Paris Hilton strips down to reveal "hot" energy plan (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Millionaire socialite Paris Hilton has jumped into the U.S. election campaign, calling Republican candidate John McCain a "wrinkly white-haired guy" and offering her own energy policy.

The blonde Hilton, dressed in a leopard print swim suit and gold pumps, jokingly declared her own candidacy in a video posted on the website Funny or Die, saying: "I want America to know that I'm, like, totally ready to lead."

She was responding to a television ad by McCain, 71, that used her image to attack Democratic rival Barack Obama.

The 27-year-old socialite said McCain's use of her in the ad, which sought to undermine Obama by likening his popularity to her celebrity, had effectively put her in the race for the top U.S. office.

Pretending to take time off from reading a travel magazine as she leaned back on a lounge chair, Hilton insinuated herself into the hot issue between Obama and McCain -- how to solve the U.S. energy crisis.

"We can do limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars," Hilton simpered, drawing on suggestions from both candidates.

Hilton, a tabloid favourite who gained fame from a notorious home-made sex tape, offered to paint the White House pink and threw down the gauntlet to McCain and Obama.

"I'll see you at the debates, bitches," she said.

Under U.S. law, Hilton would not in fact be eligible to hold the office of the presidency for eight more years.

McCain meanwhile released a second television ad that mocked Obama as a celebrity, but it avoided any mention of Hilton or other Hollywood types.

His spokesman Tucker Bounds said: "Paris Hilton might not be as big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy plan."

Hilton's mother, a McCain donor, had lambasted as a complete waste of money the Republican candidate's advertisement using her daughter's image.

"It is a complete waste of the country's time and attention at the very moment when millions of people are losing their homes and their jobs. And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next President of the United States," she wrote on the political Web site Huffington Post.

(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington)

(Editing by David Storey)

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Gordon Ramsay "dispute" sparks foodie bun-fight (Reuters)

LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters Life!) - It's knives and forks drawn in the well-fed world of restaurant reviewers.

Two top-selling restaurant guides -- New York-based foodie's bible Zagat's, and Harden's, a Zagat-inspired tome that's a force in Britain -- are locked in an unseemly spat over their latest London rankings.

And at the heart of the gastronomic stand-off is Gordon Ramsay, the expletive-spewing, global celebrity-cum-chef who is never far from controversy.

Put simply, Zagat's thinks Ramsay is the top dog on the London fine-dining scene, while Harden's believes the best days of the motor-mouth chef may be over.

In its 2009 guide, Harden's gives top-billing to Petrus, a restaurant whose head chef, Marcus Wareing, is a Gordon Ramsay protege. Ramsay's flagship restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, is pushed into second place.

"Wareing is emerging from Ramsay's shadow' as the proprietor of what is now clearly the best restaurant in London, and he and his team should be congratulated," declared Peter Harden, the co-editor of Harden's, before adding:

"The Ramsay empire's current performance -- and in particular the poor standard of most of the more recent openings -- raises questions as to its direction, and its ability to maintain its reputation as an operator of the highest quality."

It was a stinging rebuke for Ramsay, who had been at the top of the rankings for eight years.

But as far as Harden's -- motto "To tell it how it is" -- is concerned, it was only a matter of time as Ramsay lent his name to ever more establishments and the quality of some declines.

"Ramsay's not superhuman despite the media myth," Richard Harden, Peter's brother, told Reuters. "Something had to give."

But Zagat's is not so sure and its founder, Tim Zagat, has been outspoken in his disagreement with Harden's decision. At the launch of the 2009 Zagat London guide this week he told the Evening Standard newspaper:

"Harden's are full of s--- and you can quote me on that.

"They attack people every year just to get more publicity. Gordon Ramsay is an easy target for them because of his profile," the paper quoted Zagat as saying.

Harden's responded by issuing a press release that began: "Oh dear, bad language seems to be infectious," an apparent reference to Ramsay's fluency in swearing.

"We're not going to get into a slanging match with a competing publisher," Harden's wrote, before going on to point out how the competing guides were generally in agreement on some of Ramsay's lower-budget eateries if not the flagship one.

Zagat and his wife Tina, who began their guides in New York 30 years ago and have built them into a multi-million dollar global brand, were not immediately available for comment.

Given how competitive the restaurant business in London is, especially at a time when the wealthy are cutting back, the dispute is unlikely to die down quickly.

But for once, and perhaps surprisingly, the only person who hasn't yet stepped into the fray is the man at the heart of the bun-fight: the usually loquacious Ramsay.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

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And the most overpaid celebrity is... (Reuters)

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Nicole Kidman was named the most overpaid celebrity in Hollywood in the second annual list of least bankable stars by U.S. magazine Forbes, taking the top slot from fellow Australian Russell Crowe.

Kidman's films were estimated to only earn $1 for every dollar the Oscar-winning actress was paid compared with $8 a year ago.

"The Invasion," a remake of the 1956 classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," even lost $2.68 for every dollar earned by

Kidman who was reportedly paid $17 million for her role.

"Despite winning an Oscar for her performance in 2002's "The Hours," Kidman has become the most overpaid celebrity in Hollywood," said Forbes, adding that her upcoming movie "Australia" could give her a boost.

Second in the list came Jennifer Garner, whose movies including "The Kingdom" and "Catch and Release" have underperformed at the box office. Her movies were calculated to

earn $3.60 for every $1 she was paid.

Kidman's ex-husband, Tom Cruise, came third in the list with a $4 return for every dollar he was paid, mostly because of the failure of last year's movie "Lions for Lambs." For every dollar the star earned the film returned only $1.88.

Forbes said the ranking was compiled by looking at a star's

past three movies and dividing their total earnings by the films' gross income to get the actor's payback figure.

Making up the top 10 of overpaid Hollywood celebrities were

Cameron Diaz, Jim Carrey, Nicolas Cage, Drew Barrymore, Will Ferrell and Cate Blanchett.

The actor whose bankability improved most over the past year was Crowe, who was ranked the most overpaid celebrity last

year when Kidman was in second place.

Last year, Forbes estimated the movie "Cinderella Man" earned $5 for every dollar that Crowe was paid.

But this year, he was the 18th best earner on a previously issued list of which actors were worth their paychecks, with a return of $6.88 for every dollar he earned.

This bump was attributed to last year's movie "American Gangster" with Denzel Washington, for which Crowe returned a healthy $10.80 for every dollar he was paid.

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