Jay-Z, Coldplay, Rihanna headline NYE in Vegas

Jay-Z, Coldplay, Rihanna headline NYE in Vegas

OSKAR GARCIA,Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sin City planned Friday to help hundreds of thousands of partiers ring in 2011 with help from big-name celebrity acts including Jay-Z, Coldplay, Rihanna and Ludacris.

Tourism officials expected 320,000 people to celebrate New Year's Eve in Las Vegas, 3.6 percent more than last year.

Jay-Z and Coldplay were scheduled to headline a private show at the Las Vegas Strip's newest resort, the $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas that opened two weeks ago.

Casino officials planned to broadcast the show on the resort's marquee to revelers in the streets below.

Police planned to close off Las Vegas Boulevard, known as the Strip, to vehicles for a four-mile stretch in front of most major casinos starting at 6:30 p.m. Authorities said the road would reopen a few hours after midnight as the party dissipates from the streets.

At midnight, more than eight minutes of fireworks costing $500,000 will be shot from the rooftops of seven casinos, including MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, Venetian and Stratosphere.

Inside casinos, nightclubs planned pricey bashes with celebrity hosts including Rihanna, Ludacris, Diddy and Nelly.

And the downtown Fremont Street Experience was planning its third TributePalooza, with 12 tribute bands and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman to lead the countdown at midnight.

Fremont Street Experience President Jeff Victor said officials expect 25,000 people downtown, the same amount as last year.

"The crowd loves it," he said. "They know all the songs."

Casino-hotels in northern Nevada also expected to be full with fresh snow at Lake Tahoe.