Celebrities help open $700M casino

NORWICH, Conn., May 18 (UPI) -- Singer John Mayer says he felt comfortable returning to his home state of Connecticut to help christen the opening of the $700 million Foxwoods Casino.

The Connecticut native said while the new gambling resort had all the glitz and glamor of a regular Las Vegas casino, there was something very familiar to the site, the Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported Sunday.

"If you put me in a box and dropped me off here I would know I am in Connecticut," Mayer said during Saturday's grand opening. "There is something about Connecticut, a patina."

The star-studded event, which benefited the Motion Picture & Television Fund, also featured the likes of actress Catherina Zeta-Jones and her husband, actor Michael Douglas.

"This is an organization where we take care of our own," Douglas said of the event's beneficiaries.

The Courant said other notable names at the lush event were singer Sean "Diddy" Combs, TV celebrity Kim Kardashian, singer Alicia Keys and actress-model Jenny McCarthy.