New Kid trying luck at Palms

Do New Kids On The Block fans still stay up past midnight?

They do if they want to see Joey McIntyre up close and personal. And no excuses, because he has young children, too.

The singer teams with record producer Emanuel Kiriakou for a midnight showcase called "One Too Many At Midnight" on Saturdays in the Palms Lounge for a four-week run starting Feb. 5.

McIntyre and Kiriakou -- known on stage as "Eman" -- did their two-man show at Joe's Pub in New York and in other cities. They were approached by Zoe Thrall, who heads the Palms' recording studio and worked with Kiriakou when he produced other artists there.

Though McIntyre wears a tux in some of the YouTube clips, he won't be doing retro lounge or a Richard Cheese kind of thing, says Palms entertainment director Michael Goodwin.

Instead, the two cover all manner of pop and rock favorites (including some New Kids essentials) with a party atmosphere.

If the first month goes well, both sides are interested in extending. McIntyre would commute from Los Angeles, where he and his wife, Barrett, are expecting their third child in May.

Ticketed late shows have been steamrolled by the nightclubs in recent years, so this one tests the appeal of a live alternative. "We're trying to have that club vibe with a show," says Goodwin, who used to manage the bygone Poetry club.

The Lounge (yes, that's the official name) is taking a higher profile at the Palms this year and will be booked seven nights a week, Goodwin says, with an eye toward luring in post-concert crowds from The Pearl.

The weekly Playboy Comedy Tour -- which has bounced around the casino for five years now -- is locked into a weekly Thursday-Saturday run and will start a bit earlier, at 9:30 p.m., to make way for McIntyre and other late-night fare.

Sundays already are locked in with rocker Frankie Perez and Mondays with local favorites Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns. ...

It's turning into one of those kinds of weekends. With the Consumer Electronics Show filling hotel rooms with nonshowgoers, the Crown Theater at the Rio offers "Lucha Las Vegas" Mexican wrestling on Friday.

Now the Riviera fills in your weekend mayhem calendar with the Sin City Roller Girls taking on the Skatesaphrenics from Eugene, Ore., on Saturday in the hotel convention center. ...

Stand-up comedian Geechy Guy will get national publicity for the little "Dirty Joke Show" at Hooters Casino when he appears on Craig Ferguson's "The Late Late Show" on Friday night (early Saturday).

Guy pretaped the segment last month and has been waiting for an air date. Todd Paul remains the co-star of "Dirty Joke Show" but has closed his solo "Fear & Laughing" show that preceded it in Hooters. It would be nice to see him resurface, perhaps in the afternoons. ...

Not sure whatever became of the briefly hot rumor that the Tropicana would stage some kind of "Gloria Estefan show without Gloria Estefan." But one of her Miami friends and collaborators will be there this month. Jon Secada brings star power back to the hotel'st showroom, for a weekend at least, on Jan. 20-22.

The Cuban-American singer and songwriter has been an occasional showroom headliner and built upon his early pop career ("Just Another Day," "If You Go") with roles in Broadway musicals. ...

Boyz II Men end their limited run at the Flamingo this weekend and leave even more fired up about their desire to become year-round headliners, their manager says.

"The guys have fallen in love with Vegas. They learned about Henderson. They learned about Summerlin," Joe Mulvihill says. Likewise, he said the vocal trio turned some heads at Caesars Entertainment with their drawing power during a slow season. "Everybody wants this to continue," he says.

However, "serious talks" with Caesars Entertainment have not commenced. When they do, options include making the Boyz a regular replacement for Donny and Marie Osmond vacations or perhaps moving to Paris Las Vegas, where Barry Manilow does fewer annual dates than the Osmonds. ...

Angel Porrino, who became an instant celebrity on the cable reality show "Holly's World," will get more stage time subbing for Holly Madison in "Peepshow."

It seems Madison made a good investment when she bought her sidekick implants for her 21st birthday. On the downside, it sounds like no more BFF vacations together. Porrino will be in the show when Madison isn't: three weeks starting Jan. 17, plus the weeks of March 21 and 28.

"Holly's World" returns for a second season on E! starting Jan. 23. Just in time to remind people why they care.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.