«IT'S CALLED GOSSIP AND OF COURSE IT'S AN OBSESSION OF MINE»

Celebrity is not the same as popularity: that was the lesson Perez Hilton should have learned, but almost certainly didn't, last week. Maybe he thought his name would be enough to make the Perez Hilton Presents US package tour of hip up-and-coming acts – including Ladyhawke and Little Boots – a hit. After all, he's the ubiquitous gossip blogger, friend-to-the-stars and self-proclaimed "queen of all media" who has become an A-lister himself in the last few years. Nevertheless, ticket sales for his tour have been so poor that prices have had to be slashed – in some cases to nothing – for the remaining dates.
The tour reached its nadir in Boston, when the Norwegian indie rocker Ida Maria, playing to 250 people in a 2,400-capacity venue, suffered a meltdown on stage and pulled out of subsequent dates. The tour had been intended as an overture to the launch of the excruciatingly named Perezcious Music, through Warner Bros Records. So, will its failure give the music industry pause for thought about the absolute promotional value of celebrity?

-The Guardian
Oct 8 2009