A producer/writer for Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN tweeted today that Jimmy Buffett will be interviewed by Cooper for Thursday night’s show:

The Alabama Press Register has an article on how the July 1st Gulf Coast concert with Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown, and others came to be: “Jimmy Buffett concert comes together quickly”

“To give you the exact timeline,” Philips said, “we literally made the connection the night of the CMT Awards, which was June 9.”

That meant that the day after CMT staff members put on “the biggest production of their lives,” he said, they were being turned on a dime for the Buffett show.

“We’re sending everybody,” Philips said. “It takes an army to make a show this big.”

A.J. Niland of Mobile-based HUKA Entertainment said he expects that by Thursday, the ranks of event workers will have surpassed 700, maybe 900. That includes those managed by HUKA, which is in charge of the site and infrastructure; the contingent from CMT; Buffett’s touring entourage; and a sizeable security team.

Niland said the show owes a lot to the recent Hangout Beach, Music & Arts Festival, which HUKA also produced. That experience, he said, helped HUKA convince Buffett’s team that the Gulf Shores beach was a viable location.

“Shows on the beach are very, very rarely done anywhere,” Niland said of large-scale events like the Hangout fest. “It’s not an ideal venue. We made it an ideal venue.”

Niland, like Philips, described Buffett as being extremely selective about where and when he plays.

“It’s important to them that the fans get the best Buffett experience,” Niland said. “We’re creating Margaritaville on the beach, for sure.”

Mike Foster, marketing manager for the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Buffett’s emphasis on quality was a major factor in determining how many concert-goers could attend.

The stage and sound system can only be so big, he noted.

Niland speculated that if the show were open to all, 200,000 fans might have tried to jam in. But a crowd that size would require video and sound production far beyond what was possible, to say nothing of the safety and traffic issues.

“It has to be a safe, enjoyable experience,” he said.

CMT will broadcast the show beginning at 7 pm Thursday. It will rebroadcast an edited version at 6 pm Friday, 8:30 pm July 3, 1 pm July 4, and 10:30 am July 5.

The show will also be shown on CMT.com, and can be heard on Radio Margaritaville.

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Beach Hotel in Pensacola, Florida officially opens its doors today at 4 pm, according to WINK News. The hotel hosted an open house on Sunday and reportedly had a very large turnout.

“It makes a world of difference to us,” says a nearby restaurant owner. “For this establishment to be as beautiful as it is, and open at the time it does, it’s inspirational to me and my fellow businessmen who’ve been here for years and years, that we will survive, we will make it. We’ve got confidence that some of the big wigs and big powers are with us.”

With so much of Florida’s economy based on tourism, the hotel also is a sweet song to Governor Charlie Crist.

“Jimmy Buffett’s a great Floridian, he cares a lot about our state, clearly cares a lot about our environment. But his entrepreneurial spirit cannot be put down, no matter what. And that encourages a lot of people,” Crist said.

Go to WINK News to watch a 3 minute video story on the open house. It contains some great shots of both the interior and exterior of the hotel.

Visit www.margaritavillehotel.com for more info.

The circus came to town Saturday night as Jimmy and the Reefers moved the Under The Big Top Tour to the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, WI.

Notable additions to the set list this time included “License to Chill,” “Pencil Thin Mustache”, and “Brown Eyed Girl”. “Bama Breeze” was tonight’s final encore, dedicated to the Gulf.

View the entire set list here.

Did you attend the show? Share your thoughts on our Discussion Board.

The third leg of the Under The Big Top Tour is now over. The next show will be July 2nd in Gulf Shores. The tour will resume on August 7th in Camden, NJ. You can still get your tickets now!

Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band will wrap up the June leg of the 2010 Under The Big Top Tour tonight with a show at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin.

Tune into Radio Margaritaville on the web or on Sirius XM at 7:00 pm CDT for the preshow festivities. Jimmy will take the stage shortly after 8 pm.

After tonight’s show, Buffett’s main tour is off for a month (he has the Gulf coast concert on the 1st) before hitting the road again in Camden, New Jersey on August 7th. View the full tour schedule here.