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Live From Las Vegas :: Do You Want to Win Criss Angel's Car?

Yesterday we found ourselves walking through the renovated casino and public areas of The Luxor and goshdarnit, we were kind of surprised at how cool the place looks (especially compared to the Excalibur.)
The Luxor has been working overtime to revamp its image and while it may have failed with Criss Angel's "Believe", the rest of the place is doing a good job. The gaming area is all new, ranging from new games to new bars to new tables and chairs. And the restaurants--Tacos & Tequila, Company and CatHouse--are offering the younger set trendy eateries to nosh at before they mob the LAX nightclub.
Fortunately, the folks at Luxor have had the good eye to stay away from any more Pyramid schemes (har, har) but the rooms are in desperate need of a reno. Once that happens, the Luxor may actually be good.
But back to Criss Angel because you cannot enter or leave the Luxor without seeing his face everywhere. There's also a video running on a loop on some screens that explains his life story. Or so we gathered because they were interviewing his family members. And every so often, you'll see a bunny rabbit scamper across some video screen somewhere.
Yet at the main entrance of the lobby, the hotel is offering Vegas visitors a chance to win Criss Angel's Corvette. Or $25,000. Um...yeah...we'll take the money.
Tags: Criss Angel / Viva Vegas / Hotel News / Twitter / → All Tags
Criss Angel Tickets Are 40% Off and We "Believe" We Know Why
Criss Angel fans and curious types who tend stare at car wrecks longer than normal: rejoice! The Criss Angel "Believe" tickets are now being heavily discounted!
We give this show such a hard time, we know but so far we have literally heard and read nothing but bad reviews. We learned a couple of weeks ago that there were many, many empty seats at recent shows, which meant terrible things for its host hotel, the Luxor, who invested $100 million dollars in the production (which is supposed to run for 10 years).
And we learned today via the Luxor Twitter that you can score yourself Criss Angel "Believe" tickets for 40% off. This spells trouble for the Luxor, Cirque du Soleil and Mr. Angel, but it means you may have a very, very happy holiday (or buy tix as a gift for that coworker that you don't like because he yawns too loudly). Have at it.
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Even Taxi Drivers Are Hating on Criss Angel's "Believe"
We're almost starting to feel bad about giving Criss Angel's Cirque du Soleil show at the Luxor, "Believe", so much crap. The show's clearly got issues and when we read the first line of an Richard Abowitz's LA Times story this morning, we were feeling like the meanest kids on the playground: he introduced the show as "roundly trashed by critics," (we covered that), "thoroughly mocked on the Web," (us again!), "and even had its celebrity opening ridiculed" (yup, we did that too).
But we said we almost felt bad. We've been quiet about the show since we covered all the absolutely brutal reviews of the show and its lackluster opening, and, on the bright side, Cirque du Soleil did claim that "Believe" had sold a whopping $5 million in pre-sale tickets.
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Luxor Must Now "Believe" It Made a $100 Million Mistake
After the onslaught of brutal reviews during its shaky preview period, the folks behind the Criss Angel "Believe" show at the Luxor must be fully aware that things aren't going so well. Why else would they have specifically banned all media from its official premier on Halloween?
Oh, right: to attempt to prevent scathing reviews like the one the LA Times ran today. We knew the show was gonna be bad, but damn -- it's been a while since we've seen such a brutal beating from a major paper. Some choice excerpts:
If Criss Angel were blindfolded, straitjacketed, run over by a steamroller, locked in a steel box and dumped from a helicopter into the Pacific Ocean, he still might be easier to salvage from disaster than "Criss Angel: Believe," the gloomy, gothic muddle of a show that officially lurched into being on Halloween night like some patched-together Frankenstein's monster.
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Criss Angel Believe Officially Opens Tonight

