The bar is set so low, in fact, that Hilton has almost nothing to lose. On the other hand, if the CD is above average, the surprise factor could turn her into a pop savant -- Hilton's advantage position time and again.
To hear it from her musical collaborators as well as media observers with no vested interest in her success or failure as a singer, she's got the discerning ear, protean work ethic and even the pitch control to make it as an American Idol in her own right.
A closer reading of their laudatory comments, however, reveals a common refrain, a shocked, cautious appreciation that seems to almost damn the socialite with faint praise.
Superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold, who remixed Hilton's song "Turn It Up," sums up the conventional wisdom about her singing: "I think a lot of people were expecting it to be a lot worse than it is."
In the latest referendum on Hilton's popularity, that may be her most bankable trait. Call Paris Hilton the Queen of Low Expectations.
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It's taking a village
HILTON has recorded an album's worth of material -- 10 tracks -- with Scott Storch, the producer behind hits for 50 Cent, Beyonce and Dr. Dre. But the lineup keeps changing; she continues to outsource songwriting duties to new writer-producers such as Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald (who has worked with Pink and Kelly Clarkson) and recent Oscar winners for best original song, Three 6 Mafia.
It's impossible to ignore the perception that the heiress, 25, can pay as much as it takes to surround herself with hitmakers, all but guaranteeing the chart primacy of whatever she records. But according to Kara DioGuardi, who has penned hits for a constellation of Top 40 stars and who co-wrote three songs with Hilton, she seems to have found her musical niche.
"It's fun music, it's danceable, with elements of Blondie, a little reggae and great beats," DioGuardi says. "She has a very sweet voice, very breathy. It sounds exactly like what you would want Paris to be doing."
Which is to say Hilton doesn't totally stink. In an interview with The Times last year, Storch offered similarly qualified kudos: "She's actually got quite a musical ability. Her rhythm is better than a lot of people I've recorded in the past."
Even cynical journalists such as Village Voice gossip columnist Michael Musto, who traveled from New York to Los Angeles to interview Hilton for Out's cover story, begrudgingly admit to being won over by the international socialite and her music. "I've written a lot of negative stuff against her," Musto says. "I came to bury her and I've ended up praising her."
