MDA to Jerry Lewis: "Thanks and f--- you!"

The Muscular Dystrophy Association has distanced itself from and shown great disrespect toward its greatest asset and the man who gave it an international identity, saying today that Jerry Lewis "will be asked" to participate in the drastically-slashed telethon in 2011.

We reported five days ago that something was amiss in the MDA's announcement that it would turn the 21 1/2 hour national tradition into a six-hour Sunday night television special because its announcement did not mention Lewis' name, while featuring photos of subhost Jann Carl. The following day, we reported exclusively word from a telethon insider that Jerry Lewis was not part of the decision-- and that the MDA officials consider the end of Lewis' reign to be a "transitioning."

Today, John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Sun picked up the story, reporting that by all indications, Lewis will have a diminished presence on the revamped television special.


He quoted MDA PR VP Jim Brown:

“Jerry Lewis has been MDA’s national chairman for more than 50 years. He’s a world-class humanitarian how has done an absolutely outstanding job for the families served by the association. Jerry will be asked to play a key role in the 2011 telethon.”

Kats emphasized the "will be asked. Not, has been asked. "Lewis has been informed of, not consulted about, the drawdown of the show. He had nothing to do with that decision, which organizers feel will intensify interest in the program and appeal to big-name celebs who want to reach a large audience in prime time instead of the insomniacs tuning in at 3 a.m."


Kats says Jerry returned his phone call this morning and said, "I have nothing more to discuss about the situation," but called back later and promised to speak over coffee later in the week.

Stay tuned.

Lightman's solo act issue in Osmond lawsuit

There's an interesting and forgotten footnote to Chip Lightman's lawsuit against Donny Osmond, for firing him as producer of the Donny & Marie show at the Flamingo. In August, 2009, after it was announced that Donny would compete in ABC's Dancing with The Stars, Mike Weatherford wrote in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

"The Flamingo was wise to lock in the duo with a contract extension through Oct. 15, 2012. The two originally were courted by late impressionist Danny Gans and his manager, Chip Lightman, who produced under the name GansLight Entertainment.

"Lightman says Gans' family is no longer financially involved in the Osmond show. He's helming it under the name Chip Lightman Entertainment. However, the giant building wrap on the side of the Flamingo is cost-prohibitive to change, so Gans' name will stay."

Lightman's suit claims his contract with the Osmonds show runs through October 15, 2012.

In his Las Vegas Sun article on yesterday's Danny Gans Memorial Champions Run for Life, John Katsilometes reports that "Osmond talked glowingly of Gans, who was managed by Lightman and instrumental in bringing Donny & Marie to the Flamingo two years ago. He says he took on the role of spokesman for the annual run-walk charity event as a tribute to Gans."

“'This shows it is not just a publicity thing with me,' Osmond said. 'Danny was such a good friend of mine. We texted jokes to each other. He came to the show, and he’d have notes for me all the time because he’s such a perfectionist. He came into my dressing room and had four pages of notes, and 90 percent of what he said was spot on.”

Donny Osmond hosts Danny Gans run

Though he's being sued by Danny Gans' former manager and producing partner, Donny Osmond couldn't miss hosting yesterday's second annual Danny Gans Memorial Champions run for the Nevada Cance Foundation-- not when it's been retitled the “Danny Gans Memorial Champions Run for Life Hosted by Donny Osmond."

Chip Lightman filed suit after Osmond fired him last month as producer of the Donny & Marie show at the Flamingo on the Las Vegas Strip. Lightman claims the contract runs through October 2012. Donny said he couldn't talk about the lawsuit, but to John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Sun, did respond to its claim he has a “lavish lifestyle of exotic cars, luxury hotel suites and private jets.”

Said Donny: “I drive a smart car and a pickup. I don’t think those are exotic cars.”

PHOTO by JOHN KATSILOMETES

Jerry Lewis' last telethon? His wife says not. "Unless we're putting him in the ground."

