Guy Laliberte, the force behind the cultural earthquake known as Cirque du Soleil, will be honored at the Feb. 12 Keep Memory Alive Alzheimer's benefit.

Organizers of the $1,500-a-plate gala featuring Lionel Ritchie hope to raise $3.5 million for the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Center on the city's 61-acre Union Park land downtown.

A sellout crowd of 650 is expected for the ninth edition of the benefit, which moves to a new setting this year: the ballrooms of the new Bellagio spa tower.

"We wanted to honor Guy because we felt like he's changed the face of entertainment in Las Vegas and he's been a huge supporter of the MGM Mirage and Alzheimer's research," said Donna Baldwin, co-chair of the event with Camille Ruvo.

Ed McMahon and Robin Leach are co-hosting the live auction. Star chefs Wolfgang Puck, Jean Georges-Vongerichten, Martin Heierling and Jean-Phillippe Maury are charged with the five-course dinner.

In May, the Alzheimer's event honoring Puck raised a record $5 million, thanks in part to Tony Marnell's $1 million bid on an SLR McLaren Mercedes and Steve Wynn's $500,000 bid to have the evening's nine superchefs return to Las Vegas to put together a special dinner at the opening of Wynn Las Vegas, which opens in April.

Actress Teri Hatcher of ABC's hit series "Desperate Housewives" is back again, this time with an auction item that allows the winner to join her on the set of "Housewives." She's attending the event after shooting a Vanity Fair cover earlier in the day, Baldwin said.

Larry Ruvo, senior managing director of Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada, organized the event to honor his late father, an Alzheimer's victim.