water jet is the truth! *splurt splurt*

Using a dramatic combination of music, water and light, the Bellagio delivers spectacular performances with its majestic fountains.

Every evening, time briefly seems to stop in front of the Bellagio. Running every 15 minutes or every half-hour, depending on the time of year, the animated fountains are impossible to simply walk past. Cleverly orchestrated to a variety of songs -- from "One, Singular Sensation," featured on Broadway, to "Fly Me To The Moon," written by Bart Howard and made famous by Frank Sinatra -- the fountains appear to come to life with every note.

Spanning across the quarter-mile-long lake in front of the Bellagio, the free show generally lasts between five and 10 minutes. However, performances are hindered by inclement weather.

The fountains were created by WET Design, a Southern California firm responsible for other well-known displays of water and light, including the LeapFrog Fountain at Disney World's EPCOT, the Sky Rockets at Chicago's Navy Pier and the Universal CityWalk Fountain.

The $40 million Bellagio fountain show is equipped with 1,200 nozzles and 4,500 lights, making it the most expensive and ambitious water feature the company ever has done.

The Bellagio fountains have been made famous through appearances on the silver screen. The fountains were most notably highlighted in the remake of "Ocean's Eleven," starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.

To complement the fountain design, provided by WET Design's Claire Kahn, the Bellagio brought in outside professionals to develop the show, including composer/conductor Gerard Schurmann ("Lawrence of Arabia") and choreographer Kenny Ortega ("Dirty Dancing").

The range of movement across the lake is varied; some of the movement is continuous, responding to the smooth passages of music, while other water jets are rapidly pulsing, reaching heights as high as 240 feet.

With a wide array of musical selections and choreography, you could easily sit in front of the fountains all night and never see the same performance twice. Even those in passing cars on the Strip feel compelled to pull to the side and take in the show.

-- Review by Noelani Jones

http://www.bellagio.com/pages/attrac_highfountain_noflash.asp#