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Diva Land in Las Vegas

Diva Land in Las Vegas




Frank Marino is the star and emcee of a fabulous show featuring the best female Diva impersonators in Las Vegas. Imperial Palace has found its Queen at last. Frank takes the stage 6 nights a week wearing glamorous costumes. He makes a spectacular entrance and changes into new gowns between each act.
 His wigs and jewelry are beautiful. Feathers, lace and glitter are a girl’s best friend as is demonstrated in his gowns. Frank is definitely Joan Rivers and his quick wit and humor is unsurpassed. He didn’t miss a beat in the delivery of his jokes.


Frank Marino as Joan Rivers

For 75 minutes the audience is electrified by the dancers, and the music. It is a non stop, high energy show from all the performers. The likeness is uncanny and the entertainers have perfected the moves and gestures.

Madonna is the first one to come on stage and she is fabulous.The audience is loving it as she dances with her boy toy dancers. Also commanding the stage is Brittany Spears whose likeness is spot on. The song selections are perfect and the audience is feeling the rhythm and the beat.


Madonna                                               Brittany Spears

Beyonce is portrayed and exaggerated as having a big butt and it is comical watching her dance.  It was amusing and all in good fun which brought a lot of laughter from the crowd.


     Beyonce


    Dancers

My favorite performer was Cher in her sexy see through black leather outfit. I remember when Cher went on the naval ship to perform for the service men and they were all going wild. I guess it was because they hadn’t seen anyone like her for quite some time and to think that her son was playing in her band in the back ground.


     Cher
Divas also feature Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, Lady GaGa, Celine Dion, Tina Turner, Liza Minnelli and Bette Midler. It was believable watching them going through their routines and you could see that they truly believed they were the star.


     Cast


After the end of the show Frank greeted every person coming out of the theater and took the time to take pictures and talk to the fans. He makes everyone feel comfortable and that is why I will call him the gracious Queen of the Imperial Palace. Long live the Queen.


                                            Nikki Artale and Frank Marino

The Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth

Mario Barth has once again put together a spectacular convention which showcased some of the world’s top artists and traditional tattoo masters.




This historical event was held at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Oct 2-4, 2009 where the top professionals held seminars and one-on-one sessions. Mario Barth is the owner and chief tattoo artist at Starlight Tattoo, with 20,000 customers, making it the most successful studio in the world. Mario has an extraordinary celebrity clientele, including Sylvester Stallone.


Sylvester Stallone Mario Barth                 Sylvester Stallone


Mario Barth

It looked like Stallone was looking to get another tattoo as he took his time looking at the tattoo books and talking to a few of the artists.


Stallone & Pili Mo’o

Pili Mo’o, a samoan tatau artist had a large crowd watching him do his hand tapping tatau. Pili trained under the late Sua Sulu’ape Paulo 11 of Samoa. Sylvester Stallone was very interested in talking to Pili.



Mad Max Beers and his wife Amy came from Michigan for the convention. Max has been tattooing since he was 15 years old and does his tattoo’s free hand, after a lot of studying, reading and researching. Amy said her 4 year old daughter Giovanna has started to draw and is a budding artist.


Max & Amy Beers

Chris Pearson from San Antonio had the most outstanding tattooed face. I asked him which tattoo was the most painful and he said it was his nose. Good thing he has a small nose so it didn’t take that much time to do. Chris said his first tattoo was at the age of 13 and now at the age of 33 he is well on his way to a full body tattoo. He was having his back done as I spoke to him.


Chris Pearson                                 Chris Pearson

Next came the judging of the best black & White, best color, best tribal and best tattoo of the day. Tattoo Lou was one of the judges.




As I roamed around I found mostly everyone who was having a tattoo done, were relaxed and enjoying the attention as everyone stopped to talk and take pictures.







I was very impressed with the work of two new artists who were sketching free hand and hopefully the pictures will find their way onto someone’s body.


                                                                               Hector

I was most excited to see a booth that was set up to audition people for a new reality show. Tattoo Masters Worldwide. I am a reality show junkie so this caught my immediate attention.


