Photo Nick Valinote
The Far East Movement performed at Dusk at Caesars in Atlantic City to a packed crowd on Tuesday, Feb. 23. The place rocked out to the group’s hit “Girls on the Dance Floor.” Coming up, Dusk will host a DJ set by Joel Madden (Saturday, Feb. 27) a live performance by the group The Veronicas (Friday, March 5) and a DJ set by All-American Rejects member Tyson Ritter (Saturday, March 6).
As Rueters reports, “Celebrity real estate developer Donald Trump, optimistic about a casino comeback, took the stand in U.S. bankruptcy court to fight for control of the three Atlantic City hotel-casinos bearing his name.”
Casey James
Simon Cowell has said that he thinks this year’s American Idol will be a female. After seeing the guys last night, I’d have to agree. The first performance of the 24s is usually nerve-racking, but it seemed to be particularly difficult for the guys last night. There were plenty of deer-in-the-headlights stares and nervous vocals to match. Even “Big Mike” wasn’t on his game. Sexy blues rocker Casey James, who went low-key with a ballad, Bryan Adams’ “Heaven,” turned in the only truly solid performance of the night. He would have been in the middle of the pack if the rest of the contestants had not come up so short. Since they did, his average vocal turned out to be the highlight of the evening. And I don’t even want to go into all the silly sexual harassment shenanigans involving Kara.
As for the others, the very talented Andrew Garcia did an odd interpretation of Fall Out Boys’ “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” and while “Big Mike” Lynche looked confident, his choice of Maroon 5’s “This Love” didn’t highlight his powerful voice nearly enough.
I hope that John Park, who did an awful rendition of “God Bless the Child” is around for another week, but I suspect he and Tim Urban are the first cuts for the guys tonight.
As for the girls, I just don’t get the fascination with Haeley Vaughn, but I don’t think she is going home tonight. I do think Lacey Brown and Lilly Scott are in trouble, the latter because she has a Megan Joy vibe although she has a lot more talent.
The McClatchy-Tribune News Service has an article on Atlantic City’s Mixed Martial Arts explosion in recent years and the sport in general. The article ran in today’s Montreal, Canada newspaper, The Gazzette. All we can say is, Hey Canadain MMA fans — come on down!
Apparently the ex-Kinks member and legendary Brit singer-songwriter Ray Davies is working on a new album of Kinks classics with special guests dueting with Davies. These guests include a couple of little known NJ rockers, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi.
Davies, who kicks off an acoustic tour at the Borgata in Atlantic City Friday night, says he hopes to have the album done by year’s end.
According to an interview Davies did with the NJ Star Ledger, he is open for a Kinks reunion, but says it’s up to his brother Dave Davies.
Says Davies about his younger bro, “Mick Avory and I are going through lots of tapes that we recorded with Dave, and we’re sifting through the archives. We’ll see if he wants to get involved again. It’s in the works. It’s really up to Dave.”
Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly
First off, I was apparently very wrong about interest in the Olympic Winter Games, as discussed in my last Hump Day Report. The ratings are a ratings bonanza for NBC and in fact, coverage of the games even toppled American Idol. Last Wednesday when American Idol was revealing its Top 24, Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White and Shani Davis had TV viewers switching to the Games. It was Idol’s lowest ratings night since 2004. Overnight ratings showed the Olympics with 30.1 million viewers (9.0 rating/22 share) to American Idol’s 18.4 million (6.9 rating/17 share). Idol had nearly 7 million more viewers for the comparable show in 2009. However, the night before, when America’s big stars weren’t in the spotlight, Idol did win the time slot. And, yesterday’s overnight ratings had Idol averaging 24 million total viewers, compared to 20.8 million for the Olympics during the same 8-10pm timeslot.
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Katie Stevens
Speaking of Idol, I’m on the fence when it comes whether this year’s contestants are as good as or better than previous years. I will, however, join the “Paula Who?” bandwagon and vote for Ellen DeGeneres as the best addition to this year’s show. She is funny, honest and talks in a language we can understand.
As for the contestants, since we saw the ladies last night, my favorites so far are the two women at the extremes of the competition. Folk rocker Crystal Bowersox is the anti-Idol. She is not an Idol type and has admitted she never watched the show that much before she decided she needed to get a bigger paycheck. She is in it for the money and the exposure and she has the talent to stay around, but not the “cute” factor to keep the Twitter generation coming back for more. Still, you can’t deny the talent she showed with her version of Alanis Morissette’s ”Hand in My Pocket.”
As if the great food wasn’t enough, Atlantic City has come up with another reason to take advantage of Restaurant Week, Feb. 28 to March. 6 — free parking. The City is waiving parking meter fees on Atlantic Avenue between Mississippi and Virginia Avenues from 6-11pm for the week.
The second annual Atlantic City Restaurant Week features more than 80 fine restaurants in the Atlantic City area serving special fixed price, three-course menus for $15.10 per person for lunch and $33.10 per person for dinner throughout the week. Throw in a little meter-free parking and the value gets even better. Go here for more info about Restaurant Week.
Mr. Ichan
According to a report on the Web site Business Insider, with a headline that reads: “Carl Icahn to Donald Trump: I’m About To Corner Atlantic City On My Own, ‘You’re Fired’ “Carl Icahn could corner a third of the Atlantic City gaming market if he beats Donald Trump and bondholders in heated bankruptcy proceedings over the fate of Trump Entertainment Resorts.”
Monopoly, the board game based on Atlantic City’s 1930s neighborhoods, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. But if the game were constructed today, it would look much different.
According to a feature on dailyfinance.com, Baltic, one of Monopoly’s two cheapest properties, borders the Sheraton Hotel, which charges $170 to $259 a night, making it one of the more costly locations in Atlantic City. Even the Pacific/Rhode Island Avenue region, which includes all three of Monopoly’s bargain-priced light-blue properties, is among the city’s most valuable areas.
Some of Monopoly’s streets don’t even exist in today’s city as Illinois Avenue is now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and St. Charles Place has been torn down and replaced with the Showboat casino.
Monopoly also imitates a past era of public transportation. By 1987 all of four of its railroads had been surpassed by Atlantic City’s plethora of bus and train choices.
To get a more complete summary of the differences between Monopoly’s 1930s rendition of Atlantic City and today’s actual rendition, click here.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
Just in time for Atlantic City Restaurant Week, Atlantic City Weekly introduces its new iPhone app: The Atlantic City Bar Guide, covering the bars — with happy hour information galore — in the southern New Jersey region. Download it here.
