BURBANK, CA (Warner Bros. Records) - The incredible buzz surrounding the release of Paris Hilton's debut album, "Paris," built to a deafening roar last week, even before the album dropped on August 22nd in the U.S. Press, paparazzi, and fans turned out in droves to greet the heiress-turned-pop star at a series of in-store signing events and CD-release parties in Miami, New York City, and Los Angeles. Hilton stayed for hours to sign a CD booklet for every fan who came to meet her and offer congratulations on her album. "
Paris" debuted at Number 6 on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart and sold over 400,000 copies its first week of release worldwide.
On August 23rd, the day the album was released in Japan, Hilton flew to Tokyo for a promotional tour that included a visit to Tokyo Live, Japan's biggest pop station. Hundreds of fans crowded around the street-level windows to catch a glimpse of Hilton making her appearance at the station. She was then whisked off to HMV for an in-store Q&A and autograph signing for 120 fans who were pre-selected to meet her. Following the in-store, Hilton made a surprise visit to the open air Station Square in the Shinjuku district where she took to the stage to thank the crowd for its support and for sharing the day with her, as the video for her hit debut single "Stars Are Blind" played on a giant screen behind her. Fans mobbed Hilton's car as she left, throwing flowers to a lucky few. Police in Shinjuku commented that it was the most crowded event they have ever witnessed in the Square.
In other Paris news, Warner Bros. Records partnered with YouTube to launch the first-ever Brand Channel on the leading video entertainment site last week, with all content devoted exclusively to Hilton, including the video for "Stars Are Blind," behind-the-scenes footage of the making of "Paris," and clips from her promotional appearances around the world. The Paris Hilton channel can be viewed at www.youtube.com/parishilton and already touts nearly four thousand subscribers. In addition, Hilton is the first recording artist to take part in YouTube's new Participatory Video Ad. Paris' ad appeared on the website's homepage and featured Hilton speaking to the YouTube community about her new album, followed by the video for "Stars Are Blind." Hilton quickly became one of the Most Viewed and Most Discussed videos on the site.
Next up for the in-demand star is promotion for her new single "Nothing In This World," which goes to radio this week and is already in early rotation on New York's influential Z100 and Q102 in Philadelphia. Hilton will shoot a video for the track, which was written by songwriting heavyweights Dr. Luke and Sheppard Solomon, in Los Angeles on September 5th and 6th with director Scott Speer
**** Joan Osborne to Release 'Pretty Little Stranger' on November 14, 2006 
SANTA MONICA, CA. (By Lucy Sabini/ Vanguard Records) - Premier vocalist and songwriter, Joan Osborne, will be releasing her Vanguard Records debut, "Pretty Little Stranger," on November 14th.
Recorded in Nashville and produced by Grammy winner, Steve Buckingham, "Pretty Little Stranger" highlights the soulful sound of Joan Osborne with elements of country blues and Americana. This 12 song collection features six original tunes written by Joan including the first single, "Who Divided," "Shake That Devil," "After Jane" and the title track and also compositions by Kris Kristofferson ("Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends"), Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter ("Brokedown Palace") and Patty Griffin ("What You Are").
Joan stated, "I would call this my version of a country record - some of it very traditional, some less so. It tells feelings and stories in very simple language, and I wanted to focus on that simple way of communicating, rather than be flowery and poetic. I needed to get down to the bare bones and I feel like we did a good job of doing that."
"Pretty Little Stranger" features some of music's finest performers lending their talents including Vince Gill on "Time Won't Tell," Alison Krauss, "Holy Waters," Sonny Landreth playing slide guitar on "Dead Roses" and Rodney Crowell providing harmony vocals on his own "When The Blue Hour Comes."
Joan Osborne had one of the biggest releases of the mid-90s with "Relish" and participated in the historic and successful Lilith Fair Tour. She has worked with a myriad of artists like Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, The Chieftains and Bonnie Raitt. She toured with The Dead in the summer of 2004 and recently finished a tour with Phil Lesh & Friends.