The spectacle of 84-year-old Jerry Lewis losing his composure during the finale of his 45th national Labor Day Telethon was the kind of reality television that cut right through the canned, faked standard TV fare. It was uncomfortable and unpredictable-- in its own way like Jerry during his sweaty, gassed-back Percodan jag heights of the Sixties and made even more urgent when producers in Los Angeles decided to cut away from the live moment, only to play the historic scene ninety minutes after it occurred.

The question is whether this will turn out to be Jerry Lewis' final telethon. Will Jerry Lewis be back in 2011? In his first-person backstage account for the Las Vegas Sun, John Katsilometes has a poignant and haunting answer from Jerry's wife, Sam:

“Oh, of course. Unless we are...“ She pauses, then says, “...putting him in the ground, he’ll be here.”

Somebody book Art Vargas for Jerry's telethon

They're talking in Las Vegas about Art Vargas killing at the Bootlegger Bistro Saturday night with a swingin' show, a packed house and a wild, cheering crowd that went even wilder when Vargas was joined onstage by Louis Prima's daughter Lena for a version of Old Black Magic. The gig was the latest showcase for the old school showman and topnotch singer that could soon have him headlining in his own room on the Vegas Strip where he belongs, and amid the musical impressionists, magicians, acrobats and superstars, there's surely a place.

With word that Jerry Lewis was filling next weekend's MDA telethon with a roster of little-known Las Vegas acts, we're more than a little disappointed-- and surprised-- to see that Vargas is not among those scheduled. Put this guy and his Swank Set on at 11 pm Sunday and they're guaranteed to bring down the house at the South Point and have those phones ringing and web hits adding up.

Vegas is coming up Vargas!

"Swingin'!" "Smokin'!" "Great!"

Those were only a few of the superlatives tossed toward entertainer Art Vargas after last weekend's triumphant return to Las Vegas in a showcase bound to get the singer and his classic, retro-flavoured act his own showroom on the Strip where, among magicians, impressionists, tributes and comics, there is definitely a lucrative niche awaiting.

The heat from the three-night stand at the Rampart casino at the Summerlin Resortis already evident as Team Vargas has announced another show on Saturday night at his favourite haunt, The Bootlegger Bistro on Las Vegas Boulevard.

This time it's only five minutes from the Strip.

He's getting closer!

Art Vargas & The Swank Set
Live at The Bootlegger Bistro!
Sat Aug 28th
Bootlegger Bistro
(702) 736-4939
shows at 9:30 pm and Aug. 29 12:30 am

The Bootlegger Bistro
7700 Las Vegas Blvd. So.
Las Vegas, NV

Art Vargas returns to Las Vegas tonight

Singer and entertainer Art Vargas returns to Las Vegas tonight for a three-night stand that could give him to move, as the late, great Danny Gans put it, from Cleveland to "playing for the Yankees."

The engagement at the Rampart Casino in The Resort at Summerlin, is miles from the center of the Las Vegas action, but is seen as an opportunity for bookers, critics, columnists and trendsetters to witness an exciting act that deserves a showroom on the Las Vegas Strip

Vargas is a veteran showman known for his Bobby Darin impression in the Legends tribute show that's taken him from the Strip to venues across the county. It's his own retro solo show, which has played lounges, clubs and rooms away from the Vegas mainline, that has generated excitement in recent months, with Vargas seen as a potential successor to the Las Vegas attractions like Louis Prima, Wayne Newton and Danny Gans.

RAMPART CASINO
Aug, 20, 21 & 22 ( Fri, Sat, & Sun) 3 nights!

Swingin’ the Music that defined the Golden era!
In true Vintage Vegas Style,
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brings to life Vintage Las Vegas
through exciting song & dance performances,
reminiscent of the legendary stars
of Vintage Las Vegas... Live!
Acclaimed as one of Vegas' best performers!
The Los Angeles times says:
“Art Vargas is Vintage Vegas thru and thru!"
With The Swingin’ Swank Set band
and featuring the fabulous Vargas girls!
Nostalgia, Excitement, Classic Cool...
Nobody does it like Vargas!!
NO-BODY Ya Hear that!!?

