Taylor Swift, Paula Abdul share a moment at Billboard Awards
The Kats! Bureau is the media center at Billboard Music Awards, on the floor level of MGM Grand Garden Arena. We’re toggling between the workroom and red carpet. Earlier, Taylor Swift and Paula Abdul — both of whom created buzz during the days leading to the show — met up.
Swift posted the pic, with the caption, “I’m trying to give them a normal upbringing, but when the little ones and I ran into the flawless @PaulaAbdul on the way to red carpet we STRAIGHT UP had to get a pic.”
I’m trying to give them a normal upbringing but when the little ones and I ran into the flawless @PaulaAbdul on the way to red carpet we STRAIGHT UP had to get a pic. pic.twitter.com/qf6iTLCUvV
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 1, 2019
In this instance, “they” are Swift’s cats. She brought them to the carpet. Not sure if they are service kitties or stage assistants or co-stars, but somewhere Mr. Piffles is piffed off …
Anyhow, while on the red carpet, Abdul said, “I love working and staying busy, it keeps me young at heart. I don’t do well doing nothing.”
Swift opened with a dazzling, pink-hued, drumline-infused opening of “ME!” with Vegas’ own Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco.
Marie’s the talk
Marie Osmond is connected to Abdul, too, as the latter is stepping into what is today Donny & Marie Showroom in August. “Paula Abdul: Forever Your Girl” opens a 23-show run on Aug. 13.
What will happen to D&M once their show ends? Marie reportedly is heading to CBS daytime show “The Talk,” with an announcement coming on Tuesday’s show. This, as first reported by TMZ.
Marie frequently has guest-hosted the show and would step in for the departing Sara Gilbert. Osmond apparently would take the spot before the end of the D&M production, flying back and forth to L.A.
As for Donny, my money is on him moving on as a judge on “The Masked Singer.” He’s been hinting freely about wanting to return to the show, but not in the now-iconic Peacock costume. That’s for the D&M wrap party, and (another hint) a Vegas media guy will be in it.
Remembering Gans
Wednesday marked a decade since master impressionist Danny Gans died at his Las Vegas home at age 52. Gans had headlined in Las Vegas for 13 years and had been starring at Encore Theater at the time he passed. The Clark County Coroner’s office ruled the manner of death as toxic levels of hydromorphone — best known as Dilaudid — in conjunction with other existing medical conditions.
The coroner termed Gans’ death as accidental. As my friend the late Frank Lieberman told me in those days, Dilaudid was among the prescribed opiates found in Elvis Presley’s system after his death.
Gans had started as a $25 show at Stratosphere in 1996, one of the city’s great bargains. Within four years he moved to Rio, and then Steve Wynn sky-hooked him to his own theater at Mirage, where Terry Fator today headlines. Gans will be forever known as the first Vegas headliner to command a $100 (well, $99) ticket price.
One of the friends Gans made in those days was Donny Osmond; the two often swapped jokes in text. Keeping his promise to the family, Osmond for 12 years has hosted the annual Danny Gans Memorial Champions Run for the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation.
The last time I saw Gans perform, he’d just added a ridiculously funny parody of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You Might Be a Redneck” bit. It was as great as I’d ever seen him.
Wassa rocks it
Wassa Coulibaly threw open her new Baobab Stage at Town Square on Wednesday. The event was slammed, with the party starting in the Baobab Boutique, moving to Baobab Cafe and ending with a show in Baobab Stage theater. All of this under one roof.
Coulibaly, a favorite Ciruqe artist during her days in “Zumanity,” designs all the clothes, oversees the cafe menu, made all the choices in decor and is in charge of booking the acts. She’s a super dancer, too (I feel she can leap right over my head). Such performing friends as Toscha Comeaux, Mat Plendl, Eddie Charles, Melodi, and Mackly Benjamin Prophete, led an all-star lineup at the opener. Her May 10 Baobab Brunch Burlesque show is worth a look-see, too. That’s at 1 p.m., $35 (show) or $45 (show plus brunch). Coulibaly offers live entertainment, and cool hangs, throughout the week.
Great Moments In Social Media
Mike Tyler of “Naked Magicians” at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club was the chosen contestant in “Absinthe’s” What Would You Do For A Free Shot Of Alcohol contest. This is where two male audience members perform lap dances for a female audience member. The winner gets a shot. We don’t see the contest’s result on the @NakedMagicians Instagram feed. The guess is he won.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats! podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
