Elton John performed the premiere of his show "The Red Piano" at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 13, 2004.

Elton has a contract with Caesars Palace to do 91 shows over the next three years, substituting for singer Celine Dion while she is on hiatus from her production 'A New Day...' at the 4,100-seat showroom.

No, he didn't fly. Didn't even try. Elton John stood on the stage and pointed up as a wax mannequin of his younger self dressed like a giant ice cream-sundae descended toward the bandstand.

"This is me. That was me," the 56-year-old British music legend said near the end of the opening night. Fans didn't miss Celine Dion-style aerialists or sequins on Sir Elton, who opted for basic black trimmed with various colors of sashes. Not when they had the giant pair of inflated female breasts to gaze at, mammaries which easily outsized the other inflatables of bananas, hot dogs and ice cream cones.

"The Red Piano" proved an understated name for a wild pop-art spectacle, designed by photographer David LaChappelle. It filled the stage with neon dollar signs and X-rated motel marquees, and its massive LED screen with a barrage of stylized video featuring everything from downtown Las Vegas to '70s porn stars in action.

Early in the show Elton thanked the Celin Dion, calling her "a real classy lady" and adding, "I know I'm playing her home so I hope I don't wreck it too much."

Fans who paid upward of $250 for tickets could pay another $40 for a lobby photo in front of one of the red Yamaha grands Elton played -- and sometimes vamped on top of, or they could take home a $20 alligator plush toy, Crocodile Rocky, with a little t-shirt bearing the words, "Elton Rocks Vegas."

No arguments there from the opening night audience, which included pop star Christina Aguilera and TV star Pamela Anderson, who sat a few seats apart in the third row. Anderson jumped up and clapped her arms over her head -- twice -- when video footage of her cavorting on a stripper pole filled the giant screen for "The Bitch is Back."

Aguilera opted to stay in her seat and chew on her glasses frames.

Friday's crowd also included Elton's partner, filmmaker David Furnish, Hollwyood couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star Nia Vardalos and comedian Kathy Griffin, who told an otherwise lonesome line of red-carpet camera crews that she would be seeing Bette Midler tonight.

"It doesn't get much better than that," Griffin said. "It's a whole gay Vegas package."

Perhaps, but the Elton John role in it celebrated the female fleshpot side of Sin City in risque video footage for favorites such as "Philadelphia Freedom" and "Pinball Wizard."

But Elton also strove for moments of poignancy with tunes such as "Daniel," "I Want Love" and "Believe."

Of the latter, he said, "We wanted to do it in Vegas because at this particular time, and with where we all stand in the world, love is an incredibly overlooked thing."

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