Experience the BEST!
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Las Vegas Weekly celebrates Danny Gans' special friend Alicia Jacobs-- but doesn't get into that 4 a.m. phone call or all those texts he'd sent her

The Las Vegas Weekly and its editor Scott Dickensheets have rolled out another cover story on a major figure in the Danny Gans case. Following up on last week's confessions from Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author, concert promoter and comp queen Steve Friess, comes a laudatory profile of controversial beauty queen-turned-television entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs.

Jacobs was a close personal friend of Gans, and on May 1, 2009, the the first member of the media to learn of Gans' death, getting a 4 a.m. phone call from Gans' manager Chip Lightman. The article touches upon the incident without exploring the details of the morning or her relationship with the musical impressionist:

"Jacobs defends her reporting of Gans’ death last year. The two were genuinely close. They dined together and, sharing an interest in physical fitness, worked out together. Jacobs was the first journalist contacted by Gans’ manager, Chip Lightman, after he learned of Gans’ death.

"Danny Gans and Alicia Jacobs became close friends during her career in Vegas. Jacobs sobbed through her segment announcing Gans had died and spoke emotionally of their friendship. It was a unique moment in broadcast news for the emotion displayed on-air by the reporter. Local media critics pounced.

“'I have thought about that and re-lived it many, many times in my head. Honest to God, I would not have done anything differently,' says Jacobs. 'I thought I could get through the story. But I remember seeing b-roll of Danny on one of the monitors, singing and dancing, and losing it. To this day I don’t believe he is gone … So, yes, I got a little emotional on the air. You know what? It was real. We are real. Sometimes it’s okay to be real on the air. People cry, hurt and feel pain. I wouldn’t change it.'”

"But what about--?" No, there is no follow-up.

The profile, From Beauty Queen to Extra: The Journey of LV's Top Celebrity Broadcaster, is written by Las Vegas Sun columnist John Katsilometes, a journalist who touched on Gans' rumoured drug use in his initial story about Gans' sudden passing at 52 (the powerful opiate Dilaudid would be named as a cause), but who backed off immediately along with the rest of the Las Vegas media pack. Perhaps that's why it celebrates Jacobs' role as a correspondent on the syndicated television infotainment show, Extra, and is full of sympathetic, humanizing notes about her adoption, disfiguring car crash and career-threatening love of animals, while not pressing her on the issue for which she's gained the most notoriety.


An accompanying photo of Jacobs as "Mrs. United States," however, does reveal that she is not a natural blonde.

Those texts? Click here to read all about them.

And click here to read Kat's fascinating article. Even with his hands tied, he's a great entertainment writer.

Meanwhile, we look forward to next week's cover story on Chip Lightman.

Tough times for Wayne Newton

With his career-encompassing multimedia show, Once Before I Go, at the Tropicana, these should be golden days for Las Vegas superstar and Tabloid Baby pal Wayne Newton, but according to John Katsilometes at the Las Vegas Sun, these are definitely the worst of times for the Midnight Idol.

Two weeks ago, Wayne's daughter Erin, 33 and pregnant, suffered liver, kidney and respiratory failure and delivered baby boy via cesarean section. Then she fell into a coma until last weekend. Doctors say her condition is consistent with HELLP syndrome, which attacks the kidneys and liver, and is in motion during pregnancy.

After doctors told Wayne that Erin probably wouldn't recover, she awoke "unexpectedly" on Monday.

Wayne had canceled many of his February shows to fly to and from St. Louis to be with Erin, his adopted with first wife, Elaine. (They divorced in 1985. He and his current wife Kathleen have a 7-year-old daughter, Lauren.)

Wayne was in the hospital with Erin this morning when Clark County Sheriff's civil-process deputies and moving vans turned up at his famed 40-acre Shenandoah ranch and estate personnel arrived at his estate on behalf of his former pilot Monty Ward, trying to seize property to execute on a judgment that totaled more than $500,000 in past-due wages.

The deputies were turned away.

Wayne and his family have been hit with all kinds of bad news at least since December. His wife's older sister died suddenly the day after Christmas in Los Angeles, six days after the death of his friend and USO touring colleague Brittany Murphy died.

