26 July 2006
EXCLUSIVE: DO YA THINK I'M SEXY?.. ROD DOES
Exclusive Hero Stewart persuaded Paris to cover his classic hit
By Rick Fulton
PARIS HILTON has the ultimate seal of approval for her version of Rod Stewart's disco classic Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? - from the man himself.
The tartan-clad rock god suggested she record his No.1 hit as they partied together.
Paris, 25, said: "I grew up listening to that song. My producer Scott Storch and I were hanging out with Rod one night and it came on and we thought it would be the perfect song for me to do.
"I'm also friends with Rod's daughter, Kimberly." Now the song - which Rod took to the top of the charts in 1978 - will feature on the hotel heiress's self-titled debut album, which is out on August 21.
Before then, fans can hear whether the socialite turned celebrity can sing when her debut single, Stars Are Blind, is released on Monday.
The musical career is the latest surprising twist for America's No.1 It Girl.
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She first hit the headlines after the infamous sex tape of her with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon was leaked onto the internet in 2003.
Since then, she's become one of the world's most famous faces. Paris is a TV star through her reality show The Simple Life (in which she stars with her now ex-best friend Nicole Richie), an actress in movies House of Wax and the straight-to-video Bottom's Up, and a businesswoman with her own ranges of perfume and club nights.
Following in the footsteps of her great-grandfather Conrad Hilton, she also plans to start her own chain of hotels.
She has even revealed a domesticated side - telling how she dreams of becoming a mum in the next five years.
But before that can happen, she has her album to promote. Paris was talking about making it before The Simple Life started ... so why did it take so long?
Speaking at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, she shrugged: "I was talking about it before and I really wanted to do it but I was just a little bit too shy to actually do it.
"I have always had a voice and known I could sing, but then The Simple Life came along - and all these other projects - and I built my brand and travelled the world and I didn't really have time.
"When I finally let go and did it, I realised it is what I am most talented at and what I love to do the most." True to form, Paris knuckled down, got a record deal with Warner Bros and started working with Rob Cavallo - who discovered Green Day and has produced for Alanis Morissette.
But Paris revealed: "We were recording a rock album and I wasn't really feeling it.
"I liked it. It was really good for rock music but I don't listen to rock as much as I love hip hop and pop. So I met Scott Storch and changed the direction of the album from there.
"I made sure that there were no fillers. I think that most people only have the two hits and then the rest of the album sucks.
"So with me I wanted to make sure that every song is a smash. I really love Nothing In This World with Dr Luke and Turn You On - I think that says a lot about me."
Paris is squeezing the album into her hectic schedule, which includes a new series of The Simple Life - which starts shooting in late summer.
For our interview, she is dressed casually chic in a pair of Dolce and Gabbana black trousers, a BEBE vest and a white shirt underneath.
Paris is delighted, the reggae-tinged Stars Are Blind has been well received, with critics admitting surprise that she's produced something credible.
She laughed: "I think a lot of people are surprised. You know I like surprising people.
"This is something the world doesn't know that I do yet, but it's something I've been doing for over 20 years.
"It's like no other album. Every song is amazing.
"It's an eclectic mix of pop, rock, hip hop, reggae and dance and it's hot.
"I think the world will see there's a lot more to me then they think. There are some hidden messages in there and it's just a really fun album."
So what are her hidden messages ... "I hate Nicole Richie" or "Buy my perfume"?
Paris giggled: "You don't have to play it backwards but I'm not saying what they are. You'll have to discover them."
Even her own musical tastes are as varied as he career. They include James Blunt, Britney Spears, Jack Johnson, Justin Timberlake ... and Barry Manilow.
Don't ask her to name one of Barry's tunes, though. She admitted: "I don't know what he sings, but he's sexy. He has nice calm music." Not surprising, perhaps, for someone who thought the supermarket chain Wal-Mart sold walls.
Her crushes have been more predictable in the past, including New Kids on the Block pop star Joey McIntyre when she was a teenager.
She admitted: "I didn't like any rock stars. I hate long hair on guys, it's gross."
Which is odd, as Paris has never seemed choosy when it comes to men.
She's was linked to super-rich shipping heirs Paris Latsis, 26 (she ended their engagement last year) and Stavros Niarchos, 19, Terminator 2 actor Edward Furlong, 28, ex-Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, 26, and Sum 21 singer Deryck Whibley (who last week married singer Avril Lavigne).
Paris said: "I really love Avril. I think they are a really cute couple. They have liked each other since high school so it's really cute."
But, for the moment, the heiress is single - although she gets dozens of engagement rings in the post from guys who think they are going to marry her.
In fact, she reckons at least 20 men have just walked up to her and proposed.
Maybe they sense she's getting broody. Paris admits she keeps having dreams that she's got a baby.
She admits she wants to have a child in the next five years so has to find a guy in at least the next three years in order for that to happen.
Paris said: "I want a baby, but not now. At the moment I don't even go on dates. I just flirt with people."
For now business matters are more pressing.
Paris Whitney Hilton was brought up in New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel - run by her father Richard - and it looks like that Hilton entrepreneurial spirit is brushing off.
She reportedly made £4million last year, has trademarked her saying "That's hot" and has her own club, Paris, in Orlando, Florida.
She said: "I'm developing my own hotel/casino, clubs and really getting into real estate. It's just crazy at such a young age, I'm doing so much.
"I'm doing a Club Paris in Vegas right now and this will expand to hotel Paris."
As well as her perfume lines, her clubs, and now her music, she's also trying to become a respected actress.
After cameos in Zoolander and The Cat In The Hat, she won a bigger role in House Of Wax - although that effort won her the 2005 Worst Supporting Actress Razzie.
Undeterred, she took lead roles in two straight- to-DVD releases, Pledge This! and Bottom's Up, as well as a romantic comedy The Hottie And The Nottie which is scheduled to start filming in September.
She's also thinking of touring with her album and has hired Pussycat Dolls creator Robin Antin to help .
Paris said: "We just did auditions for dancers and now we are choreographing and rehearsing."
It seems Paris may take over the world.
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