Krista Ayne Show Host                        Tattoo Lou Show Executive

The kick off was this week and auditions started to select 30 participants to get tattoos from the best 15 up and coming new artists. The show will tape in Los Angeles and the winner of the best tattoo will win a shop in New York and the person getting the winning tattoo will receive $25,000.


Now you have to know that I did audition for the show because I have secretly always wanted to get a tattoo and never had the nerve to do it. Now that I have attended a couple of tattoo conventions, I find the art work to be so beautiful and my desire has grown. I would have an angel tattoo but I haven’t decided where it will be. You can give me some suggestions when you see me, or send me your comments.

Big Brother Bash 2009

The second annual Big Brother Bash was held on September 18-20 at the M Resort in Las Vegas. It was three days of parties and events with hundreds of fans and cast members from BB11. Previous houseguests from other seasons also attended. It was a grand reunion of the best of Big Brother and cast members of Survivor. Niki Congero of Live at the Studio hosted the event and the stars of the BB Bash were Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd, who won $500,000. America voted Jeff as the most popular houseguest, which won him the $25,000 prize. Jordan is known as Americas Sweetheart and she deserves that title because she is the sweetest person I have ever met. She is exactly as she was on the show, authentic, kind, honest and truly beautiful. It is heartwarming to watch her with Jeff, who I think are now a couple. I told Jeff that I have been hearing from the fans that they would like to have a reality show of Jeff & Jordan in Hawaii. I would love to see that one. Words cannot describe how handsome Jeff is. One of the fans told Casey he was good looking but, Jeff is OMG.


Jeff was so gracious and kind to all the fans that stopped him to take pictures. It was non stop smiles from Jeff, who loved all the attention he was getting and he so deserves it. His handsome looks take your breath away.


Jeff Schroeder & Jordan Llyod

Jeff had many kind words about Jordan. Jeff said she was a friend from the beginning and he saw her big heart and she was a breath of fresh air that kept him calm. Jeff appreciated the coup D’état that America gave him and that changed the game. He knows he wouldn’t have gotten as far as he did without that power. As for Jordan winning, he said she needs the money and deserves it and it was all a game and he is okay with what ever happened.

I see a very promising future for both Jeff and Jordan, everyone’s sweethearts. They both plan on staying in LA for a while and then go home. I am looking forward to seeing them again when they return to Las Vegas.

The M Resort provided a beautiful suite for the meet and greet on Friday Sept 18. The excitement was building as each guest arrived and they were greeted by fans and fellow houseguests. Everyone looked stunning and some even better then they were shown on TV. It was good to see Sheila Kennedy and Adam Jasinski together and sharing their thoughts about BB9. If you recall, they were shackled together as a couple in their season.



Sheila Kennedy & Adam Jasinski

Sheila looked young and gorgeous as usual. Sheila was Penthouse Pet in 1983. She is writing a book “No One’s Pet” and we are anxious to read it. Adam was a ray of sunshine with his great big beautiful smile. I spent time talking to Chelsia Hart and Missy about their BB Lunch Break talk show, where they would cover the daily events in the house and in the chat room every day at noon.




Chelsia, Nikki & Missy

Missy is known as the number one BB fan and in this season she loved Russell Kairouz. Everyone I talked to loved Russell and when I met him for an interview I knew why he was so well loved.




Russell & Yolla Kairouz

Charming, handsome, humerous, intelligent and soft spoken are some of the words to describe Russell. I met Russell and his sister Yolla at the pool for an interview and I was impressed with his gentleness. He shared how he was approached in a bar and asked to audition for BB11. He had the look CBS was looking for and after two auditions he was picked for the show. Russell only saw BB1 so he researched the other shows and saw that it would be a challenge and would need a strategy and a good plan in place. He knew he couldn’t be the guy he usually is so he chose to be both a villain and a charismatic guy to balance it out.




