THE BUZZ.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

IT'S MADONNA'S WORLD: You can always tell when a star has something to promote. Madonna, whose new album ``Confessions on a Dancefloor'' is due Nov. 15, can't get out of the news - not that she wants to. Here are some tidbits circulating:

--In an interview with Word magazine, Sharon Osbourne - in a foul-mouthed tirade - suggested the aging diva has changed her image so often that she now doesn't know who she is. Ozzy's mate attacked everything from Madonna's dress sense to her mothering skills. ``At that age, you should know who you are, what bloody religion you are and what you represent.'' she said. ``One day you're in ... gun gear, then you're in horsing gear, then you dress like ... a hooker, then you're in a flowery dress reading kids poetry looking like a ... librarian ... then you're back looking like an old hooker again.'' No response from Madonna yet.

--Meanwhile, Madonna has slammed Paris Hilton for using kabbalah as a fashion accessory. The ``Like a Virgin'' singer is a dedicated follower of the mystical offshoot of Judaism, along with husband Guy Ritchie, and says it takes more to be a ``believer'' than simply wearing a trendy kabbalah wristband. She told Web site The Scoop, ``People like Paris Hilton come into a center and buy a book or a band, and that's it for them. It doesn't mean they study it. ... It's very hard to be a believer. I'm very serious about it.''

--Her new album has already been leaked on the Internet.

--Last week, Madonna showed her nasty side, saying Gwen Stefani ``ripped me off. We work with the same people, she married a Brit, she's got long hair, and she likes fashion.'' Stefani was not flustered. ``Some people say that I copy her,'' says Stefani. ``But show me one girl my age who was not influenced by her.''

--Maybe not anymore. Rumors are circulating that Madonna had plastic surgery after her horseback riding accident, and the disco queen look she showed off last week at the MTV Europe Music awards - purple leather boots and matching leotard - is drawing some snide comments.

--And apparently she can't take a joke. British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (better-known in the U.S. as Ali G) hosted the MTV event as another of his alter-egos - Borat, a Kazakhstan television personality. After Madonna's opening performance, Cohen quipped, ``It was very brave of MTV to start the show with a transvestite.'' Some people took the remark seriously, thinking Borat was a real person. (It was even reported on some Web sites that way.) Madonna knew better but reportedly wasn't happy and was said to have uninvited Cohen's fiancee, actress Isla Fisher (``The Wedding Crashers'') to her after-party.

SHOCK! (AND AW %#$*): Howard Stern got a one-day suspension Monday after heavily promoting his move to satellite radio. ``We expect him back on Wednesday,'' said Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for Infinity Broadcasting, which carries Stern's syndicated show in more than 20 markets. She wouldn't call Stern's absence a suspension and declined to comment further. Listeners will hear a compilation of Stern's best shows Tuesday, she said. But Stern's spokesman, Matt Traub, called it a paid suspension. ``This is an act of desperation by men who are losing their once-in-a-lifetime franchise,'' Traub said Monday.

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3 photos

Photo:

(1) MADONNA

Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

(2) OSBOURNE

(3) STEFANI