Names and faces

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) -- They talked about her new hit song and her makeup, but the subject of pardons never came up during Denise Rich's appearance on a morning radio show Wednesday with singer Natalie Cole.

Cole has a new song out that she wrote with Rich, called "Livin' for Love," which was played several times during their 45 minutes on WKTU-FM. In the chorus, Cole sings that no matter how much she's "tore down, wore down, fed up, messed up, I still get up livin' for love."

Questions have been raised about whether Denise Rich's generous contributions to the Democratic Party and Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate campaign influenced former President Clinton's decision to pardon Rich's ex-husband, fugitive Marc Rich.

But none of the disc jockeys mentioned the pardon scandal. One of them told Rich: "You're so different and so much more beautiful than they're portraying you. Denise is a really good person."

Another thanked her for "getting up and putting all that beautiful makeup on" for the radio show.

Conger's ring sold

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) -- A year after the ill-fated marriage of TV bride Darva Conger, her 3-carat diamond wedding ring was sold for $20,000 at a charity auction.

"I'm glad it finally went for a good cause and to a couple truly in love," Conger said after the auction, benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The winning bid came from a Los Angeles couple who bought the ring to celebrate their 19th wedding anniversary. The couple's name wasn't disclosed.

Love can sue Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES -- A Superior Court judge on Wednesday allowed rock star Courtney Love to move forward in filing a lawsuit to break her contract with Vivendi-owned Universal Music Group.

Love first notified Universal on Dec. 19, 1999, that she had decided to stop recording for the company. Universal responded to Love's legal challenge on Jan. 19, 2000, by filing a lawsuit, seeking millions of dollars in damages from Love for five undelivered albums.

Love privately served Universal with a countersuit earlier this month. Love's suit became public Wednesday at a court hearing when Universal lawyers contended the complaint was irrelevant and should be disallowed.

The judge disagreed, allowing the case to proceed.