Wilmer Valderrama

The place to be to ring in 2011? For many of Hollywood's elite, it was The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the city's newest and most glamorous resort, which kicked off a grand opening celebration with concert performances from JAY-Z and Coldplay, plus guest surprises by Kanye West, Beyonce and John Mayer.

Coldplay kicked off the evening with a 12 song set, which included Yellow, In My Place and Clocks. To ring in the New Year, JAY-Z joined Coldplay on stage for a rendition of Lost, followed by a countdown to midnight. JAY-Z took the stage for the first hours of 2011 and was joined by Kanye West for an impromptu freestyle performance of Run This Town, Can't Tell Me Nothing and Runaway. As Kanye left the stage, John Mayer joined pal JAY-Z with his guitar for several songs, including Public Service Announcement and 99 Problems. The ultimate collaboration of the evening came when Beyonce joined her husband on stage for Young Forever. She continued to wow the crowd, bringing Coldplay frontman Chris Martin back out for an acoustic duet of her hit, Halo.

This isn't a luxury item, but it's a neat idea worth mentioning. America Ferrera, Camilla Belle, Corbin Bleu and Wilmer Valderrama are some of the celebrities that are part of the BFF initiative. BFF bracelets are matching friendship bracelets created by BFF Entertainment, in conjunction with the American Freedom Foundation, as a way to directly connect American citizens with military personnel overseas. These matching friendship bracelets create a pen pal connection, giving the military buddy a link to home. After purchasing the bracelet, the buyer registers it online to be connected to a soldier who will receive and wear an identical bracelet. 25% of the purchase price goes directly to the American Freedom Foundation to support veterans. The bracelets cost $10.

From the Real Estalker:
--The Desert House, the sleek and modern prototype for the deluxe prefabs created by starchitecture firm Marmol Radziner in Desert Hot Springs has been listed at $1.85 million.
--Did Scott Baio move to a five-bedroom house in Encino? The Real Estalker Mama reports that Baio and his wife, Peaches Renee Sloan, still occupy Baio's home on Royal Oak Road in Encino. It looks like the couple "bought" the new home on the show for reality drama's sake.
--Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford are renting out a beach front four-bedroom home in Malibu for $22,500 a month.
--Rumors have been swirling that Britney Spears bought a new house in Hermosa Beach before she went into the hospital. The home in question appears to be owned by professional photographer Dani Brubaker (who recently took pictures of Britney and her children for OK Magazine) and it seems unlikely that Britney actually bought this home.
--Has billionaire Ron Burkle helped Michael Jackson save Neverland Ranch? Roger Friedman at Fox News has reported that Burkle might have intervened of Jackson's behalf to provide an extension to give Jackson time to refinance.
--Jennifer Aniston has moved out of the Malibu cottage she's been renting since 2005.
--Jermaine Dupri has listed a five-bedroom home in Atlanta, Georgia for $1.5 million. The listing is here.
--Melrose Place actor Grant Show has listed his three-bedroom house in the Beachwood Canyon for $1,995,000. The listing is here.
--Singer Dido has listed her house in the prestigious Bird Streets area of Los Angeles for $4.6 million. The listing is here.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--A Parisian home that once belonged to Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir is on the market. It is out estate of the day later today.
--NBA point guard Baron Davis of the Golden State Warriors has sold a pair of adjacent condos in West Hollywood for $2.66 million.
--Investment banker Warren Woo has paid $20 million for a house in Los Angeles, plus $2 million more for furnishings.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--A two-floor penthouse at 530 East 72nd Street which was lived in by Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow and then by Andy Warhol's physician, Denton S. Cox is on the market for $5,995,000 and it's a real fixer-upper. The listing is here.
--Ex-F.B.I. Special Agent Ali Soufan, who now works for Guiliani Partners, and his wife just paid $1.7 million for a new Manhattan apartment.
--Stephen Drucker, House Beautiful's editor, and real estate agent Frank Newbold closed this month on a two-bedroom co-op at 125 East 74th Street for $1.45 million.
--Parker Posey, who late last year listed her apartment in an 1845 brownstone on East 10th Street near Third Avenue for $1.175 million, is in contract to buy a $1.35 million one-bedroom co-op at 30 Fifth Avenue.
--Salman Rushdie's ex-wife, 37-year-old Padma Lakshmi, the model-turned-Top Chef hostess paid $1,651,111 for a long, full-floor loft in Alphabet City.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Wilmer Valderrama has sold a home in Tarzana for $1,750,000 after it had been listed for $2,250,000 and later reduced to $1,950,000.
--Rupert Murdoch has taken $2,000,000 off the asking price of his Long Island, N.Y. mansion, Rosehearty, reducing its listing price from $14,800,000 to $12,800,000. It was our estate of the day back in July.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--A new record residential price has been set for the North Fork of Long Island. A 135-acre estate that includes a 19-acre vineyard has been sold for $19.5 million. The original asking price for Indian Neck Farm was $22 million when it went on the market in 2006.
--Edgar Bronfman Jr. and his wife, Clarissa, finally have taken possession of their 11-room co-op at 1040 Fifth Ave.
--Author and interior decorator Regina "Gigi" Mahon has paid just over $14 million for two condo apartments on the fifth floor at the soon to be completed Plaza.
--Polo-playing communications mogul Adam Lindemann has found a new oceanfront Hamptons hideaway in Montauk for $21.5 million.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Keith Yamashita, a high-powered business consultant, has listed his contemporary Manhattan Beach home at $3.449 million because he and his partner, Todd Holcomb, are planning to return to San Francisco, where their 10-year-old company, Stone Yamashita Partners, is based. The listing is here.

From AOL Real Estate:
--A list of America's richest counties.