Singing duo offers slice of vintage Vegas

Mark Giovi and Genevieve Dew are serving up a heap of vintage Vegas every Sunday at Roxy's in Sam's Town, 5111 Boulder Highway.

The two friends came together as a singing duo about six months ago, Giovi says, filling in for acts who were on hiatus in the lounge. After a few months, management asked them to fill a slot of their own. They're booked through the rest of 2011.

The night usually sounds like a vintage Vegas night with the duo performing songs by Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Etta James and other artists. The songs are arranged so that they can sing them as duets.

And if the audience requests it, they will reach back into Giovi's past and pull some selections from it. Giovi was part of the Las Vegas Tenors and performed in "Bite" at the Stratosphere for six years.

Originally from New Jersey, Giovi moved to Las Vegas seven years ago after he and his pregnant wife got tired of the East Coast winters.

"I moved out here without a gig, I didn't have a job and my wife was pregnant," Giovi says. "We really gambled on our lives coming here."

So far, it's worked out. He's currently putting together an album of Christian and inspirational music and working on taking his act into other venues.

-- By SONYA PADGETT