Mr Skin - Official Site Mr Skin - Official Site

By J.R. Taylor

There aren't many strip joints that have Lindsay Lohan pounding to get inside at six a.m. Well, there are actually two in New York City--considering that Lindsay could've just as easily been trying to get in at the uptown Scores club instead of the downtown location. Either Scores establishment represents a true gold standard in nightclub entertainment. The number of Scores keeps multiplying, too, with the chain opening a new Las Vegas location on Wednesday, September 21st, 2005. Many important details can be found at ScoresLasVegas.com.

A new Scores is always a big deal to celebrities everywhere. This upscale strip-club chain has cultivated an impressive clientele of sports stars and noted actors. The opening ceremonies in Vegas are expected to include Pamela Anderson, Dennis Rodman, and plenty more. Loyal customer Howard Stern won't be in town, but plenty of others from his show will be attending.

The club is less sure about Colin Farrell. "He's my favorite celebrity," says Scores spokesman Lonnie Hanover, while cuddling one of his outlandishly beautiful dancers in the Westside location in Manhattan. "When this club opened in March of this year, there was an unexpected snowstorm. Colin actually called one of our dancers to explain that he was snowed in on location and couldn't make it to the opening."

Lonnie isn't giving out idle gossip. Scores has only become a celebrity hangout through a careful sense of discretion. "For every ten celebrities that come here," Lonnie explains, "there are nine that nobody ever hears about. The rock stars and the friends of the club don't mind. Pam Anderson had her book party here. The rock 'n' roll stars come here because our girls are in their videos and at their press conferences. Tommy Lee doesn't mind letting the world know he was here last week."

At a glance, the list of Scores-happy stars includes birthday boy George Clooney, John Cusack, Carson Daly, Charlie Sheen, Diddy, Matt Damon--and that doesn't begin to list the ladies. There's also Russell Crowe, who's the rare film star who's been dissed by the club. (The gossip columns reported ungentlemanly behavior, to which the ever-politic Lonnie stated, "As far as Scores is concerned, we love his movies.")

"Often," adds Lonnie, "the celebrity will release the information. Christina Aguilera was here for her boyfriend's birthday a couple of month ago. She had a wild time, spent twenty grand, stayed until closing, and the whole world knew. When I was called about it by reporters, I said we don't comment on celebrities. Then her people confirmed everything. I'm grateful for that, but it only got out because she talked first."

It was a lesson Lonnie learned early: "Here's a good example of a major star appreciating us respecting her privacy. Madonna would always come to our Eastside location. I knew she wouldn't come back if we told anybody. I wasn't going to call the paparazzi and have them stationed outside. After she came three or four times, she told us that she appreciated us respecting her privacy, and she told us that now she'd do us a favor. She posed for a photo at Scores, getting a dance."

Madonna might have been lucky enough to have been entertained by Vivid Girl Savanna Samson, who got her start at that same club. Scores has maintained its high standards--even with a planned roster of 300 girls a night at the new Vegas location. The stunning Zara, however, is staying in New York, since the Scores here have given her plenty to talk about.

"Oscar De La Hoya," she says, "is one of my favorite customers. He was so funny and down to earth. He was more into us having fun. Celebrities feel comfortable coming here because they know that we're not going to ask them for autographs. They know that we've got a reputation for being classy girls, and we know how to handle them."

Zara's impressive history of handling also includes giving Natalie Portman her first lap dance. "She was really sweet," Zara recalls. "It was her first time here, so I didn't know that she was going to be so nice. I bumped into her in the bathroom afterwards, too, and she was totally cool."

Scores dancers are also used to serving a family package. Dennis Quaid famously left his wallet behind while enjoying the club with his spouse. Zara recalls another showbiz couple who's enjoyed her show: "Christian Slater was here with his wife--well, his ex now. He wanted to watch his wife getting a dance from me, and I had no problem with that. She's hot. I was into her. She was more into me than he was, actually. Christian would get up, disappear, come back. She didn't seem to mind, either."

The blonde and beautiful Katherine--whose favorite celebrity client remains Janice Dickinson--considers all this to be a public service. "The celebrities love bringing their wives and girlfriends, so the ladies will get more open sexually. They see how sexy we are, and they want to be sexy too. Afterwards, once the club closes, they get to go home and have the real fun with the men. We show them the moves, and tell them to do the same thing when they get home. We're just getting them started."

It's nice to know that the girls of Scores are helping Matt Damon get laid at home. Yet one burning question remains. Specifically, what's going on at Scores at six a.m. that Lindsay Lohan knows about and we don't?

"I was shocked that a reporter knew about that," replies Lonnie. "We stop serving liquor at four a.m., but things get busy on the weekends, and our costumers tend to buy bottles of champagne right before the bar closes. We can legally stay open, and we don't want to throw anybody out, so we have parties that go until seven in the morning. That particular night, Vin Diesel had a party going on here until around six that morning."

Lonnie pauses, looking genuinely concerned: "It wasn't anybody here who said something. At that hour, I knew everybody in the crew who was here. The reporter must have had somebody outside the club, or in the party. It was a straight job of reportage. That's one time we didn't reveal anything."