Larson dances for ex-boyfriend

Friends are playing down a cabana sighting of Sarah Larson and her former boyfriend Ryan Doherty at the grand opening of Palms Place Hotel & Spa on Saturday night.

Several witnesses said Larson, the Las Vegas model who recently split with George Clooney, was dancing seductively in front of Doherty, a local media executive, who was with friends.

"There's nothing to it. They're just good friends," said a friend of Doherty's. "He's got a girlfriend."

Larson, 29, made her first public appearance since the news of her split with Clooney broke last week when she posed for about five minutes on the red carpet.

Larson and Doherty left the party together with their group of friends.

A request to put Doherty on the telephone to quell the rumors was declined by the intermediary.

Doherty and Larson dated for about a year and a half before she started going out with Clooney late last summer.

Their cabana sighting was the hottest gossip on a night that included Hulk Hogan's estranged wife, Linda, showing up with a bleach-blond 19-year-old boy toy who was denied access to Moon nightclub.

But the weirdest development of the night came when Palms officials and a rep for Nevada first lady Dawn Gibbons confirmed that she had arrived at the grand opening, only to have the story change Sunday.

The first lady, who is in the middle of a nasty divorce with Gov. Jim Gibbons, changed her mind after appearing at an Asian-American function at Treasure Island. Her rep, who apologized for the miscommunication, said she called it a night amid concerns over a pregnant stepdaughter who went into contractions earlier in the day.

GRABOWSKI GOES PUBLIC

Veronica Grabowski, Miss Nevada USA 2008, is talking about her breakup with magician Criss Angel.

Grabowski, in an interview Friday with KKWN-AM 1100, was asked by the "Afternoon Gridlock" sports-talk team of Pauly Howard, Mitch Moss and Seat Williams if she thought Angel's comments to a Miss USA preliminary judge hurt her chances.

"I am going to have to say no comment," Grabowski said. Angel approached judge Sandy Mecca two days after she completed her judging duties and asked her to "give my girl high marks," Mecca said.

Angel and Grabowski broke up shortly after the pageant in early April. She didn't go into why they split, only that the relationship was "very casual, no big deal. We still talk."

None of my reports involving them were true, she said, specifically the story that Angel gave her jewelry after attending Elton John's concert with Pamela Anderson.

"It wasn't 'makeup bling,'" she said. He gave her the jewelry a month before Angel and Anderson went out, she added.

I had reported that she was showing off new earrings to Miss USA contestants the day Angel visited her during rehearsals, the same time reports circulated that he was seen dancing with Anderson.

SIGHTINGS

Former Miss USA Tara Conner, sticking to water and nonalcoholic drinks Saturday at Privé (Planet Hollywood Resort). ... At Pure nightclub (Caesars Palace) on Saturday: Christina Aguilera, performing at a private party for the Stephen Webster Silver Collection. She sang several of her hits, including "Beautiful" and "At Last." From there, she and her husband, Jordan Bratman, joined friends at Social House (Treasure Island) for dinner before heading off to LAX nightclub (Luxor), where she hosted the evening's festivities. Also partying at LAX: reality television star Khloe Kardashian, comedian Pauly Shore, boxer Sugar Shane Mosley and MMA personality Frank Trigg. ... At TAO Beach (Venetian) on Saturday: Mario Lopez, hosting US Weekly's Hot Bodies Celebration event. Also there: actor Stephen Baldwin and comedian Wayne Brady lounging in separate cabanas. ... Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso, having lunch Saturday at Hawaiian Tropic Zone inside Miracle Mile Shops.

THE PUNCH LINE

"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." -- The villainous Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) in Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles." Korman died last week at age 81.

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.