Latest news with #ResortsWorld
Time Out
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Katy Perry's viral, quirky 'Lifetimes' tour has hits—and misses
I saw astronaut Katy Perry kiss the sky… and I liked it? Sorta. Actually, I'm kind of torn on my thoughts after seeing Perry's 'Lifetimes' tour in Las Vegas. That's because I was both equally amused and entertained as I was bewildered and frustrated by it. For a lot of reasons. Now granted, I'm comparing it to her Resorts World residency a few years ago, 'Play,' a production she referred to as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids meets Pee-wee's Playhouse. Yes, it was as odd as that sentence reads. Perry's performance found her singing out of an oversized toilet and dancing in a field of monster mushrooms with a lipsticked frog in a bikini. So that's why, when tickets for 'Lifetime' landed in my lap from a friend, I was intrigued by the opportunity. The night started when a wicked windstorm launched a plastic bag into the air near the Luxor light beam as I walked to the show and, of course, fittingly ended with Perry closing her show with that opening lyric from 'Firework.' Between those moments there was a lot going on. Perry was engaging and spoke to the audience quite a bit. Early on, she poked fun at herself in reference to the backlash from her recent Blue Origin spaceflight, saying she's the 'world's most hated icon.' Later on, Perry thanked the crowd 'for loving me despite all of my flaws.' Her 'Lifetimes' tour, which is crisscrossing the globe through the end of the year in promotion of her album 143, has received a lukewarm reception, with some observers calling Perry a copycat. They note that her opening monologue mimics the one from Taylor Swift's 'Eras' tour and how the portion of Perry's show calling on the audience to scan a QR code and pick a song for her to sing is oh-too-similar to what Sabrina Carpenter has done. But comparisons aside, Perry makes it her own with a five-act video game concept that involves her battling an AI robot. That's… not necessarily a good thing. The storyline is confusing but apparently Perry is half-human, half-machine (which explains the metallic costumes, cone bras and furry moon boots) and in a fight with a cyborg to save butterflies and spread love. It's The Matrix meets Star Wars. At one point, Perry even swings a red lightsaber to destroy her enemies. The stage for 'Lifetimes' is designed in a figure eight pattern allowing her to get closer to the crowd. There is a lot of airtime as well with artists performing Cirque du Soleil-like acrobatics and Perry suspended by wires flying and flipping above the audience on four separate occasions, including when riding on the back of a butterfly while performing 'Roar.' My history with Perry starts at the very beginning. I first heard her in 2008 performing songs off Teenage Dream at the New York-New York's long-closed Rok Vegas nightclub. Then, while working for Us Weekly, I covered the 'Waking Up in Vegas' singer whenever she hit town—including her bachelorette party with Rihanna and numerous appearances and award shows. I even witnessed one of her first flights (albeit above a stage, not into outer space) at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards. And while the voice is different and some song arrangements have changed, the one constant from quirky Perry are the campy costumes and hit songs. At T-Mobile Arena, she performed 24 songs and judging from the devoted fans singing along, 'Lifetimes' works.
