Latin Grammy Awards going live at Mandalay Bay

The beat goes on -- the Latin beat, that is -- this week when the 12th annual Latin Grammy Awards go live Thursday from Mandalay Bay Events Center.

As usual, the telecast begins at 5 p.m. Las Vegas time -- to accommodate prime-time audiences on the East Coast, where it will be 8 p.m. (Local viewers can tune in at 8 p.m. for the tape-delayed version.) Everyone from Zoe Saldana to Kermit the Frog is scheduled to present awards, while Usher and Romeo Santos (in their live TV debut together) join Shakira, Demi Lovato and numerous others expected to perform.

Univision's coverage begins long before the awards show itself, however, with pre-awards "Noche De Estrellas (Night of Stars)" coverage of celebrity arrivals -- and celebrity fashion. In addition to Univision, Las Vegas-based Levy Production Group will have six crews capturing footage for MTV Latin and MUN2. And Las Vegas' own DreamVision Studios serves as the rehearsal base for 12 principal artists -- and the awards show's 90-piece orchestra -- today and Tuesday.

Poker faces: At the World Series of Poker, Ireland's Eoghan O'Dea , 26, was one of the "November Nine" who made it to the tournament's final table. O'Dea was eliminated from the competition Sunday night, finishing fifth with just more than $2.2 million in earnings.

The proposed documentary "Generation Game," however, widens the focus to include O'Dea's father Donnacha O'Dea, a former European poker champ (and Olympic swimmer), and his late grandfather, poker-playing actor Denis O'Dea, according to John Kelleher of Ireland's John Kelleher Media.

Kelleher and his crew were in Las Vegas to capture O'Dea, cheered on by his family and friends, for a trailer funded by the Irish film board that Kelleher hopes will attract financing for a full-length documentary about "the game of poker, with its allure, lure, stories and legends."

Casting about: The Vegas reality-TV stampede continues unabated, with local casting under way for two upcoming projects.

The first: a six-episode cable series set in restaurants in New York and Las Vegas, "the two restaurant meccas of the country," according to Jeff Singer of Long Pond Media.

The show hopes to find "privately owned restaurants with small to medium staffs ... willing to open their doors and improve business," notes Singer, who promises a "positive tone, but no sugarcoating, so participants need to be thick-skinned." Producers are taping casting reels on location here through Nov. 17; email Singer at jeff.singer@rrstaff.com if you're interested.

The second project, the documentary series "Remake America," will spotlight people and families facing economic hardship, according to casting producer Paul O'Malley, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas graduate now working for the show's production company, Trium Entertainment. Additional information and applications are available online at www.remakeamericacasting.com.

Quick hits: Speaking of economic conditions, production is under way on the documentary "Wassup America?!" from Las Vegas' Glenbrook Studios, reports director Marko Sakren , who's shooting here through November before involving other filmmakers from across the country in what he describes as an "action/adventure documentary" with "no narrow rules. Just pure entertainment."

Director David Schmoeller, meanwhile, wraps his feature "Little Monsters" on Tuesday at UNLV, where he teaches film, after 26 days of production. DIY's "Bath Crashers" does a "big reveal" today after a weekend shoot, while local filmmakers at work include John E. Carson and Jorge Fonseca. And on Saturday, pop singer Manika , a former local, planned to shoot a music video featuring the holiday favorite "White Christmas."

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at (702) 383-0272 or
ccling@reviewjournal.com.