Flashback to 2006: Paris Hilton scores a Top 10 with Stars Are Blind

Strange things happen all the time in pop. Cartoon characters get to Number 1, 11-year-olds get in the charts, and theme tunes from your favourite TV shows go Top 10, sang by people who star in them. But perhaps one of the strangest things to happen came in the shape of celeb mag staple and paparazzi favourite, reality TV star ad heiress Paris Hilton.

You couldn't open a magazine in 2006 without finding Paris's half-bemused, kind of detached smile looking back at you – she had a TV show, plenty of endorsements, branded products, a chihuahua in a handbag and a very hectic social life. About the only thing she didn't have so far was a pop career, but what Paris wants, Paris gets so, in summer 2006, a dream became a reality. And despite what the haters said, it was better than you might think.

Paris's self-titled debut was on its way, and first cab off the promotional rank was the summery, surprising, reggae-tinged beach jam Stars Are Blind. While the title might suggest a razor-sharp parody of the vacuous celebrity world poor Paris found herself in, Stars Are Blind was actually a slushy love story set to music, a total opus that our previous faves could only have dreamed of singing. And this week in 2006, it did what few expected, and shot into the Top 10. Charting at 35 on downloads only, the physical sale saw Stars Are Blind soar 30 slots into the top 10 at Number 5. You can't hold back an iconic moment from its destiny.

Sadly, Stars Are Blind didn't make it any farther than Number 5, but it did survive another week in the Top 10. 

Meanwhile, at Number 1, Shakira and Wyclef Jean scored a third week out of the top, going on to score two more – it would take Beyoncé's Deja Vu to shift them. Beyoncé and Shakira would eventually hit Number 1 together with Beautiful Liar in 2007.

Rihanna's Unfaithful had another stab at ruling the charts, with its second week at 2. Just four short years later, RiRi would duet with X Factor finalist Matt Cardle, helping secure his win on the show. We bet Rihanna remembers the evening fondly.

Further down the chart there are new entries from Similou, Raconteurs and short-lived, but amazing, girlgroup Frank. See the full Top 100.

But today belongs to Paris. There were no more Top 40 hits, and the album reached Number 29, but we will always have this Top 5 moment. 

Take a look at our gallery of all things pop in the Noughties:

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Main image: REX