Finally, the day of reckoning has come for Criss Angel and his Believe show at the Luxor Las Vegas.
After a seriously terrible run of preview shows, Believe is holding its official opening and gala tonight. This is where hopefully Criss and Cirque du Soleil have worked out all the kinks that have plagued the show previously.
But just in case, the show isn't taking any chances of hearing bad reviews. According to the LuxorLV Twitter page, no media is allowed.
Also, the gala party is apparently going until 10am the next day. We don't know about you but the last time we pulled an all-nighter of drinking we don't remember anything that we did in the days before. Maybe that is the goal?
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Look Who Came Out for the Grand Opening of Tacos and Tequila at the Luxor
Earlier this week, the Luxor threw a grand opening bash for their classy new eatery, Tacos and Tequila. Worried about the reality of their possible $100 million mistake with Criss Angel, they invited Tila Tequila to set things right in the eyes of the public again.
The hotel also threw in Carrot Top, Criss Angel himself and a bunch of half-naked dudes from Thunder from Down Under. Because nothing says delicious tacos and refined tequila like fake reality show bisexuals and chest wax.
[Photo: Socialite Life]
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Did The Luxor Make a $100 Million Mistake With Criss Angel's "Believe"?
In these troubled times, a hotel -- even a casino -- probably can't afford to throw down $100 million on something with the potential to fail. Unfortunately, it's really starting to look like the Luxor has made a colossal mistake by giving the star of its new Cirque du Soleil show, one Criss Angel, 100 mill, creative control and a 10-year contract.
We've been over this a couple of times before. When we first mentioned that the show, Believe, was headed into its official "preview period," our comment threads caught fire with pretty harsh reviews from the first audiences. We rounded some of them up here, and we wondered whether the angry rants were just courtesy of some CA haters or if the show really did epically suck.
Yeah. Well. Turns out, it indeed really does suck as much as all our sources say it does -- at least if Page Six is to be believed.
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Does Criss Angel's Cirque du Soleil Show at the Luxor Really Suck That Much?
When hotels open, they've got kinks. We're usually willing to forgive those little issues that are clearly a product of the just-opened jitters -- lack of training, new facilities, green staff, the whole bit. And as we've always thought of hospitality as a sort of performance art, we imagine that the opening of actual performances -- like Criss Angel's Cirque du Soleil show at the Luxor (we use the term "performance art" loosely) -- would be no different. The show has been getting some pretty bad buzz, but we were willing to cut it some slack since it was still technically called a "preview."
If you're lost: the show -- called "Believe" -- was originally set to debut on September 1st but was delayed until September 26. The show has been in "preview" mode since then, and will continue to be touted as a "preview" until October 28th.
And there has been a lot of buzz going around lately that's been saying the show is, well, crap. We ignored it until some commenters came into our house and told us about it in the comment thread of our last story.
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Criss Angel's Cirque Du Soleil Show "Believe" at the Luxor Begins Previews Tomorrow
A sneak preview of "Believe" from the Cirque Las Vegas team.
Criss Angel may have "survived" a hotel implosion but will he survive the critics of new show "Believe" which is done in partnership with Las Vegas' acrobatic act, Cirque Du Soleil?
The show was originally set to debut on September 1st inside the Luxor Hotel but was delayed until September 26. The show will be in preview mode from then until October 28th. What does that mean? Well this is what the Believe website says.
During these performances, the creative team is in the very final stages of production. The audience’s reaction and participation is an important step in this process. The artistic team of CRISS ANGEL Believe reserves the right to interrupt the performance to make adjustments as necessary.
Ugh. That does not sound magical at all.
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Criss Angel Survives Hotel Implosion, Thanks to the Magic of Television
This here is a video from a person in the crowd who attended the implosion. (Note: Watch it without sound as the people cheering Criss on are annoying! Also start watching at about the 3:30 mark.)
So Criss Angel successfully escaped from his iron restraints inside the old Spyglass Hotel in Clearwater, FL just seconds before the hotel imploded. His stunt was actually shown live on A&E TV last night. But was it really live?
Tags: Hotel News Briefs / Criss Angel / Hotel Implosions / Element Hotels / Waldorf-Astoria Collection / Hotel Renovations / Hotel Phonebooks / → All Tags
Hotel News Briefs :: Criss Angel To Implode Tonight...Maybe

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.
· Criss Angel's Hotel Implosion Trick: Don't forget! The premiere of Criss Angel's MindFreak show is on A&E tonight and in it, Angel will do some stunt involving a hotel implosion in Florida.
· Element Hotels Go Overseas to Abu Dhabi: Starwood Hotels announces the first Element Hotel for Abu Dhabi - the first to be introduced in the Europe, Africa and Middle East division. It will open in 2011 in the Capital Centre development. [Marketwatch]
· Biltmore to Get Renovation: Arizona's Biltmore Hote, part of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection, will get a $300 million renovation. [Phoenix Biz Journal]
· Bye, Bye, Phonebooks: In the Obvious or Duh News department, hotels have decided that no one uses phonebooks anymore so they are getting rid of them as a way to save the environment. [USA Today]
Tags: Criss Angel / Hotel Implosions / Hotel Demolitions / Hotel Closings / Hotel News / → All Tags
Criss Angel To Perform In Florida Hotel Implosion on July 30th

Attention-loving magician Criss Angel will perform his latest stunt on Wednesday, July 30th in a hotel in Clearwater, Fla. just moments before the hotel is to be imploded.
Angel and the A&E crew from his show "Mindfreak" heard the old Spyglass Hotel was going to be demolished and decided the implosion would make a perfect setting for a death-defying stunt. Here is how it's all supposedly going to go down:
The plan is for him to be on about a fifth- or sixth-floor balcony, most likely chained to the outside for dramatic appeal. Then somehow he'll free himself, make it up to the roof, and be whisked away just in time for the building to implode.
250 lucky (?) guests will have front-row seats to the act and two large projection screens will be set up to show it to everyone else. If you aren't going to be in Clearwater for the implosion stunt, you can always see Criss at the Luxor in Las Vegas where his new show will start on September 1.

