BUZZ CLUBS

People-watching as New Year’s Eve festivity

Still flummoxed about what to do on New Year’s Eve? Here are some hot, last-minute picks: The Standard hotel in Hollywood is opening up its entire bottom floor for a massive party, which will include the pool area lobby, cactus lounge and its feted Purple Room bar. Tunes will be provided by Chris Holmes and DJ Franki Chan, a hot turntablist who’s also the force behind the multi-tasking promotions company “iheartcomix.” ... Hollywood power players the Alliance are inviting folks to pull an all-nighter with Paris Hilton at Tao, a nightclub at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The party and the heiress are set to rage until 5 a.m.... Promoter Michael Sutton is hosting a swell bash at Mood nightclub, which is promising loads of party favors and drunk A-listers.... Rapper Coolio is set to hang out at the new Hollywood hot spot Memphis, which is offering a Southern-style NYE bash. Think fried chicken and Cristal.... The Key Club in WeHo is going tubular with ‘80s glam band Video Star, an offshoot of the rock ‘n’ roll comedy group Metal Skool.... The lovely Magnolia restaurant in Hollywood is luring revelers with a four-course menu that includes lobster bisque and wild salmon.... Beauty Bar in Hollywood is rocking out to the sounds of DJ Cat and the psychedelic funk band Purple Crush from Brooklyn.

Going gothic; Latin jazzed

This just in: Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog will now be joining Pamela Anderson and the Pussycat Dolls at Paramount Studios in Hollywood for Gridlock 2006.... And there’s the Gothique Gala at Bar Sinister at the Hollywood club Boardner’s, where seductive young maidens are serving the bubbly and guests are treated to performances by Birthday Massacre and Claire Voyant. Divinely decadent dress code is requested.... While Poncho Sanchez performs upstairs at the Conga Room, a bossa nova trio plays in the downstairs room, La Boca. It’s the Conga Room’s last New Year’s Eve on Wilshire Boulevard; the nightclub is closing in 2006 and will reopen downtown as part of the LA Live entertainment center at Staples Center.... Joining Buckcherry at the Viper Room will be Poets & Pornstars and Brett Hellings and the Remedy. The bash also includes a performance by the burlesque kittens Diablo’s Darlings and a midnight Guns N’ Roses singalong, courtesy of Hollywood Roses.... Joe Strummer’s favorite Colombian folk group, Very Be Careful, will be ringing in the new at the 1160 Lounge at the Hollywood Ramada Inn on Vermont Avenue....A hundred and fifty bucks will get you a private booth and a bottle of champagne at the Bigfoot Lodge in Atwater Village with room for eight of your closest pals.

To Broadway,

by way of LAX

The hot new club LAX opens its doors at 9 with a $50 cover, which includes free appetizers all night, a Champagne toast at midnight and the smooth sounds of DJ Kevin Scott.... The Friar’s Club of Beverly Hills is enticing guests with a special steak and lobster menu on NYE.... And for those who don’t want to spend any money on cover charges, you can kick it with burlesque dancers at the Broadway Bar or Golden Gopher downtown. Both are offering free admission, as is Liquid Kitty in West L.A., which is celebrating its 10th annual NYE freebie with interplanetary DJ Orb. Dig that groove.

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-- Heidi Siegmund Cuda