This is just like that one Tom Cruise movie. Cocktail. (Photos by Erik Kabik | Retna)

Oh, New York. You can have your Yankees and your Canyon of Heroes tickertape parades, but do you have a closed-down Strip with the top 12 NASCAR drivers ambling around? No. No you do not. Although sadly, that means we don’t get Francisco Cervelli inexplicably riding a float in a white suit.

Sprint Cup winner Jimmy Johnson led the way after Wayne Newton dropped the flag yesterday morning for their lap around the Strip — complete with pit stop and a Johnson burnout at the Spring Mountain intersection — before they returned to the MGM Grand. We’re mostly bummed A) that no one was bumping or drafting and B) that they didn’t stick Newton in a 13th car for the Once More Before I Pass Your Ass On the Right farewell race. We could see the Wayner dueling down the stretch with Johnson.

By Jason Scavone

You know what else vets like, Wayne? Shirts.

Wayne Newton did his turn for more than 100 veterans last night, meeting with everyone in the audience who had served after the show to thank them personally and bring them to lunch today at his ranch, Casa de Shenandoah. Among the crowd was The Bachelor’s Andy Baldwin, who is a doctor and lieutenant commander in the Navy. Newton does a whole USO setpiece in Once Before I Go, so the Veteran’s Day fete fits in with the show. Although we do maintain that instead of “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” he could’ve covered all of Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces album. Would’ve loved to see the die-hards try to figure out “Oliver’s Army.”

By Jason Scavone

Give the man this: He is thoroughly committed to keeping the tux as a showroom staple. (Photos by Erik Kabik | Retna)

There’s a story Wayne Newton tells midway through Once Before I Go at the Tropicana where during the late ’70s, he was asked to do a fundraiser for the UNLV marching band along with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.

You get the impression it’s always the late ’70s for Wayne Newton. As long as he’s on stage, he can keep reliving, night after night, the highights of his career — and that’s cool. You can see why anyone would want to do that. But even Tom Seaver had to be pulled off the mound at the end. It’s clear the time has come for Newton. His voice is rough and unreliable. He has to shotgun tea by the glass just to hit the big notes toward the end of the night. It sounds, in short, like Casey Kasem singing Katharine Hepburn.

You couldn’t help but feel bad for him. The whole thing felt vaguely like Waynesploitation. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

Danke schoen for the filmmaking tips. (Photos by Scott Harrison | Retna)

Wayne Newton took part in CineVegas Clubhouse, the film festival’s outreach program teaching filmmaking to members of the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas, to impart the wisdom of his acting chops on budding cinephiles. If you’ve seen Smokin’ Aces, arguably Ryan Reynolds’ finest work, you know Wayne Newton can bring it on the silver screen. Plus, his music played a key part in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. When you’re as integral a part of a John Hughes flick as Abe Froman, you can’t keep that kind of knowledge on lockdown.

Boys & Girls Club memebers were filming the short “Where Da Girls At,” which will have a red carpet premiere at CineVegas in June.

By Jason Scavone