What else? Kats adds:

"This month, a lawsuit was filed against Newton in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas by speedway magnate and onetime Newton friend Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports, charging that Newton is delinquent on a $3.35 million loan Smith had personally guaranteed. As a result, Smith is seeking foreclosure of Shenandoah, one of the city's signature properties.

"Newton also still is entangled in a $32,000 lawsuit for hay delivered to the ranch for his dozens of Arabian horses, an action that dates to 2009, and earlier this month an airport near Detroit claimed Newton owes more than $60,000 in storage fees after he abandoned a $2 million plane there more than three years ago. The craft reportedly is being eaten away by mold and is useless except for scrap."

69!

Johnny Kats in the Las Vegas Sun:

"I'd had my curiosity about Tom Jones rejuvenated over the holidays, when I was talking with members of Elvis Presley's inner circle for a story... commemorating the anniversary of Presley's 75th birthday. During these interviews, Jones' name kept surfacing as a model for Presley had Presley lived to entertain into his 60s and 70s.

"You can see the similarities. Jones moves well and can still sing anything...

"Even today, women shriek and throw their underwear at Jones, who often acknowledges the act with such deft — a sideways glance, or a smirk — it's difficult to tell if he's honored or bored. Probably the former. When a woman from the back of the room shouted, 'Take OFF the coat!' Jones promised, 'Later, it's all coming off.' It was unclear if he meant later in the show, or later that night. Probably the latter..."

From Danny to Donny: Gans line lives on

Musical impressionist Danny Gans may be a distant memory in Las Vegas in 2010, but a little bit of his act and legacy live on thanks to Donny Osmond, whose sibling show with sister Marie at the Flamingo was produced by Gans and his manager Chip Lightman.

Las Vegas Sun entertainment columnist John Katsilometes mentions in another 2009 wrapup column that the crowd-pleasing Gans, who was guaranteed to bring the audience to its feet more than once in every show, gave his pal Donny am "awww"-inspiring line he uses every night:

"A line Danny Gans gave to Donny Osmond: When Donny is cheered during 'Puppy Love,' he says, 'I still got it.' Osmond still uses it in the show at Flamingo."

Katsilometes brought a new twist to the Danny Gan's death in an article published on December 23rd, in which Lightman contradicts the official police report that says Julie Gans told Henderson Police Detective Chad Mitchell that she suddenly awoke at 3:40 a.m. when she no longer heard her husband's snoring dialed 911 four minutes later:

Said Lightman:

"I get a call at 3:15 in the morning, and it’s Julie, his wife, and she goes, 'Dan is gone.' I’m like, 'What!?' At that moment, it was like I was dreaming. I didn’t think I was awake and on the phone, and then I go, 'What do you mean?' And she said, 'Danny died, Chip.' I’m saying, 'No.' She said, 'Call whoever you have to call and let them know, and I’ll talk to you later.'

"I asked, 'When did it happen?' She said, 'A couple of hours ago.'"

No Las Vegas news organization has yet followed up on the story. In fact, one prominent Las Vegas journalist suggested in an email that this out-of-state volunteer organization do the work they're paid to do:

"Nobody cares about Gans as much as you do... Why would you 'want' us to investigate it? If you're this big-shot investigative guy... and you're convinced there's a big story being covered up in a concerted, orchestrated effort by a daily newspaper, wouldn't you be trying to uncover and sell it yourself?"

Aside from the "selling," every "journo" in Las Vegas knows that's what we've been doing for eight months now...

DANNY GANS BOMBSHELL: MANAGER SAYS VEGAS STAR DIED "A COUPLE OF HOURS" BEFORE HIS WIFE CALLED 911

LEILA NAVIDI

In a shocking interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Danny Gans’ manager has raised disturbing new questions about the circumstances of the musical impressionist’s drug-related death.

Chip Lightman, who was first to receive word from Gans’ wife Julie that the Las Vegas Strip star had died in his bed early on the morning of May 1st, indicates that Gans may have died hours earlier than police reported, and that Julie Gans phoned Lightman a half hour before she called 911.

