Paris Hilton was on popular German variety show “Wetten, Das?” or “Wanna Bet?” this weekend. Overall she was rather boring, although she got the crowd laughing with a stupid comment that wasn’t meant to be a joke. Host Thomas Gottschalk made two cracks about her high intelligence and it didn’t seem like she understood that he was making fun of her.

When Paris came on stage she kissed the five guests that were already there on both cheeks, although that’s not a custom at all in Germany. She seemed nervous at first, but warmed up as the show went on. The show is broadcast in German and English-speaking guests rely on a translation of the questions from a listening device.

Host Thomas Gottschalk asked Paris about her boyfriend, Benji Madden, and mentioned that she’s on tour with him. Gottschalk asked if she was able to step out of the spotlight and let her boyfriend take center stage.

Paris is “really in love”
She said, “I’m so proud of him. I love the band. I’m really in love so it’s nice being on tour. It’s exciting being here as well.”

Then the host asked Paris about her reputation. He said everyone is talking about her and that some people call her a clever businesswoman and others call her a comic figure. He asked how she would describe herself.

Paris answered “I’m definitely a businesswoman. I have several business projects.”

Paris talked about her upcoming show to find a best friend and said it would include girls and guys.

Gottschalk joked that Paris might chose one of the cute one German male actors on stage, and one guy said he was taken and the other one said “I’m not.”

Paris said “I’m very loyal, especially now.”
Paris said she was taken and that “I’m very loyal, definitely, especially now,” which made the crowd crack up laughing, although she didn’t seem to intend it as a joke.

They had three female German biatheletes on stage and Paris said “I love sports, I love to ski.” She complimented one of the biatheletes on her bright red hair.

On the show the guests bet whether people can complete bizarre tasks and if the celebrities lose they have to do something that’s meant to be embarrassing and/or uncomfortable. For instance the two young German guys, Jimi Blue and Wilson Gonzalez, had to take a bath in a vat of ice water on stage when they lost their bet.

Paris’ lame challenge
Paris’ bet involved whether an Australian guy could hit a squash ball three times into a tiny box outside the court. She bet he could do it and lost, and all she had to do after she lost was pick someone out of the audience and pose with them in a photo booth, something that comes naturally for her.

Host mocks Paris
Gottschalk asked Paris to pose for a photo with another guest, soccer goalie Oliver Kahn, and made a joke that they needed a photo for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (similar to the NY Times) for a report on people of high intelligence. Paris didn’t laugh so they either didn’t translate that it for her or she didn’t get it.

Overall it’s safe to say that Paris remains an object of derision in Germany.

You can watch the video of Paris’ lame challenge on ZDF.de. Pictures from local newspaper thueringer-allgemeine.de.

Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner were on popular German talkshow “Wetten Das?” or “Wanna Bet?,” which broadcast from Basel, Switzerland on Saturday. The show features average people performing silly stunts, with guests betting on whether they’ll be able to successfully complete the bet in the time allotted. They were on to promote The Kingdom. Garner said they had just been in Berlin but had some time to check out Basel that day.

The interview wasn’t that revealing and they just promoted the film, with Garner giving a very diplomatic response about the film being balanced in its portrayal of American politics. Host Thomas Gottschalk praised The Kingdom and said given the subject matter he was quite surprised how good it was. The best part of the show was when Foxx lost the challenge they were betting on and had to yodel for the crowd.

The bet was if a little girl could identify five of over 50 hard puppets by feeling them with her nose within a certain time period. It was weird, but most of the bets on that show are strange. The other three challenges of the night involved a farmer sinking balls into a basketball hoop using the upwards exhaust air from a tractor, a guy holding 10 bricks against a wall for 20 seconds using just his thumb, and a man throwing plungers on his friends’ naked backs.

The 12 year-old girl successfully identified the puppets and Garner won the bet, since she bet that the girl would be able to complete the task, saying she thought that girls should stick together. Foxx bet against the girl and since he lost he had to yodel. After Melissa Etheridge performed the host asked her if she would play the guitar to accompany Foxx’s yodeling. A yodeling clip was played for Foxx to emulate, and he danced along to it and was able to mimic it well. Foxx is an accomplished singer and he was a good sport. This cracked me up:

Jamie Foxx remained on the show until nearly the end, and joked with super hot boxing twins Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, posing with them at one point. Garner left shortly after the yodeling, saying she had to get back to the states to film a movie with Kevin Kline. Along with Melissa Etheridge, musical guests included Avril Lavigne and Sunrise Avenue.

“Wetten Das?” is the most popular show in Europe and has been on the air since 1981.

Photos are screenshots available from the full length video on the ZDF website. The clip here is an excerpt from a longer video accessible from their site. Foxx is still rocking those clip-on earrings.