Independent Singapore
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Independent Singapore
StarHub's 'Football for All' carnival to screen all 10 EPL matches on final matchday
SINGAPORE: While Liverpool Football Club has emerged as the 2024/2025 English Premier League (EPL) champions, there are still the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League spots up for grabs for teams that finished in the runner-up to the fifth position. Arsenal Football Club has won the Premiership 13 times and is currently second in the league with 71 points, and Manchester City, in third place with 68 points, are guaranteed a spot in next season's Champions League. While both Newcastle United and Chelsea Football Club are currently in the final two spots for Champions League qualification, they are living precariously in fourth and fifth place with 66 points, respectively. The two clubs are closely pursued by both sixth-placed Aston Villa on 66 points and seventh-placed Nottingham Forest on 65 points, setting up an intense battle for the remaining Champions League spots. English Premier League standings – Race for the Champions League. (Photo: Facebook screengrab / premierleague) With an exciting end to the season, football fans will be able to witness all the matches on the final match day for free at StarHub's 'Football for All' carnival on Sunday, May 25. Kiss92 DJ Glenn Ong, Ross Sarpani, and Kelly Latimer will host the event. As the exclusive broadcaster of the English Premier League in Singapore, StarHub will broadcast all 10 matches live from a single location. Kickoff will be at 11 p.m. at the Resorts World Convention Centre. Football fans will be treated to an unforgettable night of football, fun, and fanfare. Festivities will begin at 7 p.m., bringing together fans of all ages to connect, celebrate, and share their love for the game, regardless of the team they support. One of the most anticipated matches of the night would be between Forest and Chelsea. A win for Nuno Santo's team would see them leapfrog their opponents to 68 points. Villa also hopes to make it to Europe's elite competition as they face fallen giants Manchester United. Adding to the excitement, fans can look forward to special appearances by Premier League legends Joe Hart (Manchester City) and John Barnes (Liverpool). The duo is also scheduled for a meet-and-greet session with fans on Saturday, May 24, at StarHub Paragon at 2:15 p.m. Meet Premier League legends, Joe Hart and John Barnes, at Starhub Paragon. (Photo: Facebook screengrab / Starhub) One avid football fan, Ezaad Dollah, who was interested in meeting the former Premier League legends, wondered whether postcards would be handed out to fans for the former players to sign. 'Please be advised that there will not be any autograph cards given out on Sunday. You may bring your own items, but it will be at the legends' discretion and priority will be given to photo-taking as we want to allow as many people to have the opportunity to get a chance to get up close to the legends,' replied StarHub on a thread in their social media page. StarHub's 'Football for All' carnival will also feature football-themed games and family-friendly activities. There will be exclusive goodie bags available on a first-come, first-served basis and exciting giveaways, making it the perfect way to welcome new fans to the thrill of football. To celebrate StarHub's 25th Anniversary, all subscribers are invited to bring up to four guests to the festivities. Admission is free, but registration is required, and space is limited. Secure your spot at . See also M1 Service Glitch: Rebates, Please! There will be complimentary shuttle bus services from Resorts World Sentosa to HarbourFront, that will run from 11:30 pm on Sunday to 2:30 am the following day.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Money laundering probe at Fontainebleau mistakenly disclosed by Gaming Commission
(Photo byfor Fontainebleau Las Vegas) An inadvertent leak at Thursday's Nevada Gaming Commission meeting revealed Fontainebleau, the newest resort on the Las Vegas Strip, is under investigation by gaming regulators. Nevada Gaming Commissioner Rosa Solis Rainey asked Fontainebleau president Maurice Wooden about the investigation Thursday, catching the executive off guard as he sought licensing as a key employee. 'With respect to AML (anti-money laundering), tell me about the issues that are currently going on at the Fontainebleau with respect to credit issuance,' Solis-Rainey said to Wooden. 'Are you aware of those?' 'I'm not sure of any investigation as it relates to anything with AML. Is there something specific? I'm not sure,' Wooden responded. 'I think that is something that staff is currently further investigating, prior to any further action,' Gaming Control Board member Chandeni Sendall chimed in. 'It's not listed in our materials as confidential, by the way,' noted a visibly irked Gaming Commission Chairwoman Jennifer Togliatti. 'Is it confidential or not confidential?' Solis-Rainey inquired. 