Crow takes shot at Palin in song

Sheryl Crow says her anti-Sarah Palin song is less about Palin than it is about politics in general. In "Say What You Want," she sings:

"I heard you tell me to reload. You got a lot of nerve to talk that way. Someone unplug the microphone. I'm tired of all the fighting, cynicism, and backbiting. Can't even hear myself think. You pour the Kool-Aid, and then we drink."

"There'll be people who don't like it for sure, even Sheryl Crow fans," says Crow, who sings Saturday (Sept. 11) at the Hard Rock.

"But you know, my commentary is much less about her and much more about the direction that leadership has taken in this country in the last 10 years."

Crow, who stumped for President Barack Obama in 2008, reserves even harsher words for Congress than for Palin.

"I like him (Obama)," she tells me. "I think he's slightly had his legs cut off by virtue of the fact that the Congress has been completely inept and unable to accomplish hardly anything."

Ouch.

If you're a Palin fan, take solace in knowing the Palin song isn't catchy. It pales in comparison to Crow's cover of Terence Trent D'Arby's "Sign Your Name."

R.I.P., NICE, FUNNY MAN

Robert Schimmel beat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma only to die Friday after an Aug. 26 car crash . His 19-year-old daughter was driving him through Arizona when she was forced off the road by an SUV, reportedly. She and a brother survived the accident.

I don't know any entertainment writer who didn't love talking with Schimmel, 60. He was so generous and contrite, when talking about how he screwed over his first wife and how his second wife screwed him over.

The last time I talked to him a few months back, he had me laughing at his description of Andrew "Dice" Clay.

He wasn't badmouthing Clay. He was joking that he and Clay took young kids to the same school, and he saw Clay show up at the school in leathery character. Ha. Then Schimmel talked some more about how great his first ex-wife was, and he gave me the phone number for his second ex-wife-to-be because she controlled his publicity photos. Drama, drama, drama.

Bye, Bob. Thanks for the mammaries.

SIGHTINGS

Paris Hilton kept her nose out of Vegas this weekend (I think), but sister Nicky Hilton (with David Katzenberg) went to club Vanity on Sunday to hear Lil Jon in the DJ booth. The couple were at club Tao on Saturday. Because Paris hasn't always been nice to Nicky, I wonder if Nicky's throwing it in Paris' face that she is now the more welcomed Hilton. ... Kelly Rowland's got a better hit than Beyoncé, her fellow ex-team member from Destiny's Child. Kelly's "Commander" is fun as hell, and she sang it Sunday at club Surrender, then hugged DJ Kaskade while sipping water and Red Bull. ... Rich Little made his first public appearance since his wife died, checking out "Jersey Boys" Sunday, then posing for a cast picture backstage. ... Busta Rhymes performed Sunday at club Haze. ... Kourtney Kardashian did Hard Rock Beach Club on Saturday, going with champagne. ... And new couple LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian tried moving past that whole they-cheated-on-their-mates gossip by celebrating her 28th birthday a few days late at Tabu lounge. He gave her rose-gold bangles.

ELFMAN UPDATE

I'll be saying things as naughtily as possible at 5 p.m. Wednesday on KXNT-AM, 840.

QUOTE OUT

"I don't care where we from, we from Vegas right now." -- will.i.am, while spinning at the DJ booth Sunday at MGM dayclub Wet Republic.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. E-mail delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.