Gaylord takes us inside da club of FUSE VIPs bash

No cameras were allowed inside the FUSE VIP opening, but Gaylord Opryland Resort was kind enough to provide these pics.

But here are pics of FUSE VIPs who did show

Kim Kardashian, Niki Taylor, Billy Ray to be at FUSE

This VIP opening for Gaylord Opryland’s new “Vegas-style club,” FUSE, is getting to be quite the buzz.

Confirmed, fer sure: Kim Kardashian, Niki Taylor, Billy Ray Cyrus, Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus, Eddie George and Backstreet Boy Nick Carter.

And Joe Nichols, Lady Antebellum, American Idol alum Diana DeGarmo, Titans kicker Rob Bironas, Chuck Wicks (Stealing Cinderella), Danielle Peck and Lorrie Morgan are confirmed.

But it’s the “maybe” list that’s really interested. Invited and considering:

Snoop Dogg (who just made a country music video with Willie Nelson), Whitney Houston, Mario Lopez, Daisy Fuentes, Gabrielle Union and all the A-list Nashville country singers.

Kid Rock is set to host.

And you’re invited — after 11:30 p.m. Sunday. That’s when the public can come.

Cher, part 5: She takes in Bluebird songwriters show

If she could turn back time, Cher might’ve done some gigs at the famed Bluebird Cafe in Green Hills.

So maybe she was making up for lost time when she and her mystery boyfriend and another couple strolled into the late show Tuesday night before Cher’s now famous Tootsies’ stop. (Pictured here. See below.)

The biggest name on the bill: Former Bluebird chef-turned-singer/songwriter Kim Richey (Trisha Yearwood hit Baby I Lied.)

Cher and her posse got there about two minutes into the show, but people didn’t really react or realize it was Cher — at first.

Cher had sodas while her man had a Guinness beer. (Brilliant!) Cher didn’t seems to know any of the writers, but she looked like she was into it, and she stayed the whole time.

Cher did scoot out the second the show was over. Her man stood up and lead her out immediately, so no one got autographs or took pictures or harrassed her or any of that.

Unlike what happened at Tootsies….

Daddy Bad Ass: Dierks brings preggo wife into the bar

Here are some pics from fan Lynn York, who said Dierks Bentley joked about bringing his pregnant wife to 12th & Porter Tuesday night for John Rich’s Get Rich Talent Search.

Dierks said the missus, Cassidy, was in the balcony with talent search judges raising hell and smoking and drinking.

Then he said, “Actually she gave up smoking awhile ago!”

Dierks was there to be a contest judge, but John urged him and songwriter Craig Wiseman to get on stage and play a few.

I still love how Dierks told the world last month on his blog — with a nod to Juno — that he and the wife were expecting a baby.

“Cass’s eggo is preggo!” he e-declared.

Cher, part 4: Here’s the waist-grabber warrant

So by now you know that Calvin Hutton Houghland, 36, of Page Road, whose mug shot is here, was charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct after trying to get Cher’s attention when she was at Tootsies last night/this morning.

The officer on the scene told News 2’s Teresa Weakley this morning that Houghland grabbed Cher in “the hip area,” and a Metro Police report later said he “grabbed Cher by the waist.”

There was no assault warrant issued, in part because Cher didn’t want to press charges.

But the public intoxication warrant, taken out by Officer Christopher Horatio Brooks, is kinda interesting:

Subject was the suspect in an earlier assault at Tootsie’s 422 Broadway Ave. where victim refused prosecution. Subject was kicked out of the club and told to leave the area by me. Subject walked away to flag down a taxi. A few seconds later subject returned and I told him to leave or I would have to arrest him. Subject left then returned stating that he got assaulted so he wanted to go to jail. Subject was very intoxicated and admitted that he had drank 3 beers. Subject’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, speech slurred and an obvious odor of an alcoholic beverage. Subject took and failed a self-requested field sobriety task administered by officer Keith Johnson.

So why was Houghland sooooooooooooo intent on speaking with Cher?

Officers said Houghland insisted his stepfather worked with Cher when she was performing with now late ex-husband Sonny Bono.

MORE: photo of Cher at Tootsie’s | details of fan arrest | Cher sighting

Pssst! Wanna crash Eric Church’s fan club party?

I’ve been told by double secret sources that Eric Church (Guys Like Me) is gonna open up his fan club party to, well, anyone who can squeeze in.

Eric’s fan club knows the details, but rumor has it that no one will be turned away from his Printer’s Alley party late Friday night. Well, unless they hit capacity.

After Eric plays the LP Field show Friday night, he’ll head to Fiddle & Steel around midnight for that party.

Apparently, the Fiddle & Steel house band will move on over around 11:45 p.m. to make way for Eric’s band.

So…. get on it! And if you go, please e-mail me to tell me how it was.

Drunk dude surprises comic Josh Blue his last time here

Youse guys remember Josh Blue, the comedian with cerebral palsy who won TV’s Last Comic Standing a year or so ago?

He’s in town for shows at Zanies all weekend, and he told me a funny story today about a drunk guy who came up to Josh the last time he was in Nashville.

“This guy comes up to me and he goes, ‘Isn’t you that actress from that show, Family Matters?’” Josh told me.

Check out that sentence again: “Isn’t you that actress from that show, Family Matters?”

Josh’s reaction?

“First of all, everything you said is wrong. ‘Isn’t you?’ No,” he said.

“‘That actress?’ I’m a man. And Family Matters? I believe that was an all-black cast. So I think he thought I was Urkel.”

I promise you’re gonna dig this guy….

OK, so I’m definitely not a music critic. (Food critic, maybe.)

But I’ll tell you that I saw Mike Farris at a Porter Wagoner tribute shortly after Porter died. And Mike absolutely destroyed the place with his voice. It somehow manages to be incredibly powerful and understated at the same time.

Mike has a gig at 9 Friday night at Mercy Lounge. He’s playing with a 10-piece band, the Roseland Rhythm Revue. And the McCrary Sisters will be in the house.

It’ll be the best musical $10 you’ve spent in years.

Old rockers might remember Mike as lead singer of The Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies, and he has cut a gospel album or two since then.

What will ya get Friday night? It’s worth showing up to find out.