Sideshow: Miley Cyrus: She's not too young, 'life is too short'

Miley Cyrus, 19, is troubled by folks who say she's too young to marry. "Life is too short not to be with the person you want to be with," Liam Hemsworth's fiancee tells Marie Claire. Miley, who on Monday debuted a new blond hairdo, says marriage is a state of mind. "I don't really care about the wedding or the piece of paper as much as I do the promise we've made to each other," says the warbler, who admits she was totally shocked by Liam's sudden proposal. She digs the ring "because it doesn't look like anything else I wear." Cool beans!

We suspect Miley, who has worked hard to shed her extra-virgin Hannah Montana image, is still a child, engaged or not. After all, she decided to wed the guy she admits is her "first serious boyfriend." Yet she insists "Liam and I have a really good relationship. . . . We know each other and would never do anything to hurt each other." Isn't that what Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson said about their not-so-adamantine bond?

Life would be so boring without Elton John's splenetic outbursts. The "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" singer has reprised his running feud with Bay City, Mich., bomber Madonna, 53, calling her a no-talent has-been. Sir Elton, 65, who greeted news that Madonna was to play this year's Super Bowl halftime show with "make sure you lip-sync good," tells an Aussie TV reporter Madge is a "nightmare." Adds Sir Elton, "Sorry, her career is over. Her tour has been a disaster and it couldn't happen to a bigger [expletive]." Concludes the Brit, "she looks like a . . . fairground stripper."

High school dropout and perennially jobless Alaskan Levi Johnston says he's so disgusted by his ex gf Bristol Palin's irresponsible rearing of their son, Tripp, 3, that he's filing for sole custody. Levi, 22, cites scenes from Bristol's reality show, Life's a Tripp, that he says reveal Bristol as a poor parent and Tripp as an unruly brat. (In one episode, Tripp uses one of the most verboten swear words.)

"I love my son more than anything," Levi says of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's grandson, "and I will do whatever it takes to make sure he is raised the right way."

No comment yet from Bristol's lawyers.

CoverGirl, our hyper-consumerist culture's response to A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, has hired a set of celeb reps, including a genuine local hero, Pink.

The Abington native is valorized in a PR release for having "her own individuality" and for never "conforming to a single beauty standard." (But as long as she sticks with the CoverGirl standard?) Pink joins a slew of celeb product hawkers including Taylor Swift, Sofia Vergara, and Queen Latifah.

"I have a lot to celebrate," says Pink. "I have my beautiful family and baby girl . . . and now my partnership with CoverGirl to love." She loves baby and consumer brand equally. Who wouldn't?

CoverGirl also has anointed as ad stars two Olympic pugilists, Canadian Mary Spencer and American Marlen Esparza, and American volleyballer Jennifer Kessy.

The late, great Gene Kelly will dance on the big screens again on Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. at select theaters in honor of the 60th anniversary of his greatest musical, Singin' in the Rain. The program also includes a behind-the-scenes docu featuring an interview of Kelly costar Debbie Reynolds by TCM host Robert Osborne. You can catch the pic at a half dozen local theaters. Find the closest one at www.FathomEvents.com.

Former G-Unit rapper Young Buck on Monday reported at a medium-security federal prison in southern Mississippi to serve his 18-month sentence for gun possession, TMZ says. . . . Lady Gaga has announced the title of her next LP by tweeting a photo of a new tattoo on the underside of her right arm that reads ARTPOP. . . . The release of the Baz Luhrmann-ization of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular hero, Tobey Maguire as Nick, and Carey Mulligan as Daisy, has been pushed back half a year. It'll be out next summer. . . . Brit singer Gary Barlow, 41, has asked for an amnesty from the media circus as he and his wife, Dawn, mourn the loss of their baby Poppy Barlow, who was delivered stillborn on Saturday. . . . A series of "uninhibited" nude pics of Victoria's Secret model Miranda Kerr were posted over the weekend on French photog Laurent Darmon's website, the New York Daily News says. They were soon deleted.

Sharon Osbourne reportedly is leaving NBC's America's Got Talent because she's enraged at the network. The New York Post says Sharon says NBC discriminated against her son, Jack, 26, by dumping him from a spot on the reality show Stars Earn Stripes when they found out he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. "I just can't be fake," Ozzy's wife tells the Post. "It's discrimination, and it was badly handled." Jack had not signed a contract with NBC, but according to his mom, he had a verbal agreement.