'We have in our materials that there's an investigation ongoing with respect to the credit practices not being followed.' The issue, she said, involved ownership approving credit without proper approval from compliance executives. Fontainebleau is owned by Jeffrey Soffer. The $3.7 billion property opened in December 2023. 'If those processes happened, they were certainly before my time. I was, you know, not on property for what I believe some of the questions you're asking,' Wooden responded, adding he believes 'at least one or two of those issues did happen, almost like the opening week.' Wooden is likely referring to a $2 million marker issued to gambler and illegal bookmaker Damien LeForbes, shortly after the resort's opening in December 2023, according to Robert Cipriani, a professional gambler who provided information to the federal government about money laundering at MGM Grand and Resorts World. LeForbes and illegal sports bookie Mathew Bowyer have pleaded guilty to operating unlawful gambling businesses and to money laundering. MGM Resorts entered into a non-prosection agreement with the government in early 2024 and paid a $7.45 million fine. Its former president, Scott Sibella, agreed to a plea deal for failing to comply with AML regulations. The feds have yet to take any action against Resorts World, where Sibella also served as president until his termination in September of 2023, and where Bowyer and LeForbes were permitted to gamble without known sources of funds. The Gaming Commission fined Resorts World $10.5 million in March and imposed an $8.5 million fine against MGM in April. Cipriani contends the investigation has expanded to a handful of other resorts, including Fontainebleau. In early January 2024, weeks after Fontainebleau's opening, Cipriani tweeted the casino granted a $2 million marker to LeForbes, who eventually 'blew thru it all,' according to Cipriani. 'All the casinos that took DJ Leforbes' and Matt Bowyer's action are being investigated by GCB,' Cipriani said Friday. No efforts have been made by Fontainebleau or Venetian, where the two also gambled, to recover the funds via the District Attorney's Office, according to court records. Gaming Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick told Togliatti the information about the investigation, which was included in the Commission's back up documents, should have been marked confidential. 'I don't want to go any deeper into this matter until the board has an opportunity to review it and, of course, speak with the licensee,' he said. Stacy Michaels, a Fontainebleau executive, said the GCB audited five player accounts and had concerns with three. Michaels added that agents were eventually satisfied the company had followed proper protocol. The Gaming Commission issued a two-year license to Wooden.
CBS News
6 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
New York should accelerate downstate casino approvals, Yonkers mayor says
The mayor of Yonkers says New York already has a winning pair of downstate casinos and thinks the state gaming commission should not wait until the December deadline to award licenses and cash in. Mayor Mike Spano says Empire City in Yonkers and Resorts World in Queens should immediately be approved for full table gaming, so the state can start reaping the revenue. New York casino licenses still up for grabs Spano's statement comes after entertainment mogul Jay-Z was in Albany this week, reportedly building support for his team's bid to build a casino in New York City's Times Square. In addition to Jay-Z's bid, other proposed casino sites include Coney Island, Citi Field and Hell's Kitchen. But the pool of downstate casino applicants has been shrinking in recent weeks. Wynn Resorts dropped its bid for a casino at Hudson Yards and Las Vegas Sands walked away from a proposal at the Nassau Coliseum. The New York State Gaming Commission will license three full "table gaming casinos" out of eight expected applicants -- or nine if Nassau County finds another way in -- bringing table games, like poker and blackjack, to the New York City area. John Sabini, a former New York gaming official, believes the two existing "slots only" casinos, Empire City and Resorts World, have a major advantage for a full gaming license. "They've been good partners. They provide a lot of revenue right now. They're up and running. People are used to them being there, so the opposition wouldn't be there," Sabini said. MGM said it's ready to expand Empire City to create a live entertainment venue if it gets a full gaming license. Award casino licenses before "potential dips in the economy," mayor says Organized opposition will be a major drag on several of the casino proposals, which is why Spano thinks the state should enable the Yonkers and Queens casinos to expand before the December deadline. "We have potential federal cuts, potential dips in the economy that we're faced with. These casinos mean jobs, more aid to education," the mayor said. The state gaming commission's process calls for waiting until December to announce the three license winners. "The processes can be changed," Spano said. "Let's move forward at least with these two casinos, and then let the third casino happen organically." Spano also urged the state to issue approvals shortly after the application period ends in June.
