec Michael Severino; popular Vegas showman Clint Holmes; and celebrated entertainment manager Bernie Yuman.

Spector paints about a dozen portraits a week. Spector has created thousands of portraits over the years, but still has a few faces on his wish list.

“I’d love to paint Eric Clapton, one of my favorite guitarists,” says Spector, a self-taught artist whose inspirations include Walt Disney and Mad magazine’s Mort Drucker. “I’d love to draw Britney Spears, too, who is very expressive.”

Spector is dependably busy updating the Palm’s scenery, but his is not the only work to grace the restaurant. Philadelphia-based artist Zack Bird created the murals in the restaurant, including the hand-painted, 500-foot mural of the Strip that shows the city’s evolution over the decades.

Close says the caricatures create a sense of community and reflect the types of people who would, or have, dined at the Palm. In person, and in caricature, it’s a great hang. Join me for dinner sometime. Try the filet.

YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW HER, BUT …

Cadence Alexia has notched a rare achievement in Las Vegas, moving from one highly acclaimed, hot-selling Strip show to another.

A dazzling acrobatic artist, Alexia previously performed in “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace, teaming with Linda Hartman in the “Duo Fevrier” aerial act (that act ended when Hartman left the show to get married and start a family). Alexia, a native of Manchester, England is now member of “O” at Bellagio, as an ensemble performer to be featured in the show’s aerial boat scene. She’s not on marquees, but Alexia is a star-caliber performer, something her peers have long recognized.

ALL ABOUT THE BASS … AND MORE

Earl Turner showed his impressive, and not often enough expressed, musicianship his weekend shows at South Point Showroom. Turner played electric and acoustic guitar, bass, and even slammed away on the drums. Sadly, no bassoon solos in this one.

Telling his story through music, Turner also performed a range of songs rare to his current show: “Summer Breeze” by Seals and Crofts, “Elvira” by the Oak Ridge Boys, and “Lady,” by Kenny Rogers (and written by Lionel Richie). Titled “The Journey,” the show was exactly that, buoyed by a tap segment from Turner’s son Aaron Turner, and a duet of the James Taylor-Carly Simon classic, “Mockingbird,” with his sister Denise Turner-Collins.

PRESIDENTIAL LINEUP

Marking Presidents Day, a quick list of former U.S. presidents (and one foreign leader) who have visited the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health: Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Mexican President Vicente Fox also toured the facility when he was in office, and Barack Obama contributed a video to the Clinic during his second term.

WHO WAS WHERE

Bubba Knight, of Gladys Knight and the Pips (he was a Pip) at Turner’s show Saturday at South Point … Sasha Pieterse of “Pretty Little Liars,” celebrating her 21st birthday Friday night at the Cosmopolitan’s Marquee Nightclub. DJ Ruckus was the star in the booth that night. Pieterse was back at it, at Tao at the Venetian on Saturday … Renowned letter-turner Vanna White, celebrated her birthday with Pia Zadora at Piero’s on Saturday. Also in the fray: Floyd Mayweather Sr., who performed an impromptu rap medley … Actor DJ Qualls and comic Jim Jefferies, with a group of friends, celebrating Jefferies’ birthday Saturday at Marquee … TV and film actor (and sometime Blues Brother) Jim Belushi dining Wednesday at Estiatorio Milos at the Cosmopolitan.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section, and Fridays in Neon. He also hosts “Kats! On The Radio” Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM and appears Wednesdays at 11 a.m. with Dayna Roselli on KTNV Channel 13. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.