Business Courier - Country singer Carrie Underwood is the new face of Procter & Gamble’s Olay beauty brand.

The 27-year-old Grammy Award winner was named an Olay ambassador and will represent a line of skin care products for the brand, according to a press release. Terms of the agreement with Underwood were not disclosed.

The campaign, called “Challenge What’s Possible,” will roll out later this year and will ask women to “challenge their own skin’s possibilities with the latest advances in skin care.”

“We are thrilled that someone as inspirational as Carrie has joined Olay,” said Joe Arcuri, vice president for North America, Procter & Gamble

By ELIZABETH OLSON, New York Times - THERE are certain Bruce Willis  signatures — the bald head, the self-deprecating humor and the cockiness — and he brings them all to a new campaign for Sobieski vodka. Mr. Willis serves as the brand’s celebrity spokesman, and he owns a small percentage of the Polish vodka maker’s parent company.

In a series of “Bruce Has Ideas” commercials, which began appearing online this week, he makes it clear he has a stake in the company. At the same time, he pokes fun at himself, saying, in one ad, “No, I’m not just an action hero with rugged good looks and some

by Barbara Branagan-Mitchell, Hartford Courant - The 2010 Business Women's Forum (BWF) on Sept. 23 in Hartford will welcome celebrity entertainer Paula Abdul as their keynote speaker at Connecticut's largest and longest-running full-day annual conference for women (www.2010bwf.com). "Refresh, Reset, Renew" is the inspiring theme of the 28th annual BWF to be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.

Jill Blashack Strahan, founder and CEO of Tastefully Simple, will be the BWF's morning motivational speaker to an anticipated audience of over 1,000 businesspeople from across Connecticut.

Participants will also be invited to attend nine workshops throughout the day featuring acclaimed speakers

by Nate Billy, Punchline Magazine (blog) - Recently, Eddie Murphy has been hinting toward his return to stand-up comedy. The star himself has said, “Within the last six months or so, I started getting an itch to do it again. I started writing stuff… I was like, ‘I could go and do 15, 20 minutes right now. Maybe in a couple of months I’ll start working out again.”

The question is this: should we believe him? Murphy stated almost two years ago that he wanted to get back into stand-up, and even went as far as hinting at retirement from Hollywood. He had told Extra, “Thirty years and

Daily News & Analysis - London: Eddie Murphy is "itching" to get back to stand-up comedy.

Before becoming a famous film star, Murphy was one of the world's top comics.

And now he wants to go back, reports The Daily Star.

The Shrek star says, "Within the last six months or so, I started getting an itch to do it again. I started writing stuff... I was like, 'I could go and do 15, 20 minutes right now."

'Maybe in a couple of months I'll start working out again.'

"But it'll take a year before I'm ready to go on the road... It's gonna take at least a year to

Forbes - SHANGHAI -- Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan  heads our new list of top Chinese celebrities.

Chan beat basketball star Yao Ming, who had dominated the list for six consecutive years, Forbes China magazine reported in its latest issue. Chan reached the apex in part because of the strength of his acting and his income from concerts. Last year he became the first entertainer to perform in the Beijing Olympic Stadium since Olympics finished in 2008.

For the first time the latest celebrity ranking from Forbes China, the licensed Chinese-language edition of Forbes, was expanded to include celebrities that hail from Hong

Look To The Stars - It’s often said that the clothes make the man, but a number of notable men are redefining the phrase by donating their neckwear to a charity auction.

Career Gear, a nonprofit that assists disadvantaged men find and retain employment, has received ties from such famous necks as Zac Efron, Steve Carell and Zach Galifianakis to auction off this June to raise much-needed funds. In this time of economic uncertainty, these men have all recognized the pressing need to help those who are unemployed but ready to turn their lives around.

Now in its second year, the Career Gear Celebrity Tie Auction has

Celebrity Health & Fitness - Kim Kardashian, who has been the subject of dozens of photoshopped pictorials, is the latest celebrity to bare all in an un-retouched nude photo to show what she’s really like. And it ain’t bad.