STEVE MARCUS/LAS VEGAS SUN

According to the incident report from the Henderson Police Department, Gans’ wife Julie (“Julia”) awoke “at approximately 0340 hours… and realized Daniel was no longer snoring. When Julia checked on Daniel she realized he was unresponsive and she could not tell if he was breathing and or if he had a pulse.  Julia immediately called 911.”

Lightman, however, tells Sun columnist John Katsilometes that Julie Gans called him at 3:15 a.m., and told him that Gans had died “a couple of hours ago.”

“I get a call at 3:15 in the morning, and it’s Julie, his wife, and she goes, ‘Dan is gone.’  I’m like, 'What!?’  At that moment, it was like I was dreaming.  I didn’t think I was awake and on the phone, and then I go, 'What do you mean?’ And she said, ‘Danny died, Chip.’ I’m saying, ‘No.’  She said, ‘Call whoever you have to call and let them know, and I’ll talk to you later.’

“I asked, ‘When did it happen?’ She said, ‘A couple of hours ago.’”

Henderson police report that Julie Gans called 911 at 3:44 a.m.


Lightman also responds to a question Tabloid Baby first asked in the days following Gans’ death: why he immediately phoned Alicia Jacobs, the beauty queen turned local entertainment reporter who flaunted her close relationship with Gans, to inform her of Gans' passing.

“I had collected my thoughts, and I thought, ‘OK, how do I get the word out? Do I get Steve Wynn up at about 4 in the morning and tell him?  Or do I call (Wynn Las Vegas spokeswoman) Jennifer Dunne?  ... I finally just called Alicia.  She was the first person I thought of to get the word out, get it on the air, and I knew her number.  When something like that happens, you’re in shock.  Danny had just done an interview with her, and she was fresh on my mind when I thought ‘media.’  I thought, ‘I’ll just call Alicia.’  They were friends, too.”

HENDERSON, NEVADA POLICE REPORT

Lightman’s latest statements are all the more disturbing in light of the fact that they come more than seven months after Gans’ death, with more than enough time to prepare his answers, and after he and others close to the situation have altered their stories more than once to fit new information and circumstances that arise.


And while it's Lightman's backhanded swipe at Gans' widow in an interview to promote the Gans autobiography that stands out, Lightman's latest version also paints a very different picture of Gans.

While he once claimed that Gans seemed to be in perfect health in the days leading to his death, he now tells Katsilometes that the star was ill.

“A few days before he died, I said, ‘You don’t look like you feel well.’  He said, “I’ve been fighting something.  I’m just drained beyond drained.  My shoulder has been acting up, the kids are sick, everyone around me is sick.’  The Wednesday night before he died — we always sat and met before onstage, usually at 7:10 — and he didn’t look good.  He looked worn out..."

He admits that Gans may have been using steroids-- for his vocal cords:

"People said to me, when the coroner’s (report) hadn’t come out yet, 'We know he’s doing tons of steroids, and he had bulked up like the Hulk,' and all this stuff.  And you know, if Dan did that, he didn’t do it around me.  If Dan took any steroids, it was for his voice, to lessen the inflammation on his vocal chords...  He worked out five days a week, and he had a 2,000-square-foot gym at his house."

He even says Gans' Encore Theatre may have been cursed.

“The biggest concern was the room People said it was a bad-luck room, it’s cursed.  Dan was saying, ‘Spamalot didn’t work, Avenue Q before Spamalot didn’t work.  Nothing has worked, and they were very good shows.’"

The Henderson Police Department investigation into Gans’ death was open for almost two months, but no criminal charges were filed.  We do not know if the police looked into the records of Gans' home or Chip Lightman's phone calls.

Julie Gans and her children moved to Los Angeles during that time.  Although the three teenage children have been brought out to speak with the media twice since the tragic death, Julie Gans has not been seen in public.

The Las Vegas news media as a group deliberately avoided any investigation of the circumstance of Gans' death or unexamined private life (Katsilometes wrote the day after Gans’ death about rumours of Gans’ steroid use — but never followed up), and Steve Friess, a local blogger, comp queen, New York Times stringer and close associate with Gans boss Steve Wynn, joined with Jacobs in a campaign to stop any investigation into the death and in fact, have this site shut down.