Eater
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
The Cult of Las Vegas's Oyster Bar
What's the toughest table to get in Las Vegas? Maybe it's Mother Wolf, that juggernaut of modern Roman cuisine inside the Fontainebleau, or Stubborn Seed at Resorts World, the latest opening from a Top Chef winner who seems to actually be making good on his potential. One would be forgiven for guessing an old standby like Joël Robuchon, or a newcomer like Gjelina at the Venetian, a Los Angeles export grilling yu choy and other sundry dishes that embody California cuisine. But you would be way, way off. The toughest seat is actually the 24-hour Palace Station Oyster Bar, where devotees are queued up at all hours of the day and night to taste its Cajun- and Creole-style seafood dishes. The 18-seat Oyster Bar, which turns 30 years old this fall, has a fervent cult following and there are no reservations. There's also nothing exclusive about access, nor is there a dress code: It's literally in the middle of the casino floor, where the slots bisect the table games. And although it's certainly not cheap (it's serving seafood, after all), it's not cost-prohibitive, meaning its customers are a mix of tourists and locals. Las Vegas is a city rife with contradictions, so it's no surprise that its most exclusive restaurant is simultaneously one of its most inclusive. It also sits within one of Vegas's most populist casinos, on an expanse of land just west of I-15 on Sahara Avenue, awkwardly positioned between the Strip and Downtown. The location, simultaneously inconvenient and yet a short drive from nearly everything, embodies the term 'neither here nor there.' It's a spot that's so seemingly unremarkable, in fact, that its decades of success don't make much sense to the casual observer. ('People thought he was crazy,' says Lorenzo Fertitta, son of Station Casinos founder Frank Fertitta Jr., referring to the location of his father's venture.) Hopefully, a picture is beginning to come together. You're in Vegas, hungry in the infernal heat, dodging F1 construction and checking out whatever ads or emojis happen to be emblazoned on the Sphere that day. Walking into Palace Station, there's the familiar waft of cigarette smoke. Dragon Link and other creature-themed slot machines call out ( 'Buffaloooooo!' ), but there's a hint of something else floating in the air — tomatoes, cream and... is that sherry? The aromas intensify as you go deeper into the belly of the building. The first thing you'll notice is the marquee: 'Oyster Bar 24/7,' with a little anchor on the side. The faux chalkboard lettering on a half-octagon that wraps around above the bar has a distinctly '90s Bar Louie feel, but don't let that dissuade you. Past the stanchions cordoning off Oyster Bar from the rest of the casino is a long line of people on one side, like theater patrons waiting for the latest hot off-Broadway show. Behind the bar, there is an entrancing performance: Cooks and servers rhythmically rotate behind billowing clouds of steam, pouring drinks and arranging oysters in circles atop crushed ice. Oyster Bar's most popular dish is not, in fact, the fat Gulf oysters as big as computer mice, but rather the pan roast. And while plenty of people get oysters or a shrimp cocktail on the side, or maybe an order of the herbaceous gumbo or heady etouffee, most people come for the pan roast. Oyster Bar goes through 33,000 gallons of it annually. The counterintuitively named dish, which may originate with Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York, conjures an image of a chicken in a pan, roasting in the oven. Put this out of your head. Instead, imagine a bisque — a thick, creamy, shellfish-based seafood soup, a rustic base for huge floating hunks of seafood. Anchored by tomatoes and cream, girded with an aromatic sofrito that tastes of the holy trinity of Cajun cooking, the pan roast has an undertone of garlic and a nutty fruitiness, akin to brandy or fortified wine. It should be eaten with a spoon, but some larger chunks of shrimp, crab, and lobster may need to be forked out. Served with white rice and a basic chunk of bread, the pan roast can also be eaten with a side of noodles. Rice is the correct choice, however, as the surface tension allows the base of the roast to envelop the rice, creating a creamy crustacean porridge. Let's be clear — this is not revelatory fine dining. I remember, after first having the pan roast, feeling even slightly underwhelmed. At the end of the day, it's 'a jazzed-up bisque,' in the words of specialty cook Bob Higdon, who's worked at Oyster Bar for the last 25 years and has a seemingly endless repertoire of droll quips and one-liners he delivers to patrons. But a day later, I felt an unfamiliar tug. The taste had almost instantly grown on me, like I'd been eating it for years. And now, sitting here writing this piece, the slow burn has grown into a bonfire: I want to go back. I can't wait to go back. 