I’m almost ashamed to say that the last music video I watched was Brit’s Gimme More, and that was for research for this site.  But even I know that it takes a while to film a video, at least a couple of days.  Lots of things involved, from hair and makeup to setting up shots to lighting and sound.  But Brit, bless her little cotton-pickin’ heart, is going to attempt to shoot her video in two hours.  That’s right:

Usmagazine.com has learned that production on the video for her single “Piece of Me” is scheduled to begin Tuesday at 8 a.m. at Social Hollywood. A source tells Us that the video will be directed by Wayne Isham, who helmed the video for the 2002 Brit hit, “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman.”

The source says that in the video, Brit and her dancers enter a club in matching wigs and trench coats in order to sneak Spears in. Once in the club and without her disguise, the pop star is followed by the paparazzi regardless.

A set source tells Us that since Spears, 25, has a scheduled visit with sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, on Tuesday, she will only be available to film for two hours, between noon and 2 p.m. During that time she will shoot scenes where she dances on a bar and runs down a staircase. There will be 15 extras, as well as a body double for Brit.

Dances on a bar?  Runs down a staircase?  Sounds thrilling.

Okay, here’s my question.  I understand that she has scheduled visitation time, and it’s great that she’s honoring those visits.  But couldn’t they have picked a different time, a different day, to shoot this thing?  I know that directors have schedules and crews have schedules, but Brit is supposed to be the star of the thing, couldn’t they have worked around her schedule a bit more?  Of course, the shoot does start at 8AM, not noon, so Brit could get up early and go…oh wait, I forgot who I was talking about.  Never mind.

Let’s think about this, though…with Britney out of the picture (figuratively and literally) for most of the shoot, this could turn out to be the best video she’s made in years.  Brit’s body double will undoubtedly see more screen time than Brit will, and that could turn out to be a good thing.  But maybe Brit will decide that she can leave the boys in the car with the court-appointed monitor and finish her shots.

So can you make a video without the star?  Is Brit ‘there’, even when she’s there?  Is she even attempting to put forth any effort to promote this album?

A possible solution could be that the film crew just follows her around for a few nights like the paps do, and I’m sure they’d get all the footage they need.

I’m going to admit…I have never seen “The Hills”, supposedly a hit show on MTV. The only way that I know who Lauren Conrad or Heidi Montag are is just from seeing their faces splashed across gossip sites and magazines. But when I read this article about Heidi and her new breasteses, I sat up and took notice. An excerpt:

“If I was with a guy and there was a girl next to me with big boobs, I would be like, Oh, my God, he’s looking at her! On the beach, if I was standing next to a girl with big boobs, I’d be like, I hate her! I hated my nose too. I have my dad’s nose, which is huge. It took up so much of my face, when I looked down, I could see my nose. I couldn’t get away from it!”

Let’s take a look at this. Heidi is a beautiful girl, both before and after the plastic surgery. However, she readily admits to being jealous of some random girl with bigger boobies than she was born with. Well. Velly intellesting. It sounds to me like Heidi’s problem is neither small breasts nor a large nose. Some things just can’t be fixed with plastic surgery, although I’m sure Heidi would dispute that. I’ve never even seen the show and I can tell, from what I’ve been reading about her, that she’s a bit insecure. And I’m sure her father is just thrilled to know his daughter thinks his nose is big.

According to sources, she’s been considering this for “years”. She’s twenty-one. When did she start considering this…age twelve? What a message to send out to young women, that the key to happiness and self-acceptance is to get plastic surgery, because the secret to one’s well-being and personal fulfillment is big, perky funbags. By gosh, that’ll just fix right up everything that’s wrong, and she’ll no longer have to hate another girl because her thighs are thinner or her elbows aren’t wrinkly, for example.

I’m not against plastic surgery; in extreme cases, it can be extremely beneficial to one’s psyche. But Heidi is no harelipped tot from an underdeveloped country…she’s a beautiful young woman, who obviously has both some self-esteem issues and a bit of a deficiency in the smarts department. Before, she was upset because she could look down and see her nose; so now she can look down and see her boobies. Oh noes, they’re too big!

Here’s another gem from the interview:

“But surgery is a very big deal. Right before I went in, I was like, What if I don’t wake up? Oh, this is scary. Then I thought, I don’t care. If I don’t wake up, it’s worth it. I just wanted it so badly.”