Public perception of the Born Again Christian, athletic, corporate entertainer has shifted in recent months with the revelations that a pharmacy co-owned by Gans marketed a male erection party pill.  Gans’ children, brought out to face the media last month to promote the recently-published autobiography, changed a story they’d told earlier to acknowledge that their father did take prescription medication.

Developing...

AUDIO: JULIE GANS' 911 call

The Kats' out of the bag about Steve Friess' Las Vegas "tribute" to Michael Jackson

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Rolling out act after self-congratulatory act while a flurry of tweets about its wonderfulness was unleashed by its producer and his friends, beauty queen-turned televisioon entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs and Norm Clarke of The Las Vegas Review-Journal, the “Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened To Michael Jackson’s Music Show" went off as scheduled at the Palms resort in Las Vegas yesterday-- but not without some serious questions aimed at its producer and promoter, Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess.

The questions came from Tabloid Baby.

Friess gave his answers to the Las Vegas Sun.

One thing the Danny Gans case has made clear is that journalists working in Las Vegas read Tabloid Baby, and while some curse us for calling them out on their cowardly refusal to investigate the big questions while hyping some questionable enterprises, they do take our criticism to heart-- and when they can slip it past their editors, take up our challenge.


In this case it was John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Sun who, in a promotional piece on the Jackson "tribute," cornered Friess about his obvious conflict of interest, if not the bizarre notion of his producing a "tribute" that he insisted was not a tribute to Jacko the man, even though the tribute took place on Jacko's birthday, with Jacko's father as a guest.

Kats gets Friess to answer the questions we have asked in this space, and in many unanswered emails to Friess, including:

Was Joe Jackson paid to attend the tribute?

How much does he plan to raise in total?

How much money will go to ""production costs" and expenses?

Either Katsilometes asked the questions or Friess used the friendly reporter to give his answers, unchallenged.

Writes Kats:

"Friess finds himself performing something of a moonwalk between the Jackson death investigation and the Palms benefit. His role in covering the Vegas angle of the Jackson story has coincided with his involvement in organizing a charity show that is essentially authorized by the Jackson family. Friess, who writes regularly for Las Vegas Weekly (a Greenspun Media Group publication) among his freelance gigs, allows that it has been an interesting summer ever since the details of Jackson’s death spilled out to include Las Vegas.

“'There’s no doubt it’s weird for me,” Friess said today. 'When this was conceived, it was just a couple of days after his death. Nobody believed it would be a homicide at that point, that it would be anything this controversial connected to Las Vegas... Journalists don’t have to divorce themselves from their communities.' (Friess plans to write of his shifting between journalist and benefit producer in next week’s L.V. Weekly.)

"Friess finds himself performing a moonwalk
between the Jackson death investigation
and the Palms benefit. His role in covering
the Vegas angle of the Jackson story
has coincided with his involvement in
organizing a charity show that is essentially
authorized by the Jackson family."
--Las Vegas Sun

"Soon after Jackson’s death, Friess was approached by Bergen, a friend who is a lifelong Jackson fan, to assist in organizing the benefit show. Bergen has invoked an audio clip of himself at age 4 singing 'Man in the Mirror' during his performances at the Liberace Museum and has written a piece for the Sun relating Jackson’s influence on his career. It was Bergen who first thought to turn Jackson’s untimely death into a means of raising money for local arts programs, and both organizers have said that the show is to honor the creative work, not the mercurial and ultimately tragic lifestyle, of Jackson.

"At this writing, about $90,000 in advance ticket sales have been raised, Friess said. The goal is $100,000... Friess says that all money taken in after production costs will be donated to the Public Education Foundation to fill such needs as instruments, maintenance of instruments, sheet music, supplies and specialized tutoring (the books will be opened to anyone who wants to review how the money was allotted, he said, adding that the Jacksons did not ask for fees to appear at the show or dedication ceremony)."

If Steve Friess is indeed writing another apologia for his actions in the Las Vegas Weekly, we hope it is as amusing and mind-boggling as his "A Fine Restraint" excuse for not investigating the death of local superstar Danny Gans.

