Kardashian hopes Kanye romance vaults them to power-couple - Chicago Sun-Times

By bill zwecker bzwecker@suntimes.com April 25, 2012 8:24PM

Shopping date in NYC: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian shop in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City Saturday. | Christopher Peterson/BuzzFoto/FilmMagic/Getty Images

storyidforme: 29483937
tmspicid: 10673251
fileheaderid: 4896329

Updated: April 25, 2012 8:59PM

T hose close to the fast-growing Kanye West-Kim Kardashian romance have filled me in on the whys and wherefores of this new celebrity hook-up. There appears to be two main reasons for the couple’s mutual attraction to each other.

† Not surprisingly, there is that old chemistry thing. Both Kardashian and West are seriously turned on and very sexually attracted to each other. “You can just sense it whenever you’re around them,” said a key Kardashian camp member Wednesday. “There’s a nice vibe between the two of them.”

† Beyond that, both Kardashian and West are very savvy about the entertainment biz and the power of their own brands. While my Kim insider laughed about “Kim increasingly using ‘Kimye’ to describe them,” she also added, “I’m beginning to think she’s hoping it becomes something like ‘Brangelina,’ ” alluding to the term for power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

I’ve learned “Kimye” have already put their heads together â€" chatting about potential joint consumer product marketing ideas they could pursue.† One person not buying this new coupling is Kardashian’s “72-Hour Wonder” â€" estranged husband

Kris Humphries. The NBA player’s attorneys have filed a motion in the couple’s pending divorce, questioning whether Kardashian’s fling with West is genuine or, as Humphries implies, merely another publicity stunt created to boost the Kardashians’ reality show empire.

Kim, of course, has always maintained her marriage to Humphries was not based on any phony premise.

CHECK IT OUT: Our Town’s cabaret mainstays Nan Mason and Terry Higgins will be at Twelvewest on W. Elm Thursday night and at the Palm Court at the Drake Hotel on Friday.

† Harvey’s own Tom Dreesen brings his one-man show, “Stand Up and Storytelling of Frank Sinatra,” to Chicago’s Laugh Factory, 3175 N. Broadway, 5 p.m. May 6. As the guy who opened for “The Chairman of the Board” for the last 14 years of Sinatra’s career, Dreesen has plenty of material to share with his audience.

LOVE NOTE: People who have been around Michelle Williams and Jason Segel are raving about “how perfect” the couple seem. One of the actress’ best friends told me Wednesday, that Williams “has hit upon the right guy. He’s obviously funny, but also so very smart, gentle and sensitive,” and also reportedly has really clicked with the Oscar nominee’s daughter, Matilda, fathered by Williams’ longtime lover, the late Heath Ledger.

FAMILY MATTERS: While Angelina Jolie and her father, Jon Voight, patched up their long estrangement in 2009, the actor may have threatened that by his comment to a reporter this week â€" praising his daughter’s ability to juggle family and career, but advising her not to adopt or give birth to any other children. Jolie is known to bristle badly when Voight voices opinions â€" especially those about her â€" to the press. IN DEMAND: Not only has Britney Spears straightened out her once-troubled personal life, but the pop tart is now in huge demand. Simon Cowell is hoping she’ll agree to be a judge on “The X Factor,” and a number of major Las Vegas venues â€" including the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino â€" are offering mega-millions for a long-term gig similar to those enjoyed by Celine Dion and Cher. Bill Zwecker reports regularly on “Good Day Chicago” and “Fox Chicago News at 9” on WFLD-Channel 32.