Happy Tenth birthday to "Stars Are Blind", the unlikely precursor to Paris Hilton’s career as one of the world’s highest paid DJs
Since it was unleashed on June 5th, 2006, Paris Hilton’s music career has been landmarked not by pop chart success, but by an alarmingly rapid ascent to DJ fame. The importance of "Stars Are Blind" is incremental to her success however, as without its early take off in Latin America, it’s unlikely that she would have been booked as a DJ in the first place.
Auto tuned to the hilt, "Stars Are Blind" was so poor it became almost enjoyable. It stuck in the brain the same way the Crazy Frog did, taken seriously by critics who called it “her greatest contribution to society” and lauded its feel good, reggaeton simplicity.
Remixes of "Stars Are Blind" started to surface - the US edition of Ministry of Sound’s Annual 2007 opened with an official remix - though it was Wisin y Yandel who brought the track to Latin America and engineered its commercial success.
Six years later (after a failed attempt at acting and several public appearances with Afrojack) Paris had been booked for her debut gig in Sao Paolo. Following on from Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Lopez, she used the set to trial out her new song, an Afrojack production.
Neither her DJing, nor the new music seemed to please the music community the same way "Stars Are Blind" did. YouTube loves a celebrity fail video, and the internet is littered with Paris Hilton DJ fuck ups. This was a parody that couldn’t be taken seriously, though Hilton is not a woman deterred by criticism. After a year’s silence, she was back behind the decks - this time with an Amnesia residency in Ibiza.
Thus signalled the split of Ibiza becoming a celebrity paradise island, as well as a haven for music lovers. Outrage was felt throughout the music community as it was widely reported that Paris Hilton had become one of the highest paid DJs in the world. Deadmau5 naturally had something to say, and even ex-boyfriend Afrojack seemed outraged.
Regardless, Amnesia booked Paris for another season in 2014, seeming not to care about the stories of her pre-mixed sets and lack of ability. The Foam and Diamonds parties catered to a new breed of clubbers, and Paris Hilton became their queen.
A pioneer of celebrity DJing, there’s only so far you can ridicule Paris Hilton’s lack of talent. She’s forced it to work, moulding a whole new style of clubbing around the attraction of seeing someone you recognise from TV in a club.
Now Kylie Jenner’s doing it, Danny Dyer’s doing it, and every other member of TOWIE is doing it, though the only difference is their game plan is riding on the back of Paris Hilton’s coat tails, rather than the international success of a pop song that accidentally charmed Latin America.
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