Kardashian, 29, took her clothes off for the May issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine.

As a side note, it’s interesting how many mainstream magazines are resorting to nudity, however tasteful, to sell magazines in the tough economy, which has been particularly hard on the media industry.

Kardashian is comfortable in front of cameras without her clothes. She launched her career in 2007 by leaking a raunchy X-rated sex tape

OnTheRedCarpet.com (blog) - Sex symbol and actress Raquel Welch can add best-selling author to her repertoire. Her new book, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage made the New York Times Best-seller List, ranking No. 3 in the Hardcover Advice portion category.

Welch's book follows her career through her various TV and movie roles as well as her personal journey with life, love and friends.

She also sprinkles in beauty and fitness advice, as she faces aging in the public's eye amongst a myriad of choices women currently have.

by Tim Saunders, Look To The Stars - After winning last year’s event, actor Keanu Reeves will once again get behind the wheel for the annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity charity race at the 36th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach next month.

The celebrity race has been held every year since 1977, and has attracted stars such as Gene Hackman, Jason Bateman, Rick Schroder, Stephen Baldwin, Donny Osmond, Sean Patrick Flanery, Nancy Lieberman, Daniel Goddard and Josh Brolin. 2008’s race was won by ESPN/ABC pit reporter for NASCAR Nationwide Jamie Little.

Every year, Toyota donates $5,000 to Racing for Kids, a non-profit program benefiting children’s hospitals in Southern California, in the

By Celebrity Health & Fitness - Actor Louis Gossett Jr./strong> is the latest celebrity to divulge that he has contracted prostate cancer, a disease that afflicts mostly older men. Actor Dennis Hopper was recently in the news about his 10-year fight with the disease.

Gossett, 73, is best known for his Oscar-winning role as the tough drill instructor in 1983’s  ”An Officer and a Gentleman,” in which he co-starred with Richard Gere and Debra Winger.

Gossett, whose cancer is in its early stages, said he decided to go public to draw attention to the disease among African-Americans, who often don’t seek regular examinations for the disease.

Outside of skin

By Celebrity Health & Fitness - Michael C. Hall, the star of Showtime’s blood-curdling series “Dexter,” revealed some real life drama of his own; the star says he’s undergoing treatment for cancer.

The good news is the disease is in remission, the 38-year-old actor said.

“I feel fortunate to have been diagnosed with an imminently treatable and curable condition, and I thank my doctors and nurses for their expertise and care,” the actor said in a statement.

Hall is scheduled to attend Sunday’s Golden Globe and  Screen Actors Guild awards ceremonies. Hall is a nominee at both. His wife, actress Jennifer Carpenter, who plays his sister on “Dexter,” will

Los Angeles Times - CA,USA - Fans, this seems already to have been a perilous season for "DWTS" dancers. First, Jeffrey Ross sustained a scratched cornea, forcing him to wear an eyepatch during his brief stay on the show. Second, pro Karina Smirnoff twisted her ankle and had to sport an Ace bandage that was at least two shades lighter than her spray tan. And now comes word that Misty May-Treanor suffered an ankle injury -- not a broken ankle, as some reports claimed -- and her status is uncertain. We'll get an update on tonight's show.

In happier news, today I interviewed Lance Bass during a

Los Angeles Times - CA,USA - While NBC Universal and the Weinstein Co. fight over the rights to “Project Runway,” host and executive producer Heidi Klum is trying to focus on the future of the show. She’s taping the sixth season of the popular fashion design competition — set in Los Angeles instead of New York — even though it remains unclear where or when it will eventually air. On Friday, she spoke about this season of “Runway” (which concludes Oct. 15), the program’s recipe for success and what it’s like to work on the show amid so much uncertainty.

What do you think distinguished Season 5?