Meanwhile, we should point out that Michael Jackson's death was suspicious from the start, his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray of Las Vegas, was sought for questioning from day one, after he disappeared from the emergency room hours after Jacko's death, and Friess, who wrote in the Weekly's July 2nd issue that "Michael Jackson’s untimely death was the best thing that could ever have happened to Michael Jackson’s music," was covering the Las Vegas investigation of Murray weeks after he began producing the birthday part for the man whose "baggage" he claimed "imprisoned and stigmatized" his "product."

Gans memorial will go on with no answers about what caused his untimely death at 52; Vegas journos waste column inches questioning public invites

The memorial tribute to Danny Gans will go on at the Encore Theatre later this afternoon without most people having any idea of what caused the gifted musical impressionist to die suddenly at age 52. A spokeswoman for the Clark County Coroner's Office told TabloidBaby.com minutes ago that the results of toxicology reports on the late superstar are "still pending," and suggested that they won't be known until early next week, "after the holiday" at the earliest.

As a footnote we'd like to point out that our team members have spoken to several spokeswoman for the coroner in the past week or so, and to a person they have been more than professional: courteous, helpful and charming. This is not a fawning note-- they really do stand out.

What also stands out is the attitude of more than one Las Vegas columnist when it comes to the free tickets to today's Gans memorial that were handed out to members of the public. We were astounded yesterday when comp queen and Vegas writer Steve Friess (left) called the idea "strange," and referred to the ordinary folk who'd attend the tribute as "seatfillers" as if they were paid stand-ins who fill in empty seats at award shows to make the room look full. We saw it as smart and generous way to allow the common man to pay tribute to the Everyman superstar (limited seating, great demand, makes sense)-- especially after the panic over the public storming the gates at the event or his secret funeral.

Yet today, two Las Vegas print columnists also mock the idea. Richard Abowitz, who writes the Vegas blog for the Los Angeles Times and has maintained a noticeable hands-off policy with the Gans story ("I have tried to write as little as possible about Gans' passing. Right now the death investigation is awaiting a toxicology report and then we will know better if we are discussing a John Ritter or a Heath Ledger death or something else. Whatever the cause, the facts are that the father of three is dead and the show is closed. Those are the two facts that matter most in Vegas, and no future information will alter them.") posts today:

"I assume trying to cajole volunteers to come to the memorial at Encore is being done to create a full house for the cameras and media covering this tribute to Gans. 'Free Comp tickets are currently available for Danny Gans Memorial Thursday afternoon at Wynn,' the e-mails read. Has anyone ever heard of being comped to a memorial service before?"

Even Mike Weatherford of the Las Vegas Review-Journal took time to question the gesture:

"...It was quite a surprise to see one of the daily blasts offering a complimentary ticket to the Danny Gans memorial service today at Encore.

"Well, it's not a surprise in one sense. ShowTickets4Locals is co-owned by the late impressionist's manager, Chip Lightman. But it did raise questions of why they needed to 'paper' a service that had been characterized as an invitation-only gathering of family and friends?

"'It was not an effort to fill the house,' says Gans' publicist, Laura Herlovich. Rather, 'Danny was very active in a lot of community things,' and this was part of the outreach to include some 'regular' fans and locals in the memorial. Tickets also were given to firefighters and police officers, she said..."

These Vegas journos think differently than the rest of us beyond the desert. Of all the things to write about in the case of Danny Gans, this gets them to their word processors.

The Las Vegas Sun? John Katsilometes, who's backed way off from the Gans story since his Day One questions, jots off a quick column saying that today's memorial has got him listening to Paul McCartney and attending a family reunion.

Go figure.

Developing...

The Las Vegas columnist who suggested Danny Gans used "supplements" continues to avoid the subject but returns to the story to crown Gans' successor

Of all the journalists in Las Vegas, entertainment columnist John Katsilometes of the Sun held out the greatest hope as the one who'd take an inquisitive, hardboiled look into the mysterious death of Strip headliner Danny Gans. Katsilometes' column, written hours after the announcement that the musical impressionist had died mysteriously of a stopped heart at the age of 52, was an unblinking appreciation of the artist as well as an unfiltered assessment of Gans' reputation and what could have killed him.

