Las Vegas has become a graduate course on “America’s Got Talent.” It’s a tough challenge, and there’s no golden buzzer.
For example, the high level of the show’s graduates who performed in Las Vegas helped prevent “AGT” from hosting “America’s Got Talent Presents Superstars Live” at the Luxor, which featured “AGT” winners and finalists and ended in May after a two-and-a-half-year run.
It quickly became clear that “AGT Superstars” were competing against performers who made their mark on the NBC show: “AGT” champions like Matt Franco, Shin Lim and Terry Fator have long been mainstays at Las Vegas theaters.
Comedy legend Howie Mandel has noticed this trend for nearly 15 years: The show’s longest-serving judge, since June 2010, will personally return to Las Vegas on Saturday to take to the stage at the Westgate International Theatre, where Elvis once performed.
Mandel said he’s excited about the “Superstars” show coming to the Strip and understands the saturation of “AGT” in Las Vegas.
“‘AGT’ is something you see even if they’re not on one show, they’re there anyway,” Mandel said. “If you drive down the Strip and I’ve talked about this before, and you look at all the headliners, there’s no question that they have some kind of connection to ‘AGT.’ They’ve either been on the show or they’ve tried to be on the show.”
Now imagine if they brought together all the Strip’s mainstays — Franco, Lim, Fator, Piff the Magic Dragon, Tape Face and the Jabbawockeez (yes, the guys from Season 2, which Fator won in 2007) — and organized a standing production of “AGT Superstars.” You’d have a hit show where you didn’t have to compete for tickets with the other “AGT” stars.
Even without the “Superstars” show, Las Vegas is still a destination for “AGT” winners, although the Vegas appearance is no longer part of the winnings.
“When you’ve been doing ‘AGT’ for this long, we ask ourselves, ‘What is your dream?'” Mandel says, “and they say, ‘Not only to win a million dollars, but to have our own headlining show in Las Vegas.’ The last person I got a Golden Buzzer from was a Japanese dance troupe who wanted a room in Las Vegas.”
Keep an eye out for Air Footworks, winners of the first season of Japan’s Got Talent last year.
Mandel’s own history in Las Vegas dates back to his first big job as a stand-up comedian opening for Diana Ross at Circus Maximus at Caesars Palace in 1981. Gene Simmons was a part of Ross’ life; the two were dating in 1981. Simmons saw Mandel on “The Merv Griffin Show” and called the young comedian, saying, “You’re funny. Would you open for my girlfriend in Las Vegas?”
“I didn’t even know what he was really talking about. I didn’t know he had a girlfriend,” Mandel says. “I was a total novice. I said, ‘Who’s your girlfriend?’ And it was Diana Ross.”
Mandel was not an instant hit.
“The audience wasn’t excited about me,” he says with a laugh, “but over the years, people got to know me, like me and support me. I can’t think of a better place to spend Labor Day weekend than in Las Vegas, doing stand-up comedy.”
Carlos is out
Due to back issues, Carlos Santana canceled shows scheduled to take place at the House of Blues from September 25 to October 6. Santana’s wife, drum virtuoso Cindy Blackman Santana, announced the cancellation on social media.
The guitar legend, who turned 77 last month, has undergone “corrective surgery” and is due to return on October 30th.
Nas Harmonic
At first glance, it’s a rare experience for dozens of local musicians (and loads of hip-hop fans) when members of the Las Vegas Philharmonic back rap star Nas at the Encore Theater this weekend, with performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
But this summer, Nas was looking for classical performers to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Illmatic,” one of the most influential rap albums of all time. In July, the 50-year-old recording star performed the album with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Filene Center in Wolf Trap, Virginia.
In 2018, Nas and the NSO performed the album at the Kennedy Center and it was broadcast on PBS.
But this show will be a rare mix of rap and classical instrumentation on the Strip, with more than 30 performers filling the stage to perform the album in its entirety, with “NY State of Mind,” “The World Is Yours,” “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in Da Park)” and “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” all scheduled for this customized rendition.
The rapper and the Philharmonic will also perform cover songs, including a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.”
Las Vegas performers are up for the task: As violin virtuoso Des Anne Letourneau says, Las Vegas musicians are known for their artistic dexterity.
“Most of the members of the Philharmonic have played in everything from Celine to the Eagles to Adele. We have guys from Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns. So we’re musicians from all genres,” Letourneau says. “Everybody’s like a show player. We’re going to be a better band than half the orchestras Nas has ever worked with, because that’s the kind of music we play. We’re going to be a great band.”
Cool Hang Alert
I fully endorse the performance at Fat Cat in the Downtown Grand. I finally went to see the Ted Sablay show on Tuesday night, and it lived up to my expectations. The New Orleans club vibe is very cool, and the acoustics work well in the room’s second aftermarket design (it was once a hotel comedy venue). They offer an inventive menu (try the artichoke, olive, and onion focaccia and charcuterie plate) and signature cocktails (served in mocktail form).
Admission is only $5, so eat, tip and support the band.Also, Pepe Jimenez and Groove Culture are booked for Thursday at 9pm.
John Katsilometes’ column appears daily in Section A. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow us! Johnny Katz @JohnnyKats1 on X and @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.