Well, that is a completely different thing altogether. Obviously she has found her cause, the thing that gives her life meaning. She’s right up there in the same league with Pat Tillman, a bona fide heroine. We all need something to believe in so strongly that we would willingly lay down our lives for it. Good for her. I apologize for thinking she was a shallow, self-centered mouth-breather with no self-esteem. I want to grow up and be just like Heidi. Only my boobs are already bigger.

Uhm, and so are my hips. And my thighs.

I hate her.

Janet Gabriel knows this story was false. Why? Because she was there on stage with Paris when she declined. Not because she can’t sing, but because she didn’t know the song. No shame in that is there?

I wrote about this over the weekend and didn’t want to go too far with the story until I heard back from Janet Gabriel, the woman who stated she was on stage with Paris Hilton at the Club 3121 for the Prince concert in Las Vegas, April 20.

I have heard back from her and she has offered verifiable proof that not only was she there, but the story that made headlines last week about Prince inviting Paris Hilton on stage just to humiliate her were false. According to Ms. Gabriel, members of the audience were invited on stage which included Paris Hilton and Ms. Gabriel. The chosen song was “Play That Funky Music” (Wild Cherry had the hit btw) and the reason Paris didn’t sing was she didn’t know the words. A perfectly reasonable reason to decline. This doesn’t mean that Paris Hilton can sing live, but it doesn’t mean she can’t either.

I contacted Us Magazine for a comment on this story and was referred to a Mark Neschis. After asking for my credentials he stated he would call me back. I waited for about an hour and a half. I then called him back asking if Us wanted to give their side of the story. His response, “I don’t know who are,” “You haven’t give me enough time,” and “Why are you being belligerent?” To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t belligerent, but I was persistent. I tried to offer him more time, but he cut me off with, “You want a statement from Us, the statement is “No comment.”

No word on whether they plan to print a retraction of their story.

I have contacted Paris Hilton’s representation at her company Paris Hilton Entertainment, and Endeavor Agency (her talent agency) in an effort to get in contact with Elliot Mintz, Paris’ spokesperson. I was given her PR assistant email - I am waiting to hear back from them.

The story — though hardly a matter of national security — was picked up and covered by just about every celeb site out there, as well as mainstream media, including MSNBC, Blender and The Boston Globe. By the time I gave up counting the links, it was well over 100.

As I stated in my previous post, most of us found this story too good to pass up. Clearly, so did Us Magazine who originally printed it, both in their May 7th issue and on their website. The story, in their “HOT STUFF!” section is aptly titled: Paris Hilton, DISSED BY PRINCE!

Surely they new that would be a great story to cover - Paris is the celeb we love to trash. She often makes it easy with her flamboyant and unabashed nature. I am no angel in that regard, I have posted many nasty and unpleasant things with great relish on this site about Paris Hilton. But I, like most online sites, get my celeb news from the mainstream media. Their tone and their coverage set the stage for who we love and who we love to hate.

The story in Us just says “A source tells Hot Stuff that Hilton, 26, was in the audience at the Purple One’s April 20 Club 3121 gig at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas when he invited her to join him.” And that’s where the truth ends.

Here’s what soul singer Janet Gabriel, had to say about that night at the club:

“Unfortunately, I did not meet Paris Hilton anywhere apart from on Princes stage. We were mere inches apart, facing each other for a few seconds with Prince[’s] backing singer between us while I sung the first bar of the song with the mic in Shelby’s hand. She [Paris] actually appeared relieved that I got her off the hook of singing a song she didn’t know the words to and she smiled shyly, yet appreciatively at me then I turned towards Prince, then the audience to finish the song. She did not storm off in anger at all and all that stuff about Prince attempting to humiliate her was not true at all. His shows in Vegas are all about audience participation and he was only trying to recognize her presence. I heard he did the same when Gnarls Barkley singer CeLo attended a previous gig in Vegas.

Given, Paris has made a few mistakes in the past, and I do admire her ability to keep going on despite all the negative publicity for which she may be partially responsible, but it really doesn’t give anybody any excuse to keep using every opportunity to pull the poor lady down and keep her her a laughing stock. Hence I appreciate your efforts to get US Magazine to admit their mistake.”

Ms. Gabriel, a software developer, has invested all her money and efforts into a music career as a soul/jazz singer with her backing band the Neophonics. Despite being in the midst of getting ready to leave her native UK to go on tour in Nigeria, she said she couldn’t let the story stand unchallenged. She left comments on Us’ website, Glosslip and here.

As someone at the beginning of their journey into building a name for themselves as an artist, she understands all too well how the media can make or break you. I thank her for setting the record straight. Maybe Paris will too.