CP NEWS: Paris Undresses New Album at Marquee

[ddm-news]

-JW

Last night the bold, blonde, and highly pose-friendly Paris Hilton celebrated her record release party at Marquee.

With an entourage holding huge cardboard posters of PARIS, her debut album, she entered in true Paris-fashion and in the mood to flex and flirt. But there was something a little more grown-up about Paris this time. No, really.

I arrived before Paris made her grand entrance, lucky to have made it through two rows of security and the mob outside. It was a small crowd inside for a Wednesday night at Marquee, which is typically wall-to-wall with celebs and the wannabe-celebs. Paris apparently wanted an intimate, short, fun, and family affair for the listening party. With Mr. and Mrs. Hilton there, she even dropped a re-mixed 80’s version of “Happy Birthday” to celebrate daddy's birthday.

The night kicked off with the heiress claiming her throne in the DJ booth, dancing and strutting to her current single “Stars Are Blind.” Then came the pre-release listen, which featured more new tracks off PARIS (August 22nd release date).As the crowd closed in around the DJ booth, I found myself on the outside of the circle listening and dancing to songs that where from….Paris Hilton?

Really? Could it be true?

You may love to hate her, but Paris has worked hard to make your booty dance by collaborating with hit-maker Scott Storch (Beyoncé), Jonathan "J.R." Rotem (Rihanna), and Dr. Luke (Kelly Clarkson). Also, songwriters like Kara DioGuardi (Christina Aguilera), Billy Steinberg (Madonna), and Sheppard Solomon (Natalie Imbruglia) brought some extra elegant sass to the table.

The tunes were somewhat of a surprise to me, but then again, not so much. It was a mix of electronic beats with over-processed vocals, but some songs had an organic feel to them. Given the rumored turmoil between her record label and producer Scott Storch, who wanted a racier sound, it looks like the label prevailed. There were some Britney-esque songs that had more edge, but there was an overall feel of a more standard pop record more like Kelly Clarkson. In the end, a mix of safe and sexy.

While watching and tapping my toes to this scene of onlookers I couldn’t help but notice a more (gasp!) mature Paris. She was sporting a (relatively) conservative outfit resembling a 70’s retro feel, as opposed to her typical pink attire usually accented by gratuitously large diamonds. Sure, she danced and played to cameras, but while on the mic she thanked the crowd and sounded surprisingly articulate and--well, adult.

So has our Paris gone and grown up? Or is her record label and marketing team up to something? Whatever it is, it's working. The new tracks are bona fide hits whether you're ready to admit it or not.

Love her or hate her, mature or immature, princess or pornstar, Paris is one smart business woman. And with the Machine behind her, she'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Photo credit: Tommy Mokas

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