As if one international star wasn’t enough. Rumour had it that following Avril Lavigne’s concert last month, she’d be taking the opportunity to hold the after-party, and her 24th birthday celebrations at the Bellini Lounge.
The bar, located on the casino floor of The Venetian Macao, was also supposed be to graced by another diva of a different genre and era - none other than songbird Mariah Carey herself.
Obviously this created quite a buzz, as the crowd that gathered on the night curiously peered into the cordoned off area by the Bellini Lounge stage. What would Mariah wear, would she bring her dog, Jack and most importantly, would Mimi and Avril get into a cat fight?
With two divas known for throwing tantrums when they aren’t the center of attention, another niggling thought was whether there’d be enough oxygen in the room left for the rest of us with both of the big voiced ladies in it.
Unfortunately, we never got to find out the answer to any of these questions. Throughout the night, we were teased with insider news and SMSes about Miss Carey’s whereabouts.
She was at high roller Paiza Club The View at Venetian’s sister casino Sands, and then apparently had the munchies and stopped off at Morton’s. We can only imagine she had a good meal, because after chowing down she headed back to her suite and called it a night.
Here’s a very grainy picture of Miss Carey at Sands, courtesy of a friend’s iPhone. Those things really don’t do so well in dim light huh?
As for Miss Lavigne, she treated us to a live performance along with her hubby Sum41 singer Deryck Wibley, who sang In Too Deep once again (he had sung it during Avril’s concert earlier). If he seemed overly enthuiastic, it may be because Sum 41’s own members are on a break to pursue their own interests. In Wibley’s case, that may be gatecrashing his wife’s concerts.
The birthday girl herself treated the crowd to some breakdancing moves (she ain’t that bad!), which beat her drumming skills hands down.
She also treated the crowd at Bellini to her current hit Girlfriend. For those that had attended the earlier concert, it would be the third time they had heard the song in that night.
We’re not sure if Avril took advantage of the free flow of champagne for ladies every Friday at Bellini Lounge, but the crowd were certainly bouncing off the walls with energy.
The resurrected Miss Macau pageant crowned its first winner in 11 years last Sunday. As a 2007 IFT (Institute For Tourism Studies) graduate, Florence Loi, 23, should be well equipped to market Macau to the world as her new beauty queen!
As part of their presentation to convince judges of their eligibility to be the face of Macau, the contestants had to wax lyrical about Macau’s signature snacks, including the Portuguese Egg Tart and Pork Chop Bun.
The second runner up Ana Kuan Barroso, a Macanese of mixed Portuguese and Chinese heritage, was a crowd favourite, so it wasn’t surprising that the Macau Polytechnic Institute student bagged 2 subsidiary awards.
They are:
Most Stylish and Glamorous Hair Award
Most Popular Miss Macau
Just before Thursday night’s Gala Premiere of Cirque du Soleil Zaia, Asia’s first permanent Cirque show, we got taken backstage for a tour.
We didn’t just go back, we went on top, in front and under, since the Zaia’s set includes an impressive ceiling track, which circles actors and props above the audience.
As most of the major props emerge from under the stage, you can imagine the hive of activity taking place underneath the action would be almost as exciting as what you’d see on the stage.
Here is set and props designer Guilaume Lord conducting interviews while strapped onto a massive “iceberg” which helps create the arctic setting for one scene.
Though each iceberg is held up by two fragile looking wires, each of the thin threads of steel are capable of holding 900 pounds of weight each. That’s about the average weight of 46 men, so they weren’t taking any chances.
As Zaia is set in outer space, the track allowed the performers to glide, fly, dance and even ski through the air, creating the impression that they were weightless.
Like the costumes, the make-up style for Zaia is vibrand and bright, with a lot of orange, reds and blues.
Here, make-up designer Nathalie Gagne, who has been working with Cirque du Soleil for 15 years, uses celebrity MAC Makeup and Ben Nye, a professional brrand of make-up to make up a cast member.
In the wardrobe department, designers work on fantastical headgear and colorful costumes, some of which are made of recycled toys and objects.
It takes a few minutes, doesn’t cost a thing and wins you a ton of good will. The staff of MGM Grand were given a pat on the back by the Macau Blood Transfusion Services mascot, after rolling up their sleeves and donating to a good cause this week.
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Without question, Mahjong is one of the most popular games in Asia.
Now, the World Series of Mahjong is turning the game into a star-studded tournament, with contestants from around the world recently competing in Macau for one million US dollars in prize money.
This year, 302 contestants from 15 countries battled it out for the title of "World Mahjong Champion", with the 1st place winner taking home a cool 500,000 US dollars.
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