Those moans are from Paris
Introducing, Paris Hilton – diva.
Yes, the 25-year-old hotel heiress has posed as a socialite, served as tasty tabloid trash fodder, serviced the public as a “reality’ star. But now she’s trying to become a singer.
Her single, “Stars Are Blind,” has already made a mark on Billboard’s dance music charts.
Even so, Hilton’s album – subtly, if honestly, titled “Paris” – is likely to be the subject of standup comedy routines for years to come. Yet, she says, music fans should give her a chance.
“I can understand people prejudging on that fact,” she said recently, “but the music speaks for itself.”
Which is just exactly what some of us are afraid of.
He warbles well
After initially saying that “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks “can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” Justin Timberlake is changing his tune. Ken Sunshine, Timberlake’s representative, said the singer’s comments “were taken completely out of context” during an interview that he gave to special issue of Vogue magazine. “He has tremendous affection for Taylor Hicks’ success,” Sunshine told the Associated Press. “He would never say anything that personal about somebody he’s never met. He only wishes him the best.”
If they can sing …
Cheech Marin and Lucy Lawless will be among the contestants on Fox’s wannabe singer reality show “Celebrity Duets.” The weekly singing competition, which debuts next Tuesday, will match eight competitors with a different professional singer/duet partner each week. Also included will be Alfonso Ribeiro, Jai Rodriguez, Hal Sparks, Lea Thompson, 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Carly Patterson and wrestling champion Chris Jericho. Wayne Brady will host, and producer David Foster will serve as judge.
Connick pens a tune
On a more serious note, Harry Connick Jr. was so moved by how his Katrina-ravaged hometown of New Orleans suffered that he wrote “All These People.” Connick’s duet with gospel singer Kim Burrell, will be released next Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of Katrina’s landfall. Proceeds will go to the New Orleans Habitat Musicians’ Village.
Depp wields a razor
Johnny Depp will move from tipsy pirate to murderous barber by starring in a 2007 adaptation that director Tim Burton (“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) will make of Stephen Sondheim‘s musical “Sweeney Todd.” The star of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” this year’s biggest hit with a domestic gross of $400 million, is expected to do his own singing.
The birthday bunch
Author Ray Bradbury is 86. Actress Valerie Harper is 66. Actress Cindy Williams (“Laverne and Shirley”) is 59. Guitarist David Marks (The Beach Boys) is 58. Country singer Holly Dunn is 49. Country singer Collin Raye is 46. Singer Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears is 45. Singer Tori Amos is 43. Country singer Mila Mason is 43. Keyboardist James DeBarge of DeBarge is 43. Rapper GZA (Wu-Tang Clan) is 40. Actress Jenna Leigh Green (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 32. Guitarist Jeff Stinco of Simple Plan is 28.