Australian film star Nicole Kidman has described 2014 as her toughest ever year, saying the sudden death of her father in Singapore had left her family in "so much pain".

In Sydney for the premiere of her new movie "Paddington", the Oscar winner said her close-knit family were "hunkering down for Christmas" without her father Antony Kidman.

The original Godzilla is set to stomp through Tokyo again in 2016, a Japanese movie production company said Monday, in what will be the creature's first return to home turf in a decade.

Since the giant lizard first tore through Japan's capital in 1954, there have been dozens of home-made follow-ups and a few efforts from Hollywood, including Warner Bros' $160 million incarnation this year.

An Englishman in New York was the toast of Washington on Sunday as British pop star Sting was feted with fellow recipients of this year's Kennedy Center Honors.

He took time off from his Broadway show "The Last Ship" to join Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, 1970s soul man Al Green, comedienne Lily Tomlin and ballerina Patricia McBride at a gala ceremony in the U.S. capital.

Rapper Beanie Sigel, a one-time protege of Jay Z whose career dived after stints in prison, was shot and seriously wounded Friday at a house near Atlantic City, reports said.

The rapper, real name Dwight Grant, was shot in the stomach after an apparent altercation at a home in Pleasantville, New Jersey, that left another person injured.

Newcomer Sam Smith joined Beyonce and Pharrell Williams on Friday to lead in nominations for the Grammy Awards, with the music industry's annual picks weighted toward R&B-influenced artists.

Smith -- the British blue-eyed soul singer who emerged in force this year with "Stay With Me," a ballad about a one-night stand -- was tied with Beyonce and Williams for nominations in six categories at music's most-watched awards.

How did U2 frontman Bono escape notice when he crashed his bicycle last month? If his bandmate is to be believed, it's because he was disguised as a Hasidic Jew.

U2 guitarist The Edge was asked in a US radio interview why no pictures emerged when Bono -- one of the world's most recognizable singers -- suffered a serious accident in New York's Central Park.

The only woman to have filed a sex assault lawsuit against Bill Cosby took her case to police Friday, accepting an offer to have her claims investigated despite them dating from 40 years ago.

Judy Huth, who filed legal action against the veteran comic earlier this week, was accompanied by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred to meet detectives at Los Angeles Police Department.

Madonna, still toned at 56 and riding a wave of acclaim for a recent topless photo shoot, was named Thursday as the face of Versace's spring/summer 2015 collection.

Extending a long-standing relationship with the Italian fashion house, the American singer was snapped for the new campaign by photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, who captured her in black and white, standing showing off her lean frame and sitting poised on the edge of a chair.

Lil Wayne's long-delayed album "Tha Carter V" won't be coming out Tuesday and the U.S. rapper is blaming his record label for the latest delay, saying he has been made "a prisoner."

The heavily tattooed bad-boy rapper recently debuted a first track at the American Music Awards, raising expectations that "Tha Carter V" was finally ready to go.

In a bizarre and emotionally transparent performance, Miley Cyrus mocked her own music, opened up about her dark year and belted out some Led Zeppelin. Oh yeah, and she smoked pot onstage.

Wearing a silver metallic Cleopatra wig and bright turquoise eye shadow, Cyrus kicked off a private, poolside show at the Raleigh Hotel in South Beach singing a duet of "Super Freak" with a topless woman. Cyrus was among the top-billed acts during the star-studded week of the prestigious Art Basel Miami Beach.