 Jeff & Russell,                                                              Russell & Michelle

Russell said all twelve houseguest are good people and he liked Casey and Michelle the most out of all the people in the house and yes he is friends with Jeff as you can see in the picture. He played the lone wolf at times and then there were times when he needed support because he was the most feared player in the game. Russell had a ranking order of who would win and he was first, then Ronnie, then Michelle.



Casey & Alex Coladonato Ronnie & Michelle Talbott

I asked Russell how he felt about all the attention he is receiving and he said he was surprised, excited and grateful. He did not expect it and thankful and flattered by the attention he is getting. Yolla said his family was very proud of Russell. He goes back to his home in San Francisco after the BB Bash and I know he will be very successful and we will be seeing him in the movies and on TV.

Ronnie Talbott was a BB expert because he has watched every single season. He didn’t want to lay low so he played too hard and too much and became the most dangerous player and the smartest player. Ronnie said at times he was playing for his life and didn’t know he was making head way in the game. There was a moment in the game when he missed his wife Michelle so much, he was moved to tears. We all cried with him too. After his elimination he watched it from home and predicted that Jordan would win.




Nikki Artale & Howie Gordon

Everybody loves Howie from BB6 and the All Stars. The room rang with the sound of “Boobies” and you know that was out of the mouth of Howie. He is so funny and the life of the party and no one takes offense when he calls out “Boobies”.





Adam Gentry, Nikki Erika Landin

Erika was in BB4 and All Stars and she met Adam when she was casting for Survivor13. Adam lasted for 37 days. He lost the game of Survivor but he won the heart of Erika and they are now engaged. Erika has gone on to casting the players for “The Amazing Race”. She has done an excellent job of casting because the participants are outstanding.





Kail, Libra, Laura, Jordan Howie, James, George, Michelle

All the women were absolutely gorgeous and all the men looked handsome. Libra said her season was wild and a once in a lifetime experience. Chicken George is working in an auction house and said he was working for awhile in poker tournaments in Oklahoma City with Boogie. Chicken George said he doesn’t consider himself famous or a celebrity but a lot of people do.




Parker Sommerville, Ollie Zach Swerdzewski, Joe Barber



Houseguest at the pool



On Saturday afternoon everyone met at the pool and had a great time meeting and greeting everyone. Later that evening the party got into full swing with the fans who were so excited to be with their favorite players.



Danielle Donato & Russell               Russell & Krista Stegall

As you can see Russell was having a great time.





 Lydia Tavera & Jessie Godderz,          Ollie, Nikki & Jessie

I couldn’t resist touching and holding Jessie’s muscles. They are for real and he has a great personality and is such a sweetheart. Lydia & Jessie are a couple.




Jeff, Niki, Jordan, Andrea                           Mystic Mona

Mystic Mona was a high light at the pool party with her tarot card readings.


BB Bash was a success because of Niki Congero from “Live at the Studio”. Niki and Andrea had a BB hour every Wednesday on Real Player Super Pass and chatted on the internet to let us all know what was happening in the house and answering questions from the callers in the chat room. www.liveatthestudio.net . This is the second annual Big Brother party and it keeps getting better and bigger and we have to thank Niki for all the time and effort in putting this event together. A lot of prizes were donated and T shirts were signed by the houseguests which will be auctioned off. The proceeds will be donated to two charities, R.A.G.E. for the disabled and The Poppy Foundation to help cats in need.





Linda Williams & Marcus Williams

Where would our BB houseguests be without the fans? I have selected Marcus and his mom, Linda to represent the fans of America. They have watched BB from season one and are big fans. They thought that Russell would win and when he was eliminated they wanted Jordan to win. Marcus has an application for BB12 at home and plans to send it in. I think he would make a good houseguest. What a joy it was to see them mingling and taking pictures with everyone. They had the time of their life and will take back many memories of the time they spent with everyone.





I will end this with my favorite picture of Jeff kissing me on the cheek. All my family and friends are so envious and jealous that I got a kiss and they didn’t. Thank you Jeff, you made my day.