[ PLANET POP ]

Singer R Kelly after the first day of jury selection in his child pornography trial in Chicago. PHOTO : AP

Six years after he was charged with videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl, R ’n’ B superstar R Kelly went on trial on Friday, with his alleged victim prepared to deny she is the person on the tape. Kelly has been charged with 14 counts of videotaping, producing or soliciting child pornography. Prosecutors argue he knew the girl was a teenaged minor.

Also in trouble with the law is DMX, who was arrested after speed-enforcement cameras captured him in his bright yellow 1966 Chevrolet going 183kph on a suburban Phoenix freeway.

The rapper/actor was taken into custody Tuesday at his north Phoenix home without incident, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said Wednesday. He posted bond and was released.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was booked on charges of criminal speeding, public endangerment, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.

Electronically activated cameras placed along the Loop 101 freeway in Scottsdale captured him three times on Jan. 21 in his Nova II with a large “DMX” decal on the windshield.

Malawian authorities have warmed to Madonna even if Alison Goldfrapp hasn’t. PHOTO: AFP

The speed limit on the stretch of roadway is 105kph.

The 37-year-old’s lawyer, Murray Richman, said he had no comment.

They are credited with influencing the fashion style of Madonna but British electronica band Goldfrapp don’t have much time for the pop diva or other big acts they will be playing with this summer. Grammy-nominated Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory, whose fourth album Seventh Tree hit No. 2 in Britain in February, will share the big stages at two outdoor British music festivals with hip-hop mogul Jay-Z and Madonna.

“I think her fearlessness is amazing but I don’t have particularly any admiration for her work,” Goldfrapp said in a recent interview.

Meanwhile, authorities in Malawi are set to grant full adoption rights of an African boy to Madonna, a high court official indicated Friday, citing a leaked document.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the court in Lilongwe would hear a full review on Thursday of an 18-month interim custody order granted in 2006 for Madonna to adopt David Banda, and had received recommendations from the ministry of women and child development to make the adoption permanent.

The document, referring to Madonna’s filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie and herself, said: “Mr and Mrs Ritchie have shown a strong commitment in providing the infant with all essential needs like love, safe home environment, care, protection, material as well as emotional support.”

The document, filed by an official of the ministry identified as Simon Chisale, said David, the son of peasant farmer Yohane Banda, had “bonded well with the couple and other key members of the household.”

The report said David, plucked from an orphanage in poor health, “continues to develop into a happy thriving toddler. His survival, growth and development is excellent.”

The celebrity couple were being monitored at their London home to see whether they were suitable parents for David by Malawian social workers.

The official said Madonna will not be required to attend the hearing, which will be held via camera.

Lindsay Lohan passed up a role in a movie about convicted killer Charles Manson in order to accept two other offers, including a guest star turn on the TV comedy Ugly Betty, her publicist said on Friday. Lohan’s spokeswoman, Leslie Sloane, said the 21-year-old actress was “definitely interested” in The Manson Girls, but she denied online gossip reports that Lohan was dropped from that film because other actors refused to work with her.

The son of wrestler and reality TV star Hulk Hogan was sentenced to eight months in jail on Friday for causing a car crash that seriously injured his passenger. Nick Bollea, 17, pleaded no contest to a charge of reckless driving with serious bodily harm before he was sentenced by Pinellas County Judge Phillip Federico.

Actress Uma Thurman sued Lancome on Friday, seeking US$15 million from the French cosmetics company, accusing it of using her name and face in advertisements after her contract had expired. The actress claims the cosmetics company, owned by L’Oreal, breached an agreement signed in 2000, accusing the company of using her name and face in ads for years after her contract expired.

Paul McCartney and his estranged wife Heather Mills are scheduled to return to London’s High Court today for their divorce to be formally finalized. At the hearing before Justice Hugh Bennett, the couple is likely to be granted a divorce on the uncontested basis that they have lived apart for two years.