Brody Jenner with “The Situation” from MTV’s Jersey Shore, and Lil Bow Wow party at Vanity nightclub at Hard Rock Hotel sunday night. (Photo credit: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino / Scott Berry)

Real Housewives of Orange County stars Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley along with newbie housewife Alexis Bellino and friends, partied at the Laguna Champagne Bar inside The Palazzo . (Photo credit: ImagesofVegas.com/ ISphotography).

Kim Kardashian and boyfriend Super Bowl champion Reggie Bush of the New Orlean Saints hosted the Queen of Hearts Ball at LAVO inside The Palazzo Saturday night.  The crowd started chanting her name over and over, and Kim took to the stage right before midnight and started a countdown to usher in Valentine’s Day. She grabbed the mic and told the crowd, “Whether you are single or with a loved one we are going to party tonight in Vegas!” (Photo Credit: Denise Truscello).

Actress Regina King made an appearance at Prive nightclub inside Planet Hollywood Saturday night. The sexy star was all smiles for the roving cameras. Bobby Valentino was also there to help to party get moving.

TV Star Mario Lopez hosted Prive Nightclub inside Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino Friday night with girlfriend Courtney Mazza before hosting the Miss America 2010 Saturday night.

Okay, I admit the title of the article can be a little misleading. Obama isn’t going to be betting at one of Vegas’ high roller roulette tables anytime soon (although some might argue his recovery package is a pure gamble). But the Obama’s and the White House are directly connected to Sin City this week, in one of the most unflattering ways imaginable.

During a run-of-the-mill State Dinner at the White House last November, where elitists are served posh cuisine and every breath is a photo opportunity, the party received two unexpected visitors whose names were not on any list. Tareq and Michaele Salahi, deciding that free food is always the best food, snuck into the supposedly secure home of President Obama and intruded on an otherwise mundane dinner and have infamously been dubbed the Gatecrashers.

Many speculated that the outlandishly brazen couple had their high hopes set on celebrity status. And what better way to go about it than to cozy up to the world’s biggest celebrity? Well, as it turns out, the many were right – the Salahi’s have been on a world tour, trying to promote their brand of uber-self-interest. In this day and age of self-involved excess, the gate-crashing couple prove that no lights are bright enough, even the new LEDs of Vegas.

Salahi’s at Vegas Club Pure

Desperately attempting to prolong their fifteen minutes, or more fitting an analogy, avoid hitting double zeroes on the roulette wheel of fame, the Salahi’s have been selling their shocking brand of celebrity to any and everyone who seems the least bit interested. On Saturday night at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the club manager of Pure thought this modern day Bonnie and Clyde could excite the crowd with a little rah-rah from the DJ booth.

Well, the couple was holding 17 in their hand and took a hit here. Vegas is the perfect place to bust out, and the Salahi’s floundered in a way that made Criss Angel proud to put on a half-magic show with Cirque du Soleil.

The party-loving crowd immediately started to revolt at the mere screeching sound of the fairer Salahi’s voice. Maybe the Octo-mom would have been able to get the crowd jumping, but this particular hack-in-a-box shout-out from on high was immediately dismissed. As soon as they started to address the crowd, thumbs down—and other not so pleasant—gestures started to surface, as well as a mix of boos and hisses.

The Salahi’s gambled and won with their Mission Impossible White House exploits, but the Vegas crowd was another monster entirely. It says a lot when a city famous for gambling and prostitution balks at the idea of Presidential gate-crashing buffoons on a mission to brand themselves the next celeb-reality “in” couple. In fact, it’s downright embarrassing. If Vegas doesn’t appreciate a good back-door entry, who will?

With this kind of luck, the Salahi’s would do well to stay off the game tables. That good, old lady of fortune seems too busy to smile on this haughty couple of criminal dunderheads.

Article Provided by – GamblingPlanet.org

Host Mario Lopez watches Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron react after being crowned Miss America by Miss America 2009 Katie Stam, Saturday Jan. 30, 2010 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison) (Eric Jamison, ASSOCIATED PRESS / January 30, 2010)

LAS VEGAS (AP) – A 22-year-old Virginia woman who said she once thought her only talent was singing is the nation’s newest Miss America, emerging from a field of 53 contestants picked for their beauty, compassion and interview savvy.

