Madonna to appear in ad for high-rise

When she's not adopting babies from Malawi, dry humping a boom box on her world tour, or sticking up for her friend Rosie O'Donnell, Madonna has a variety of hobbies. One of them appears to be making money by the boatload. The singer said today that she has inked a deal to star in an ad for a new high-rise in Tokyo, Japan that is being developed by Brilla Mare Ariake. The bay-front project is featured in an advertising campaign that was directed by Madonna's friend and frequent photographer Steven Klein. The ad was filmed in London last week, the singer said on her Web site.

Diddy faces new charges over use of name

Sean Combs has changed his nickname several times over the years, usually to signify some sort of image shift the rapper-mogul had in mind. Mounting legal fees might be the impetus for the next name change because a London-based record producer has renewed his efforts to force Combs to stop using his nickname Diddy in the UK.

Diddy and Richard "Diddy" Dearlove had reached an agreement last year whereby Combs wouldn't use the name in the UK, but now Dearlove contends that Combs has breached that understanding because people there can see Combs' pages on the international MySpace and YouTube sites where he appears as Diddy. "We want him either to use a neutral name like P. Diddy or to shut them down," said Iain Purvis, Dearlove's lawyer at the High Court in London, where the case is being heard, according to Reuters. Purvis acknowledged that it will be difficult for Combs to regulate his use of the name. "It may be tough for him, but that is just unfortunate," he said. "He has made his bed, he should lie in it."

Nine Inch Nails to film video in LA

With a new studio album on the way, Nine Inch Nails is set to film a music video for the new song "Survivalism," which is set to be the first single off the band's forthcoming album, Year Zero and hits stores in April. The video will be shot in the LA area on Monday. Frontman Trent Reznor recently told Kerrang! magazine that the new record is a "a collage of sound type of thing, not heavy in a metal guitar kind of way. With this record I feel a lot less concerned about what people think about it--especially the dying record industry. I couldn't care less about that right now." Reznor said the project is a concept album and is "part of a bigger picture of a number of things I'm working on. Essentially I wrote the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist." NIN is also set to release the live DVD Beside You in Time on February 27.

Web site names Beyonce "most desirable woman"

As she continues to ride the wave of a hit album and Oscar-nominated movie, Beyonce has claimed the crown of "most desirable woman" in an annual reader survey by the popular lifestyles Web site AskMen.com. The singer, whose single "Irreplaceable" stayed atop the Billboard singles chart for a ninth straight week, starred in Dreamgirls, the movie musical that racked up eight Academy Award nominations this year. Beyonce jumped to No. 1 from No. 50 last year in AskMen's list of "fantasy girlfriends" in 2007, as ranked by its readers, most of whom are men aged 18 to 34. She topped runner-up Scarlett Johansson, while last year's winner, Jessica Alba, slipped to No. 3.

Keith Urban to appear on SNL

Fresh off a stay in rehab, country singer Keith Urban is set to perform on Saturday Night Live February 10. The singer, who is married to actress Nicole Kidman, spent 90 days in rehab for alcohol dependency in late October 2006. Because of the rehab stint, Urban missed much of his opportunity to promote his latest album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing and seems to be putting that promotion in high gear recently, with a just-announced world tour and a video on his Web site directly addressing the rehab stint. The SNL episode will be hosted by Forest Whitaker, whose turn as ruthless Ugandan ruler Idi Amin in Last King of Scotland earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

Love won't be taking Abdul's spot on Idol

American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe has slammed reports he approached Courtney Love about joining the hit show, insisting she must have been the victim of a prank caller. The former Hole rocker said this week that Lythgoe contacted her about becoming a judge on the reality talent competition, and several media reports cited sources saying that Love was being seen as a possible replacement for Paula Abdul. Love told US Weekly, "He called. He was wondering if I was interested. I thought it was kind of weird, but brilliant." But Lythgoe adamantly denied the claim. "I did not call Courtney Love and am afraid someone may have misrepresented me. Courtney Love is a very talented artist, but the judges for American Idol are Paula, Randy [Jackson], and Simon [Cowell]. We have no plans to add to or replace any of them."