ROLL CALL: Eva Gets Back To Work & Paris Gets Her Groove Back

Your Daily Dispatch of Celebrity Shenanigans by Tommy Vergason

July 17, 2007

HILTON’S HARMONIES: Although Paris Hilton spent the weekend frolicking in the sun and surf of Malibu (complete with her own little “wardrobe malfunction”) , the self-described “businesswoman” is apparently getting back to work — on her music career. “I’m already working on my new record,” Hilton reportedly told E! ONLINE. “I’ve been in meetings with Scott [Storch] and we’ve been working on it.” Storch, who produced Paris’ self-titled first album last year, has worked on chart-topping albums for the likes of Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, R. Kelly, 50 Cent and Dr. Dre. “I’ve been working on it with Scott for a few weeks,” Paris is quoted as saying. A source reportedly “close” to Hilton told E! that the celebutante is determined to make this album better than the last. “Of all her projects, her music is the most important to her,” the source reportedly said. “She really works very hard to be taken seriously in the industry and make good music people will enjoy.” Whether they “enjoyed” it or not, approximately 600,000 people bought Paris’ last album, which included the Top 20 single, “Stars Are Blind.” As for Paris’ wild weekend in Malibu: a report from THE NY DAILY NEWS’ BEN WIDDICOMBE claims that Hilton may have found new love on the beach in the form of 21 year-old T-shirt designer Tyler Atkins. The pair were reportedly spotted “making out like teenagers,” according to Widdicombe’s source, and Atkins was seen cuddling Paris’ Yorkie terrier, Cinderella, before attending a clambake with Hilton Saturday evening.

JUSTIN’S SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY: If clambakes aren’t really your thing, perhaps some old-fashioned Southern cooking would strike your fancy. Justin Timberlake hopes that’s the case, as tomorrow sees the grand opening of his new Memphis-inspired restaurant in New York City. Timberlake has opened restaurants before, including an Italian Eatery in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, but THE NY POST’s PAGE SIX reports that this particular restaurant is getting the personal Timberlake touch. According to the report, Justin partnered with pals Eytan Sugarman and Trace Ayala on Southern Hospitality (also located on the Upper East Side), which will feature dishes taken straight from Timberlake family recipes. The antique-heavy decor also comes from Justin’s home town of Memphis, reportedly purchased at flea markets in the Tennessee city.

A ‘HOUSEWIFE’ COMES HOME: After spending the last three weeks in France and the Caribbean, Eva Longoria has returned home to Los Angeles, PEOPLE reports. The new bride reported back to work on the set of “Desperate Housewives” at Universal Studios yesterday, following her wedding extravaganza (and honeymoon) with husband Tony Parker. “It was a great wedding, but it was time to come home,” Longoria’s rep Liza Anderson reportedly told PEOPLE. “I got a call from her this morning (and) she was already at work. She sounded so great, really upbeat. She’s completely content.” Eva’s & Tony’s honeymoon on the Island of Turks and Caicos was described as “low key,” with the newlyweds reportedly dining over long candlelit dinners and spending their days relaxing and playing pingpong and Yahtzee. “It was just her and Tony,” Anderson is quoted as saying. “They had a private villa. She’s completely relaxed and rejuvenated. She had a full week alone with Tony to decompress. It was the perfect balance to gear up for Season 4. So she’s really excited. She wasn’t dreading work at all.”

A ‘BUNDCH’ OF CASH: Another famous female likely to enjoy her job is Gisele Bundchen, who tops FORBES’ 2007 list of The Top Earning Models in the World. The supermodel took in a reported $33 million over the last year, more than triple the $9 million banked by Kate Moss, who came in second on the list. According to FORBES, the “relevancy” of the model –determined by recent campaigns, editorials, fashion magazine covers and the opinion of those in the industry– is also taken into account when assembling their list of top-earning beauties. Household names Heidi Klum ($8 million), Adriana Lima ($6 million) and Alessandra Ambrosio ($6 million) round out the top five slots. While most models on the list have one major modeling contract in addition to three or four seasonal campaigns, Bundchen juggles almost 20 campaigns. She also brings in at least $6 million a year by licensing her name to a Brazilian shoe company, Grendene. But Gisele may not stay at the top for long. In December, her record-breaking $5 million a year deal with Victoria’s Secret expires.

AMBASSADOR IGLESIAS: Latin music sensation Enrique Iglesias recently marked an achievement of his own, when he became the first Western performer to put on a concert in Syria in over 30 years. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY spoke with Iglesias about his July 4th show in the troubled Middle Eastern nation, of which he said was “one of the best crowds [he] ever played for.” “I’ve traveled around the world, and I’m so used to being places where there’s conflict,” Iglesias reportedly said. “Obviously, there’s tension, but there are still millions of people that live a normal life. It’s not like you’re going to go there and there’s going to be gunshots or bombs going off in every corner. When people watch the news, that’s the vision they get from these countries, and it’s not like that.” Enrique added that he was surprised to learn that his audience, made up of a diverse array of people, knew his lyrics and sang along. “Every single song,” he is quoted as saying. “Whether it was a single or it wasn’t a single. That’s what amazed me — from the first song to the last song.”

WHEN YOU GOTTA GO… : And finally, VH1’s BEST WEEK EVER features a video clip from yesterday’s episode of “The View,” in which Elisabeth Hasselbeck tells an amusing story about having to borrow two of her daughter’s diapers when she found herself in an awkward predicament. It seems that that the pregnant talk show host traveled to her family’s storage unit in New Jersey this week, and had the sort of emergency that expecting women commonly experience (as co-host Joy Behar muses in the clip, “Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now!”). With no bathroom in sight, Hasselbeck said that she reached for her two year-old daughter’s diapers, and ducked into the storage unit to relieve the situation. But was her desperate attempt successful? “Let me tell you something,” she told her co-hosts (and the audience) with a laugh, “those things work!”