For the second time, the Palazzo soft opening has been delayed. Hunter broke the news earlier today, and a quick check of the hotel’s online reservation page suggests the new opening date for the hotel is slated for Jan. 6.

Update: Perez Hilton is reporting that Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club at Palazzo now may miss its opening date due to a failed building inspection.

Update 2: Parts of Palazzo opened last night, including 40/40 and the casino. Steve Friess posted some photos on his blog early this morning. The hotel remains unoccupied.

As work to bring Harrah’s Las Vegas and Rio up to code, Flamingo now gets its turn. According to a report in today’s Las Vegas Review Journal, recent work put visitors at risk.

According to a KVBC report, Donny and Marie Osmond are in the final stages of negotiation with the Flamingo to replace Toni Braxton next year. If the report is true, the Osmonds’ gig will keep them in the showroom at the Flamingo for 40+ weeks annually for several years.

Oddly, Donny and Marie announced just a couple weeks ago that they’ll be performing together for a week in July 2008 at MGM Grand.

Viva Laughlin, the CBS television musical drama based on the British series Viva Blackpool, was pronounced dead today following a four-day struggle with poor writing, bad acting and devastating production numbers. VL leaves behind several unaired episodes, expected to be adopted by cbs.com or an as-yet-unidentified cable network.

It’s may not be Las Vegas, but casino implosions in other cities are cool too. Atlantic City experienced its first casino implosion tonight when the Sands fell to make room for a shiny new Boardwalk resort. See the video here and here.

During this week’s podcast, we speculated that if Harrah’s skirted Clark County’s permit regulations for renovations at Rio, they probably did the same at some of their other properties. Well, today comes news that 600 of the rooms at Harrah’s Las Vegas have been closed as a safety precaution as part of an internal investigation into the company’s remodeling practices. Most noteworthy is the revelation that “several larger remodeling projects at Harrah’s on the Strip took place without the necessary permits.” No word yet on what other Strip properties may be affected.

UPDATE: Clark County officials are now defending their role in this mess.

UPDATE 2: The story continues to unfold, as the county inspector get reassigned.