[ PLANET POP ]

Edison Chen has received more exposure than he was bargaining for. PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES

Hong Kong police have seized hundreds of pictures in connection to a series of racy photos posted on the Internet that appear to depict partially nude local celebrities.

The scandal over the photos has dominated headlines in Hong Kong the past week. The pictures appear to show actor Edison Chen (陳冠希), singer Gillian Chung (鍾欣桐) - a member of the popular female duo Twins - and actress Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝) partially nude or in sexually suggestive poses.

Police six more people - four men and two women - late Friday and Saturday on suspicion of violating obscene material laws, assistant police commissioner Wong Fook-chuen said.

Officers seized computers and discs that contained pictures, including some that have never been put on the Internet.

Wong police "were very close'' to arresting the sources of the photos.

The suspects arrested so far have not been charged and were being detained for further investigation, a police spokesman said yesterday, declining to be named citing internal policy.

A Hollywood resume isn't complete these days without a stint in rehab. PHOTO: AP

Last week, police arrested and charged a 29-year-old unemployed man with publishing obscene material related to the case.

The stars have not directly commented on the photos, but have issued statements either through lawyers or management companies condemning their release.

Meanwhile, former Baywatch star and Playboy model Pamela Anderson will voluntarily appear in the buff in public when she takes to the stage in one of France's most famous nude revues this month. She is scheduled to perform for two nights at the Crazy Horse in Paris. Anderson, who has recently been performing in a magic show in Las Vegas, follows Arielle Dombasle, an actress and wife of one of France's leading intellectuals, in appearing at the Crazy Horse, a fixture in Paris night life for half a century.

A Los Angeles court on Friday placed the affairs of troubled pop singer and Planet Pop staple Britney Spears under the temporary control of her father while she remains hospitalized under psychiatric care. Superior Court public information officer Allan Parachini said the "temporary conservatorship" was in place until this afternoon, at which time a new hearing will take place. He said the court also issued a "civil harassment restraining order" against Spears' manager, Sam Lutfi.

Actress Mendes, whose movies include Training Day and Ghost Rider, has checked into a rehabilitation facility in Utah, celebrity Web sites reported on Friday. A spokesman for Mendes declined to confirm the report but did issue a statement saying the 33-year-old actress had taken time off.

The Spice Girls on Friday announced they are to cut back their reunion tour "due to family and personal commitments." They cancelled concerts in China, South Africa, Australia and Argentina and the tour that reunited the British Girl Power group in a blaze of publicity is to end in Toronto on Feb. 26.

While Spice Girls ended their comeback almost as soon as it begun, Paula Abdul, who has a new song with fellow American Idol judge Randy Jackson, blames a plane mishap for keeping her out of the musical arena for more than a decade and said she is back in business.

"I've been really, really blessed and fortunate and it's really, really poignant for me to come back now,'' said Abdul, who is one of the pre-Super Bowl performers.

Abdul featured on the first single off the new album from Jackson, due next month. The song is titled Dance Like There's No Tomorrow. But Abdul says an emergency plane landing that caused her injury in 1992 - she calls it a "plane crash" - was a key reason why she abandoned her multiplatinum singing career (she hasn't released a new album since 1995).

"I had four plates and 14 cervical spinal surgeries," Abdul said while she picked up items Saturday at a celebrity gift suite at Super Bowl XLII. "It all happened during the time that I disappeared and no one knew where I went. For five and a half years, I went through paralysis, the worst experience, and then I came back on American Idol, that was my first time back out there." Abdul decided to return to music when Jackson asked her to be one of the artists on Randy Jackson's Musical Club, Vol. 1.

Superlatives piling up for actress Katherine Heigl who on Thursday was named the "most desirable woman of 2008" by lifestyle Web site, AskMen.com. The site, which boasts seven million readers a month, said it polls users annually for a list of 99 women who best embody the qualities of an ideal girlfriend or wife, as judged by intelligence, humor, charisma and ambition among attributes.