Hold The Phone: Nicole Richie Can Sing?

Casting a star in a Broadway production tends to either bomb disastrously (Julia Roberts in Three Days of Rain, anyone?) or succeed spectacularly (Fantasia in The Color Purple, who killed). So when we heard the news that Nicole Richie is up for the role as Roxie in the long-running Chicago, we got nervous. Sure, she’ll bring in the tweens, but can the girl actually sing? We did some investigating on that “debut album” Richie promised her public way back in 2005, and found a scratchy YouTube video featuring one single called “Dandelion” that may or may not have been planned for release. And we’re no Simon Cowell, but we predict she’ll breeze through “Funny Honey” much more smoothly than cringey-voiced Renee Zellweger did in the Oscar-winning flick. Judge for yourselves after the jump.

Though we can’t get any sense of whether or not Nic can dance, she has been known to boogie on a banquette or two to the crowd’s approval. But after listening to the song, we’re rooting for Nicole’s chances on landing the part. And noticing how vastly better Nicole’s personal and professional life is going compared to former upper-handed BFF Paris Hilton (a baby, a role in a Fosse musical, a devoted boyf, and finally some meat on her bones), we’re on Team Richie, all the way.

• NICOLE RICHIE OFFERED LEAD ROLE IN ‘CHICAGO’ [Us]