Newton stars at casino

Mr. Las Vegas is coming to Treasure Island and he's bringing all the glitz and glamour of Sin City with him for what's sure to be an electrifying performance, casino event planners said.

Born with talent and showmanship, Newton has been captivating audiences since he was a precocious, big-voiced 6-year-old. He started topping the charts in the 1960s with signature hits "Danke Schoen" and "Red Roses for a Blue Lady."

He learned piano, guitar and steel guitar by ear, and by the time he was 6 he was doing a daily radio show before going to school. On weekends, he and his older brother, Jerry, appeared with the Opry road shows that came through Virginia and Tennessee, and performed before movies at a local theater.

He will sing at 5 p.m. Sunday July 24. He was in first grade when they performed at a show for President Truman and 8 years old when they entered a local contest and won the chance to audition for the nation's biggest amateur show.

"There are two people I know of," Newton said, "who flunked 'Ted Mack's Amateur Hour' auditions - Elvis Presley and me."

That disappointment was a minor setback and throughout the rest of his school years he performed on local TV shows, in addition to his own TV show in Phoenix. Toward the end of Newton's junior year, a Las Vegas booking agent saw the TV show and took the Newton brothers to Las Vegas for an audition. They arrived with $20 between them, but the tryout led to "a two-week job" at the Fremont Hotel & Casino that lasted for 46 weeks.

Newton has recorded and released 165 albums.

The people of Las Vegas and Nevada have given him their highest honors. He is one of two people to receive the Las Vegas Medal of Honor, he has been named Ambassador of Goodwill for the state and he has seen Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport's main thoroughfare renamed "Wayne Newton Boulevard."

Newton was named one of the top three entertainers of the century in Nevada with Frank Sinatra and Elvis.

There is a Wayne Newton star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he was bestowed the first star on the Las Vegas Walk of Fame. To quote Merv Griffin, "Las Vegas without Wayne Newton is like Disneyland without Mickey Mouse."

If you go...

When: 5 p.m. Sunday July 24

Where: Event Center, Treasure Island

Cost: $30, $40

More info: 877-849-1640 or www.ticasino.com

Tags: arts and entertainment, treasure island event center, lifestyle, arts, entertainment