Paris Hilton’s My New Dubai BFF

My latest discovery is a series on MTV many of you, like myself, will have never knew existed. Paris Hilton’s My New Dubai BFF.

You heard right. Not only was there a Paris Hilton’s My New BFF (apparently there were 4), but it has spawned a Dubai version. (Seriously – Paris Hilton is now selling this shit to the middle east. They obviously must be the only ones still interested.) 

Like most things to do with Paris Hilton, this show is super skeevy. Add to that the cheese factor of the Middle East and you have gold. The whole production is a low rent rip off of America’s Next Top Model which follows Paris Hilton as she searches Dubai for a new BFF (even though Hilton has never been to Dubai before??). Its a pretty standard format but what makes it so watchable are the contestants, a group of wannabe middle east socialites who all insist they want to be Paris’ best friend even though they haven’t spent more than a few minutes with her. And Paris herself.

First off, Paris appears to have a lot of trouble simply being herself, especially for someone who has built their career on being that said self and seeing this is the fifth installment of this franchise.

Anytime Paris enters into a room, she does the most awkward walk. I can only describe it as a swan on crack. The best part is that she looks as though she is really proud of it. You have to see it.

During the show, Paris makes a series of straight-to-camera commentaries where she reads an auto cue so awkwardly it comes across like she is trying to convince us she can read. For the rest of the show, she appears completely bored, especially during eliminations where she mouths platitudes like “this is really hard but someone has to go” while appearing to care less. She looks completely uninterested in participating in what essentially is her (last remaining) meal ticket. Maybe as this was not meant for American audiences she just doesn’t care.

What surprises me is how mean spirited the show can be. Paris encourages the girls to ‘talk smack’ about each other and last week a genuinely nice contestant who one minute was Paris’ ‘lucky star’, for no reason the next was stripped of the honour, escorted to the airport and told by a deformed giant (no kidding) that “Paris says TTYN. Talk To You Never.” The challenges are pretty shameless attempts to create conflict. One involved the girls handing out sashes to each other with nasty label on them such as ‘worst teeth’ that predictably ended in an argument. In another, after picking out a diamond ring for Paris, the winning team were “rewarded” with a three blocks of chocolate each and t-shirt. 


This show is hilarious to watch, but I can’t wait for Tyra to bust in any second and smack Paris Hilton down.