The weird phenomenon that is Paris Hilton glided into Sydney yesterday, ringed by her burly entourage, surrounded for much of the day by sightseers, and hidden by a vast pair of reflective dark sunglasses.

In person, she seemed friendly but a bit guarded, issuing monosyllabic statements from behind the shades. She was asked what she wanted to do in Sydney. “The koalas,” came the answer. Was Santa Claus good to her this year. “Always.” What will 2007 bring? “Umm. A lot.”

After checking into the Sheraton on the Park, the heiress donned a Luis Vuitton bikini and microscopic white shorts for a trip to blonde heartland: Bondi Beach. After frolicking in the surf, Hilton rinsed herself off at an outdoor shower, attended by about 200 onlookers and a knot of TV cameras. Then it was off to the Bondi Icebergs.

Earlier, she had sashayed through Sydney Airport after her delayed flight touched down, igniting a predictable media frenzy. No fewer than three security organisations - airport guards, the federal police and Hilton’s own crack team of enforcers - were on hand to impose order. A female Herald photographer was lifted bodily out of Paris’s path as the heiress pushed her way through the scrum.

Why exactly is Paris such hot property? No one knows, and plenty couldn’t care less, but the Singleton family’s move to bring her out to promote their beer brand already looks like a canny one.

The beer took centre stage for a while at the Hilton Hotel, while Jack Singleton and, oddly, the surfer Koby Abberton shortlisted 40 blonde ladies to be the “face” of Bondi Blonde and Paris’s sidekick.

Some were tall, others petite and a little more pneumatic, some had alabaster skin whilst others bore tandoori tans - but all sported more-or-less blonde locks.

The audition went for two hours, with hundreds of hopefuls in bikinis and strolling in small groups under the eye of Singo and Abbers, who was looking for more than just a pretty face and quizzed candidates on their skolling abilities. “I like girls who drink beer,” he told Herald reporter Emily Dunn.

Among those who made it through yesterday’s gruelling judging round was Lauryn Eagle, 19, a former Miss Teen International and the current women’s world waterskiing champion, who said she was looking forward to meeting Hilton. Lauryn said her training regimen left little time for beer drinking. “But I will learn to love it,” she said. “Being low-carb, it should be OK.”

The blonde hopefuls will reconvene at Bondi Icebergs on Monday for a final audition, presided over by Paris.

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