Paris' single... in the musical sense
So, La Hilton has become the umpteenth celebrityette to release a single. 'Stars Are Blind'. And imagine my surprise when I discovered it's become one of the most downloaded songs from several music services. I can relate to a degree of curiosity – which I just satisfied for free here – but not actually paying. Perhaps, just perhaps, it's not that bad?
And yes – certainly compared to what I was expecting, it's not bad at all. Sure, it sounds like a UB40 B-side from 1988, and her voice has gone through more tricky production to boost it than Kylie's, but it's very listenable bubblegum pop, really. Which is fortunate, because we won't be able to avoid it for the rest of the year.
The video (link on her official site), unsurprisingly, has Paris cavorting on a beach with a spunky guy. I'm not sure whether they filmed it specially or just edited up some tapes from E! News.The surprising bit is that not only do they not have sex, but she keeps her clothes on. There's a first time for everything.
I've always admired Paris' dedication to going just that little bit further to get publicity. Britney Spears has just rocketed back into the spotlight with a portrait on the cover of Vanity Fair that shows her naked and pregnant. Whereas Paris, I'm sure, will appear on the VF cover with a photo of the actual conception.
But you have to admire her attempts to be famous for something other than just being famous. (Or, as seemed likely at one point, for marrying someone else called Paris. I'm still devastated that didn't work out.) With that massive inheritance on the way, she could have just bummed around doing nothing. And she does, most of the time. But as well as just being a trust fund brat ("Trustafarian", as one of my friends dubbed it recently), she's also been a critically panned actor, model, author, podcaster and TV star. She even wants to prove to audiences that she can sing. Or probably do anything, really.
Let's hope she makes a go of the music thing. She's running out of artforms to fail in – and I can't see her trying painting, or writing a novel. She's going to remain in our headlines no matter what, it seems, so there might as well be a reason for it.
Dominic Knight