Paris Hilton (25) is staying true to form on her visit to Tokyo. She’s been late for every PR event she’s attended over the past few days, and was 45 minutes tardy for yesterday’s “Samantha Tabatha” promotion in Tokyo’s Minami Aoyama. She greeted the 30 fans, chosen by lottery to attend the event, with some basic Japanese. Making her emcee debut for the event was 2006 Miss Universe runner-up Chibana Kurara (photo, 24), who in my opinion easily overshadows the heiress in the looks department. The Okinawa native was the highest Japanese finisher in the annual event since Kojima Akiko was crowned in 1959. She also won a prize at the event for best national costume, wearing a version of a Sengoku-jidai samurai outfit that included a slit miniskirt and high heels!
• American-Japanese newcomer Joelle already has her third theme song. She has recorded the theme for “Tanka”, the directorial debut by lyricist Aki Yoko (64), who also penned the lyrics for the tune “Rashin” (Naked). With music written by her husband Uzaki Ryudo (60), the song is said to be suitably raunchy for the erotic theme of the movie. Joelle was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and has an American father and Japanese mother, both English teachers. The family moved to Akita when she was one year old. She went to a girl’s high school during which time she studied opera. After graduating from a Tokyo music school, she sent a demo tape to a Backstreet Boys producer and ended up recording in the U.S. Her debut album, “Lucky Maria” was released in January and included all three songs from that demo. The title track was used as the theme for a special edition of the TV Asahi drama “Trick” in November, and again for a movie version in June.