Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - May 18, 2018

Top talkables of the day:

PRINCE HARRY and MEGHAN MARKLE's wedding on Saturday will begin at noon London time, which means 1 am in Hawaii; 4 am in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Phoenix and Vancouver; 5 am in Denver and Calgary; 6 am in Chicago and Dallas; and 7 am in New York City, Washington, DC, Miami, Montreal and Toronto.
ELTON JOHN will perform at the Royal Wedding tomorrow. TMZ.com says he'll either play during the ceremony or at the reception afterwards. Elton had shows booked for Las Vegas this weekend, but they were rescheduled because of a conflict. Yep, a pretty BIG conflict! (Marino)

If you wanna watch on TV, here are the stations (in alphabetical order) planning to broadcast live from Windsor Castle (all start times are Eastern):
--ABC, starts at 5 am (ET), hosted by ROBIN ROBERTS and DAVID MUIR.
--BBC America, starts at 4 am (ET)
--CBS All Access (streaming, free for first week)
--CBS, starts at 4 am (ET), hosted by GAYLE KING and KEVIN FRAZIER.
--CNN, starts at 4 am (ET), hosted by ANDERSON COOPER, ALISYN CAMEROTA and DON LEMON.
--E!, starts at 5 am (ET), hosted by GIULIANA RANCIC, BRAD GORESKI, SARAH-JANE CRAWFORD and royal expert MELANIE BROMLEY.
--FOX News, starts at 6 am (ET), hosted by SHEPARD SMITH and SANDRA SMITH.
--HBO, starts at 7:30 am (ET), hosted by Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan --better known as WILL FERRELL and MOLLY SHANNON.
--NBC, starts at 4:30 am (ET), hosted by SAVANNAH GUTHRIE and HODA KOTB from the "Today Show."
--TLC, starts at 5 am (ET).

TLC will have three hours of Royal Wedding specials Friday night:
--"Prince Harry: Wild No More,"
--"Meghan Markle: A Royal Love Story," and
--"Secrets of the Royal Wedding."

The royal wedding is just hours away and Windsor lovers around the globe can't wait to toast the happy couple. Still looking for somewhere to celebrate the dashing prince and all-American girl? Here's a little something for everyone:
--The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington D.C. is offering a traditional British brunch and prizes for best ascot, bonnet or fascinator. Want to take it to the next level? One-million-bucks will get you a gown inspired by MEGHAN MARKLE, custom wedding rings, bridal makeup, ceremony, reception and two-week Mediterranean honeymoon.
--The Conrad London St. James is offering desperate grooms the chance to "Propose Like a Prince" with a private photo shoot, carriage ride and rose petals scattered around your room.
--The Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club in Nairobi will host 20 couples with an extra 10-grand laying around. They'll receive a night at the hotel, helicopter ride to Mt. Kenya, champagne toast and "live commentary" from the ceremony.
--The Mercure Hotels in London are treating couples named HARRY and MEGHAN for a free stay. Two twosomes actually won.
--Dying to share your wedding day with the couple? Then head to the Big Easy and the Windsor Court Hotel. They've got a $51,000 wedding package that will spiff you with three nights in a two-bedroom suite, first-class airfare, afternoon tea, gifts of china, crystal and --of course-- cardboard cutouts of Harry and Meghan.
--Dine like a mother of the groom at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. The joint is offering the same menu that PRINCESS DIANA was served when she stayed over in 1996.
--Looking to save a buck in the Big Apple? No problem --Madame Tussaud's in New York City is throwing events with Meghan's wax figure that start at just $25-bucks. (Lee)

Preakness Stakes:

Saturday also marks the 143rd running of the Preakness Stakes, the second (and shortest, at only 1-3/16 miles) of the Triple Crown horse races. It'll take place at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD, where post time will be 6:45 pm (Eastern), and broadcast on NBC (although they'll begin coverage around 4:30 pm). Justify, the KY Derby winner, is the 1/3 favorite.