'I tell people all the time,' Higdon says. 'I said, 'You're not going to hate me now, you're going to hate me next week when you're sitting at home and get that flavor in the back of your mouth.'' And he's right. That's exactly what happened. Beyond the pan roast, there are a few things you need to know when dining at Oyster Bar. First, you'll be asked to select a spice level, 10 being the highest. Most people who like spicy food can probably swing a 7 or 8 without feeling like they've made a grave mistake. Otherwise, stick to a 4. Spice can always be added in the form of the off-menu lava sauce — a tangy, chunky mixture of hot peppers that you can feel burning your mouth before the spoon even reaches your lips. You have to ask for it specifically, and it's only for showoffs and true masochists. Second, the entrees are a huge amount of food, especially with the rice. Finishing a pan roast solo is a serious undertaking. The leftovers are worth keeping if your hotel room has a microwave and/or fridge. Third, don't bring the kids. Oyster Bar is literally a bar, and they can't seat anyone under 21. Also, you won't get the exact recipe, so don't ask. ('You don't ask the Colonel for 11 spices,' says Higdon.) And finally, be ready to wait. The story of the wait, and of Oyster Bar, starts in 1976 with Fertitta Jr., who discovered a demographic that had not fully been tapped into: a casino that catered to Las Vegas locals, not tourists. (Indeed, he opened as simply The Casino.) Oyster Bar came along in October 1995. While there may have been a Cajun joint or two around town at the time, this particular style of New Orleans cooking hadn't quite taken hold in Vegas. Emeril Lagasse, he of the onomatopoetic catchphrase, didn't open New Orleans Fish House at MGM Grand until the following month. Today, there are plenty of Cajun options in Vegas, mostly off-Strip, mostly of the crawfish or seafood-boil variety. In the summer of 2000, something had changed. 'That's when I noticed the lines.' Oyster Bar was opened, in part, as an apparent nod to Fertitta Jr.'s origins in southeastern Texas, near the Louisiana border. 'That kind of food is very prominent around there,' says Dave Horn, general manager of Durango casino and former GM of Palace Station. 'I think it's a real easy tie-in that they said, 'Okay, you know what? We should bring this here.'' Interest in the restaurant ramped up slowly. 'It was a cult following at first,' says Horn, who was a valet attendant for the casino at the time. He posits that Oyster Bar's rise in popularity coincided with the rise of online culture in the mid-1990s. 'That's when you have the internet start to come alive,' Horn recalls. '[There's] that five-year period where people can start to talk about things on the internet or Palace Station can put something out there.' By the time Horn came back for his second stint at Palace Station in the summer of 2000, something had changed. 'That's when I noticed the lines,' he says. The line is an amalgamation of different cities, states, and countries, where folks of every shape and size stand and wait for one of those 18 coveted seats at the counter. The line can take as long as five hours to get through ('Super Bowl weekend a couple years ago,' says Higdon). The line is, in some ways, the defining characteristic of the Oyster Bar experience. A blessing and a curse. Okay, it's mostly a curse. Lines are unpleasant. But decadeslong Oyster Bar customers seem to think it's worth the wait — or, at the very least, they've convinced themselves of that truth. Gina Bruno, a flight attendant visiting from the Washington, D.C., area, has been coming here for the past 20 years. 'It's like a camaraderie,' she says. 'You stand in line, you talk about what you're gonna eat, and it's just a whole experience.' But she is also frank about the line, which she and her dining companions had been standing in for about two hours. 'It sucks,' she says, laughing. 'It's worth the wait,' says Barry Bryant, who works in entertainment in Atlanta. Bryant, who also has been coming to Oyster Bar for two decades, says he makes the trip every time he comes to Las Vegas. 'It's not too fancy, it's casual and it's different — it hits different.' Anitra Baker has been a fan for even longer — 25 years. She typically visits from California every year on her birthday. 'You can't get the same taste anywhere else,' she says. 'I can't find it anywhere else. I literally come all the way from San Francisco to get it.' 