Kicking Off '06!

Stars ring in the New Year across America: Paris does Vegas, Lindsay takes Miami, and Mariah hits Times Square

NYC

NEW YEAR’S? MAKE THAT EARLY VALENTINE’S DAY

Mariah Carey smooched pal Ryan Seacrest in Times Square, but downtown longer-term couples reigned: Christina Aguilera and husband Jordan Bratman kissed at Marquee, while recently separated Christina Applegate showed off her new guy at her Bungalow 8 bash, which drew Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban and O.C. lovebirds Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson.

MIAMI

THE PARTIES (AND STARS) WERE HOPPIN’

In South Beach the bashes were so hot celebs couldn’t choose just one. Lindsay Lohan, and a posse that included mom Dina, kicked off her night at ultra-hip Privé, then popped by Mansion, where ex-beau Wilmer Valderrama hosted and urged partygoers to “say goodbye to 2005.”

Leonardo DiCaprio began his night at the Setai Hotel with Vin Diesel, then chilled poolside at Skybar alongside Kevin Spacey and Jamie-Lynn Sigler before joining Lohan in Privé’s VIP room.

Also there? Fellow party girl Nicole Richie, who left ex-fiancé DJ AM at Mansion shortly after midnight.

LAS VEGAS

WHERE’S THE PARTY? NOT WITH PARIS

Paris Hilton‘s year got off to a rocky start: Set to host a party at the nightclub Tao in the Venetian Hotel, she left in a huff after beau Stavros Niarchos was kicked out for being underage. Around 3 a.m. the pair tried partying at PURE, a hot spot in Caesars Palace, with Hilton’s parents, sister and guests such as Stevie Wonder. Alas, Niarchos got carded—and booted—again. “I swear he’s 22,” Hilton told a security guard, who retorted, “Why does his fake ID say 23 then?”

DICK’S BIG COMEBACK

Months of rehab paid off for Dick Clark, who returned to host ABC’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in his first public appearance since an ’04 stroke. “My speech is not perfect,”

Clark, 76, told viewers from his Times Square perch, “but I’m getting there.” Cohost Ryan Seacrest says he was so moved by Clark’s gumption he cried: “Few people in this business of vanity would do what he did. It shows incredible courage.”