The McVie Show Season 4

Gasp! was the collective reaction when Paris Hilton’s first single, “Stars Are Blind” hit the airwaves. It shocked people that she was, er, singing; even more shocking was the fact that the song was decently listenable. On hindsight it is a cannily produced and cannily released first single—it’s very difficult to go wrong with reggae, and the production was slick enough so that Paris sounded like she knew what she was doing. Okay, okay, so it really sounded like she had a lot of electronic help, but they managed to not make it that obvious. (Having a sexy—albeit uninspired—music video also helped add buzz.)

But this morning I was shocked when I heard on the radio her second single, aptly titled “Nothing In This World.” Nothing in this world prepared me for it—the song actually sounds good! Her singing seems surer and more confident here. It plays like a very decent Hillary Duff song, or an early Kelly Clarkson album track.

What’s going on here? Is Paris on her way to become an honest-to-goodness recording act (notice how I purposely used the words “recording” and “act”)? Is this a function of diminished expectations from the listening audience? Methinks Paris, like Jessica Simpson, is perfecting the dumb-blonde brand approach to self-marketing: the lower the expectations, the more wow-reaction they can elicit from the audience. In which case, they—if not their handlers—are actually brilliant strategists.

Introducing Paris’ latest song, Delamar (of RX93.1’s Chico & Delamar fame) said, “She’s here to stay, get used to it.” Yes, stars are blind and nothing in this world has meaning anymore. The Apocalypse is officially here.