'I can't find it anywhere else. I literally come all the way from San Francisco to get it.' I've been to some restaurants where there's a vague feeling that the wait was somewhat manufactured, or intentional. As in, staff could have done more food prep or planning ahead of time if they'd wanted to, in order to cut down on wait times. That's not the case here. Oyster Bar cooks move as quickly as possible, turning all the seats at a rate that approaches once per hour, 24 hours a day. With only 18 people being served at a time, each pan roast, gumbo, or bouillabaisse taking around 8 to 10 minutes to cook, and just six jacketed steam kettles to prepare them, the cooks are limited in how quickly they can serve those customers. The kettles resemble small woks and sit in a row behind the counter in a setup that looks literally steampunk — tubes and pipes wriggling out of the counter to spew cold water or feed jets of hot steam into the containers. There are numerous advantages to cooking with these kettles: being able to boil cold water in about 30 seconds, not having to constantly wash pots and pans, and keeping the kitchen cooler because there's no open flame. But the biggest advantage is the evenness and consistency of the temperature. 'You can let your stuff reduce without it burning the sauces,' Higdon explains. 'The whole surface of our kettle is the same temperature. It doesn't have a hot spot.' No hot spots mean uniform cooking, which means you don't get some pieces of seafood that are perfectly cooked and some that are rubbery and overdone. And no broken sauces, either. 'If you've ever had a scorched cream sauce, you know that's not good stuff,' he says. The cooking method also provides a bit of theatrics, which has been another part of Oyster Bar's lasting appeal. Ordering, preparing, plating, and consuming all happen within a couple feet of each other. 'There's no other setting you get like that besides hibachi, [where] you get to interact with your cook and they cook right in front of you,' says Paul Sanchez, the chef that currently oversees Oyster Bar. Sanchez notes that it takes a special kind of cook to make it work. 'I fell in love with it right away,' he says. 'The style of cooking, being able to talk to people from all across the world, interacting with guests. But a lot of cooks, they don't like that. You know, that's why they're back of the house.' Nothing has been able to dethrone the original Oyster Bar. Las Vegas is a place heavy on mimicry. When something in the city works, particularly in the food arena, imitators pop up left and right. And while that's certainly happened with Oyster Bar — even in the form of places opened down the street by cooks who quite literally used to work at Oyster Bar — nothing has been able to dethrone the original. (Station Casinos also has four other Oyster Bars at its different properties. I've heard they don't match the charm of the original.) Sanchez explains it this way: 'My theory is, in a chef's mind, you want to make things better, always want to take it to the next level. Well, here, it's not about taking it to the next level. It's about keeping the consistency... If somebody comes here from Hawai'i once a year, and this is the place to go, they come and order a pan roast. Next time they come, they want that exact same flavor profile.' In other words, nostalgia and sense memory are powerful aspects of food. And when people fall in love, they don't want a better, flashier version. They want what they had. 'If you try to recreate [the pan roast] and put it somewhere else, it won't work,' says chef David Chang, who has been beating the Oyster Bar drum for years. Chang estimates he's eaten there between 30 and 40 times. Trying to replicate the exact chemistry of a place like that, he says, is a futile exercise. 'Sometimes a restaurant like that works because it's the perfect balance of ingredients, of everything. From the ambience to the cigarettes in the air, everything works together.' 'I don't describe it,' Chang says. 'I just say, 'Trust the process and you'll be so happy.'' Even if that means waiting for an hour or two. Or three. Most of the day, there's no getting around the wait. There is one workaround — well, it's not exactly a workaround, but a path to a shorter wait. If you want a pan roast first thing in the morning, and let's face it, you might not after a night of Jägerbombs, try rolling in around 7 or 8 a.m. The line will likely be much shorter. But aside from that, the best bet is to come as a crew and rotate people in and out of the line. Someone waits while the other people go gamble, go to the sportsbook, or mall-walk the casino floor. Horn even recalls seeing people put in food orders while waiting in line, just to tide them over: 'They'd literally put in a pizza and a drink order... In my head I'm thinking, '[These are] people eating and drinking in the line to wait for a food and drink product .'' But the best thing to do is to embrace it. Give in to it. Come hungry and ready to wait, safe in the knowledge that the entire sensory experience of the Oyster Bar — the visuals of the cooking, the smells of the steaming seafood, the electronic din of spinning slot machines, the sardonic one-liners coming out of Chef Bob's mouth — all combine together in a way that is sui generis in the restaurant world. Like the symphony inside the pan roast itself, there's nothing quite like it. Sign up for our newsletter.