Caressa Cameron, a broadcast journalism student at Virginia Commonwealth University, now plans a second year away from college as she travels extensively to raise money for charity and carry the 89-year-old pageant’s crown.

“I hope to gain inspiration, I hope to gain momentum so that when this 365 days is over, I can shoot through the moon,” Cameron told The Associated Press.

Cameron, the first black Miss America since Ericka Dunlap in 2005, says she wants to get a master’s degree and eventually become a news anchor.

Cameron, the daughter of a background researcher for the government and a contractor, said she was inspired to compete in pageants at age 14, when Miss Virginia 2003 Nancy Redd visited her school.

“At that time, all I knew that I could do was sing – that’s all I had,” the Fredericksburg, Va., native said.

Cameron said that after that visit, she decided to try out for a school musical, which snowballed into more opportunities in the arts, drama and other areas.

“More doors and more doors continued to open,” she said. “It’s so important that we reach our young people, because there are so many young people that are at the very same crossroads that I was at.”

“We need those people to let them know that just because your circumstances are a certain way, you don’t have to succumb to them,” she said. “You can do something amazing, like become Miss America.”

The last Miss America from Virginia was Nicole Johnson in 1999.

Cameron won the title and a $50,000 scholarship Saturday night after strutting in a skintight yellow dress, belting Beyonce’s “Listen” from “Dreamgirls” and advising parents to limit video games and television when asked about childhood obesity during an onstage interview.

“We need to get our kids back outside, playing with sticks in the street like I did when I was little,” she said. “Expand your mind, go outside and get to see what this world is like.”

Miss California Kristy Cavinder was the first runner-up, winning $25,000.

The young women who came out on stage at the beginning of the pageant and danced to “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas are from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

After a week of preliminary competition that counted 30 percent toward their final scores, they each introduced themselves to the crowd Saturday at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

“From the home of the Governator, I am here to pump you up,” Cavinder said as she was introduced.

The judges, the public and contestants themselves then trimmed the field over the next two hours.

Actor and “Extra” host Mario Lopez hosted the 89-year-old pageant with help from Clinton Kelly of TLC’s “What Not to Wear.” The pageant was broadcast live on TLC.

The panel of judges included radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, actress Vivica Fox, musician Dave Koz, Miss America 2002 Katie Harman, gymnast Shawn Johnson and former “American Idol” finalist

Brooke White. Comedian Paul Rodriguez was set to be a judge, but organizers said he pulled out because of a family emergency.

Each judge ranked their five favorites in order, and their ballots were used to pick Cameron as the winner. She was crowned by Miss America 2009 Katie Stam of Seymour, Ind.

Cameron won her state’s title on her fourth try, and said she saw pageantry as a way to raise money and awareness for her platform issue, AIDS awareness.

She said the issue is personal for her because her uncle died of AIDS and her family fostered a young girl who lived with the disdease.

She was recognized by Congress in 2007 for her work to bring instant-result HIV testing to her home state.

During the Miss Virginia pageant last year, Cameron was asked her opinion about gay marriage, the same issue Miss California

Carrie Prejean was asked about during the Miss USA pageant two months earlier.

Cameron said she believed marriage should be between a man and woman because of her religious beliefs, but she didn’t think there should be laws against gay marriage.

When the judges’ decision in that pageant came, Cameron said she experienced a quiet moment onstage.

“‘Thy will be done,’ That’s what I kept saying,” she said. “Thy will be done.”

The crowning of a Miss America began in 1921 as a publicity stunt to persuade tourists on Atlantic City’s Boardwalk to stick around after Labor Day.

The bathing revue blossomed in the age of television into an American pop icon before fading in later years and losing it place on network TV in 2004. It moved to the Las Vegas Strip in 2006 in an attempt to reinvent itself and has found a home on cable television.

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On the Net:

Miss America: http://www.missamerica.org/

TLC Network: http://www.tlc.com/

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)