NEWTON BACK ON THE STRIP FOR HIS 25,000TH SHOW

Wayne Newton returns to a familiar venue next week - he'll perform his 25,000th show on the glitzy Las Vegas Strip.

The event will occur when he opens at the Sheraton Desert Inn on Tuesday, his publicists said.Newton first performed on the Strip as a teenager in 1959, when he played his first show at the Fremont Hotel.

Since then, he's shown up at many Strip hotels, including the Aladdin, Sands and Caesars Palace.

Newton, 53, last appeared in Las Vegas at the Sands last spring. He spent much of 1995 performing at the Wayne Newton Theatre in Branson, Mo.