Paris and Madonna

PARIS

Stars Are Blind

Paris is burning -“ up the charts. Or at least she should be. Against the odds, the Hilton heiress’s debut single Stars Are Blind is a cracker. The song is a cross between bubblegum pop and a UB40 single, an unlikely pairing that somehow works

Most surprising is Hilton’s voice. While the woman who made bimbos chic is no Kelly Clarkson or Mariah Carey, she does possess a decent set of pipes. Add a catchy melody and some cheerful but forgettable lyrics and you have an infectious pop release.

Whether Hilton can sustain a whole album (her first CD is due out later in the year) remains to be seen. But on the strength of Stars Are Blind, she may not be known purely for her red carpet antics for too much longer.

Review: Ian Gould

MADONNA

I’m Going To Tell You A Secret

This documentary offers an interesting insight into the world of Madonna as it follows the star on her 2004 Reinvention Tour of America and Europe. We are taken behind the scenes as the Material Girl auditions new dancers and learns the choreography, copes with opening night jitters (which give her diarrhoea) in LA, then takes the show on the road until the final show in Lisbon.

There are plenty of candid scenes showing Madonna interacting with her family, cast and crew, interspersed with edited highlights from the concert itself including performances of Vogue, American Life and Holiday. It’s fascinating to see how a mega-concert like this is put together and fun to see Madge running around backstage as she changes costumes and jokes with the crew.

It certainly shows her in a much more flattering light than 1991’s In Bed With Madonna, in which she came across as a temperamental diva. Now she’s a lot better behaved -“ unfortunately -“ possibly because she’s mellowed in old age and motherhood.

As a result there are quite a few boring bits in this two-hour doco, especially when she starts preaching to viewers about why they should vote, about Kabbalah and even about the Israel-Palestine conflict. This package also includes a CD featuring live tracks from the Reinvention Tour, which is all good fun apart from her disastrous rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine.

Review: Myles Wearring