"Danny Gans was a gifted, unique figure in Las Vegas entertainment history" also portrayed Danny Gans as:

"a man I honestly did not know well. Few did, I feel...
"so corny...
"everyone, and no one... benignly pleasant... unfailingly nice, but I was always ready for him to slip into the cloak of someone else...
"fiercely protective of his image -- especially as it pertained to his value as an entertainer...
"a consummate entertainer, even as he appealed to the great mean. He was also a solid citizen, a born-again Christian who was always said to have lived a Christian existence."

Katsilometes also revealed Gans to be a man who "protected his voice to the point where he would spend entire days not talking, writing notes and using hand movements to communicate with his family," and stated that though "he was said to be an egg-white-favoring health nut... Gans’ physical appearance started to seem unnatural, his bulk suggesting the use of supplements."

"And he was not always Mr. Sunshine, either. Gans could be biting when dealing with his contemporaries... A couple of years ago, I asked him for comment about fellow impressionist Gordie Brown, who had just opened at The Venetian. Any advice for Gordie? I asked Gans. Through a spokeswoman, he replied: 'My advice to Gordie is to do something unique and different that the Strip has never seen before. For example, while doing his trademark Garry Shandling impression, have a sad clown walk by while three midgets on pogo sticks juggle pink French poodles on a high wire. I’d also change the name of his show to Cirque du Gordie.'

"I tried to reach Brown, now at the Golden Nugget, today for comment about Gans’ death. Nothing."

Katsilometes was alone among Las Vegas journalists in writing something approaching criticism of Gans, and with his suggestion that he had used "supplements" promised to push closer to something of an understanding of what may have happened before the release of a delayed and potentially sullied "official" toxicology report.

But after that piece, he went silent on the story. Katsilometes ignored our emails (we contacted his editor saying we were trying to get in touch) and moved onto other subjects, despite the speculation that increased as we continued our reportage.

And today, more than a fortnight on (inside joke), Katsilometes writes about Danny Gans. Well, he steps around the story of Danny Gans with a piece about musical impressionist Gordie Brown, the Gans competitor whom he reported was the target of Gans' dark side.

It seems that Gordie Brown is preparing a tribute to Danny Gans in his act, a song that is so touching it makes him cry every time he sings it:
"The moment arrives without warning, and it surfaces whenever the mood strikes Gordie Brown. But there is a point in his show at the Golden Nugget when he speaks of the late Danny Gans, softly saying that Gans will be terribly missed and was one of the true pioneers among Las Vegas entertainers. Then Brown’s voice shifts to its power gear and sings the Louis Armstrong favored by Gans, 'What a Wonderful World'...

"There is no pattern, and the improv-embracing Brown had actually lopped the number from his routine until returning it to the stage on May 1, the day Gans died. Also on that day, Brown crafted a song he plans to dedicate to Gans titled 'Live Today.' He’s working on the tune on an acoustic guitar now and plans to teach it to his backing band at Golden Nugget. Brown isn’t sure when he’ll be confident enough to unveil the song, which he describes as a positive message of what can be learned through tragedy, in public. 'I can’t get through it without crying, he says."
Katsilometes offers Brown a chance to explain why he didn't join the chorus of praise after Gans' death:
"'When this happened, I felt it was the family’s place, and I didn’t want media publicity or anything like that,' Brown said. 'It’s the saddest thing in the world. I just wanted to have him, his family, manager and friends start to get through it.'"
Brown professes his "deep respect" for Danny Gans. And in the process, appears to offer himself in Katsilometes' column as the next-best thing.

Katsilometes repeats the news that "a celebration of Gans’ life is set for the Encore Theater on Thursday but is invitation-only and not open to the public. Many of the Strip’s top headliners are expected to attend."

Somewhere there is a story between the lines, but it doesn't bring us any closer to understanding who Danny Gans was or what could have led to his death.

There are no Danny Gans stories in today's (or yesterday's) Las Vegas Review-Journal.