Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/733014
INVITED vegasmagazine.com 39 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY Of DEniSE TRUSCEllO/CAESARS PAlACE The Way you Look TonighT CAESARS PALACE HONORS THE LAS VEGAS LEGENDS WHO HAVE SHAPED THE LANDMARK'S STORIED HISTORY. The first and only performer ever offered a lifetime contract at Caesars Palace, Tony Bennett was also the first to arrive on the red carpet for the hotel's 50th-anniversary gala celebration on August 6. The 90-year-old entertainer clearly took the "lifetime" idea seriously, as he belted out some of the songs he might have sung at age 40 as the second performer ever to appear at the Circus Maximus showroom in 1966. In front of a packed crowd in the Octavius Ballroom, he also accepted the Caesars Palace Icon Award. The show opened with Wayne Newton, Donny and Marie Osmond, and Matt Goss performing "Viva Las Vegas." Jennifer Lopez made a special appearance, as did gala honoree Gordon Ramsay, and Bill Medley and Bucky Heard— better known as The Righteous Brothers—who sang two songs. Children of Caesars founder Jay Sarno accepted the Founder's Icon Award. Calvin Harris was also on hand to accept an Icon Award, as were the Knievel family, Larry Ruvo, and Caesars Palace President Gary Selesner, while Céline Dion, Jerry Seinfeld, and Elton John accepted theirs via video. International Boxing Hall of Famer Thomas "Hitman" Hearns presented an Icon Award to Rasheda Ali in honor of her late father, Muhammad Ali. One of the night's most memorable moments? The giant birthday cake brought out by the event's master of ceremonies, Howie Mandel, to celebrate newly minted nonagenarian Bennett. Tony Bennett