Singing in the New Year

Bette Midler is relieved she won't be counting down to midnight. Blame pingpong balls. But Akon is up for the task.

And talking about both stars in the same breath is a testament to the choices on a Las Vegas New Year's Eve.

"If you're going to bring it in anywhere in the U.S., it's either New York or Vegas. Vegas is definitely the spot," says Akon, the Senegal-born hitmaker who rang in the past couple of new years in Africa. "This year we said, you know what? Let's go ahead and take that Vegas date" at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay which he had been offered last year as well.

Many regular shows and concerts -- versus a nightclub "track date" or VIP hosting -- have shifted into the early evening to avoid competition with midnight fireworks on the Strip. Akon is one of the exceptions. The singer-rapper is looking forward to a countdown. "It's tradition and it's fun, because we can find a way to incorporate it into the show."

Midler is relieved "The Showgirl Will Go (Off)" the Colosseum stage at Caesars Palace more than two hours before the countdown. "That's a big burden," she says. "You have to really put on the dog for New Year's."

The brassy entertainer faced the challenge head-on during the infamous New Year's Eve of 1999 with an arena concert at Mandalay Bay. "That was pretty rough, because everyone was freaked out about Y2K (the feared widespread computer failure)," she recalls.

The most divine New Year's, she says, was her first one as a star. "I came out as the New Year's baby, and that was a lot of fun," she recalls.

And the worst was "a New Year's from hell" in a Chicago club. "They did a pingpong ball drop. I was underneath at least 10,000 pingpong balls. I nearly drowned," she recalls with a laugh. "They thought they were doing something nice for me: 'Let's drop some pingpong balls on her head.' That was awful. Everybody was slipping and sliding all over the stage, falling over and cursing like you can't believe."

Akon is bullish on 2009, despite the economy and the fact that his new album, "Freedom," was denied a No. 1 debut by Britney Spears' new "Circus."

"I honestly wanted that for her, because I kind of want to see her bounce back," he says. "(People) love the underdog. They'll beat you down to a certain point and then they start feeling sorry for you."

Though his Billboard position slipped from No. 7 to No. 18 last week, "I was always a marathon runner," he says. "I never focus on the first week. I work the whole year as if my record just came out yesterday."

It would be sad to punish the man for a good attitude. The album is his first without a parental advisory for lyrics, and he changed the title from the less upbeat "Acquitted."

"I'm growing, I'm maturing, and the music is changing," he explains. "My lifestyle is changing, it's all for the positive. I don't understand why my life (is) so positive and my record would not be. I wanted my record to reflect my life the way I'm living today."

That optimism extends to his cure for the economy. "I think we need to step it up," he says when asked if the hip-hop accessories -- helicopters, yachts and convertibles -- displayed in his "I'm So Paid" video are starting to rub people the wrong way.

"Everyone's playing it too safe, and that's the reason we all are suffering," he says. "Everyone's afraid to lose, everyone's afraid they'll get fired, everyone's afraid to spend money. If you're living like that in a world like that, naturally everything's going to go down, because everyone's afraid to take the stand and try to boost. Live as if every day's the last day, and the economy will boost right back, just like that."

Who knows how that theory will play on Wall Street? But the Akon philosophy makes for good New Year's advice: "You gotta have fun man. Otherwise, you will be caught in a position you never thought you'd be in. You'll be saying, 'I wish I would have. I wish I would have.' "

And his New Year's resolution isn't bad either: "To be more successful this year than I was last year. We just keep trying to outdo ourselves every year. Whatever we did this year, we try to double it."

Other New Year's Eve entertainment of note:

• Together again for the first time: Party gal Fergie and Skip Martin, formerly of Kool & the Gang, share the bill in The Venetian ballroom festivities, even if it would be unlikely to see them team for a duet. Coolio is thrown in for good measure to ring in midnight, after Fergie skips to the Palazzo's LAVO club to do the countdown honors, provided she has not been overserved by then. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $75-$200; call 414-9000.

• Kid Rock rings in the year with a 10:30 p.m. show at the Palms, gives himself some time to recover, and returns for a second show with cheaper tickets on Saturday. Call 942-7777.

• The doors swing open at Stoney's North Forty, a 9,000-square-foot country dance hall at Santa Fe Station taking over the space formerly occupied by the Salt Lick Barbecue. The companion club to the booming Stoney's Rockin Country on Las Vegas Boulevard South starts the party at 9 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the door, with a recession-busting $20 all-you-can-drink beer special. Call 435-2855.

• The name with the most sentimental value might be the "special guest" billing of Jerry Vale on "That's Italian" at the Eastside Cannery. Vale was a frequent visitor on the local's casino front until a stroke in early 2002 curtailed most performing.

But Frankie Randall, Vale's pal who organized the packaged show with Dick Contino and Pete Barbutti, says the 76-year-old Vale feels comfortable with an informal segment that plays "like he's singing in your living room."

Befitting the average age of the crowd, Randall says the show will start at 7 p.m. and ring in New Year's on East Coast time. Tickets are $27.45-$38.45; call 856-5300.

• Don't forget the fireworks. New regulations in the wake of the Monte Carlo fire change the seven-year tradition of rooftop launches along the Strip and instead use parking garage decks that once afforded prime viewing.

The new launch sites for the eight-minute show: the Mandalay Bay convention center lot, the Luxor parking lot, parking garages at the MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, the Stratosphere and Treasure Island, and the Gold parking lot at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

• Fremont Street always has its own fireworks for an annual party under the canopy that covers Glitter Gulch. This year's live entertainment is bundled as "Tribute Palooza," featuring tribute acts for everyone from Queen to Billy Joel and U2. Admission is free for Nevada residents, $20 for visitors. Call 678-5600.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.