NAMES & FACES

L'Oreal Denies Altering Beyoncé

Cosmetics giant L'Oreal is denying that it lightened the skin tone of Beyoncé Knowles for a current magazine ad, after the ad was posted on several Web sites and criticized for allegedly presenting the pop star as lighter-skinned than she is.

"We highly value our relationship with Ms. Knowles. It is categorically untrue that L'Oreal Paris altered Ms. Knowles's features or skin tone in the campaign for Feria hair color," the Paris-based company said in a statement sent to the Associated Press through the singer's representative.

On Wednesday, celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com posted the ad, which shows Beyoncé from the shoulders up, next to a recent photo of the singer. Her hair and skin tone in the photo appear slightly darker than in the advertisement.

Beyoncé's rep said the singer, who has been a spokeswoman for L'Oreal since 2001, would have no comment beyond L'Oreal's statement.

It's a Boy for Clay Aiken

Former "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken is a dad.

Aiken, 29, took to his blog to announce the birth of his son, Parker Foster Aiken, in North Carolina shortly after 8 a.m. yesterday.

"The little man is healthy, happy, and as loud as his daddy," Aiken wrote.

The baby's mother is Jaymes Foster, Aiken's friend and record producer, whom he met while performing on "American Idol." Foster's brother, David, confirmed to People in May that his sister was impregnated via artificial insemination.

Aiken finished second to Ruben Studdard on the second season of "Idol." His album "Measure of a Man" went double platinum in 2003, and he made his Broadway debut this spring in "Monty Python's Spamalot."

The Police Turn in Their Badges

The Police played the final show of their reunion world tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Thursday night, concluding the third-highest-grossing reunion of all time, with sales of almost $360 million, Billboard reports.

Bassist-vocalist Sting, 56, guitarist Andy Summers, 65, and drummer Stewart Copeland, 56, began the show with a surprise cover of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love." The group was then joined by the New York Police Department Band, which augmented the usual set-opener, "Message in a Bottle." Just before the encore came another twist: Video screens displayed the image of a bearded Sting backstage simultaneously getting a shave, manicure, pedicure and massage.

"It's been a huge honor to get back with my good friends," Sting told the crowd. "The real triumph of this tour is that we haven't strangled each other -- that doesn't mean it hadn't crossed my mind."

End Notes

Married: Pop-folk singer-turned-country star Jewel, 34, has tied the knot with her longtime boyfriend, rodeo star Ty Murray, 38, People magazine reports. The couple eloped to the Bahamas on Thursday and exchanged vows in a private ceremony. Murray and Jewel, who live on a ranch in Texas, have been together for more than a decade; they did not announce an engagement.

Divorced: Dixie Chicks member Emily Robison and her husband, singer Charlie Robison, have called it quits, the AP reports. Divorce papers filed in January in San Antonio cite discord and personality conflicts. The couple married in 1999 and have three children.

Spotted: World-class chef Alain Ducasse, dining on the patio at Proof on Thursday night with his wife, Gwénaëlle Guéguen. Ducasse, the only chef ever to run three Michelin three-star restaurants, was in town preparing for the September opening of his new restaurant, Adour, in the St. Regis. The pair dined on a charcuterie board and three different salads, and drank only Fiji water (the chef said he had tasted hundreds of wines throughout the day while helping to select Adour's wine list).

-- Marissa Newhall, from staff, wire and Web reports